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Jazz Articles about Brenda Earle Stokes
About Brenda Earle Stokes
Instrument: Piano and vocals
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by Jack Bowers
On Expectation & Experience, his tenth recording as a leader, Chicago-based woodwind specialist Shawn Maxwell is accompanied by almost thirty musiciansbut never by more than three on any of its seventeen tracks. Maxwell says the compositions were written during the global Covid-19 pandemic, and the musicians were mustered singly, most in their own homes. While each of the compositions has a theme," none is readily apparent from its performance, and listeners should feel free to overlook that aspect and focus ...
read moreBrenda Earle Stokes: Solo Sessions Volume 1
by C. Michael Bailey
Canadian Brenda Earle Stokes is, at once, a pianist, vocalist, composer, and educator, not to mention a wife and mother. From this crowded life, she has managed five recordings to her credit, including the well-received Song for a New Day (Self Produced, 2009) and Right About Now (Magenta Label Group, 2014), and the present, Solo Sessions, Volume 1. Solo Sessions puts Stokes in her most intimate format, one that she mentions is a bit daunting. That is something to consider. ...
read moreBrenda Earle Stokes: Right About Now
by Dan Bilawsky
Is Brenda Earle Stokes primarily a vocalist, a composer, or a pianist? That's an unanswerable question if ever there was one. The marketplace typically forces artists to list their chief credential first, making it easier to categorize and pigeonhole them, but that's a problem for Stokes; she's equally talented in all three areas, as demonstrated throughout Right About Now. This album marks Stokes' return to recording after a five year hiatus. During that time, her life, outlook, ...
read moreBrenda Earle: Songs For A New Day
by Marcia Hillman
Brenda Earle has a well-trained, sweet-sounding, pure voice and piano and songwriting skills that are displayed ably in this, her fifth album. The New York-based Canadian native is abetted by Ike Sturm (bass), Jackie Lewis (guitars) and Jared Schonig (drums), as well as guest appearances of one track each by saxophonist Joel Frahm and cellist Lauren Riley-Rigby. The material is an array of standards, original compositions and covers of songs by Top 40 artists ranging from Crowded House ...
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