Jazz Articles about Ian Shaw

Ian Shaw: A Ghost In Every Bar

by Bruce Lindsay
August 26, 2012

Ian Shaw's warm and evocative voice, Fran Landesman's superb lyrics and music from some of her best collaborators: A Ghost In Every Bar has them all. Put it another way: on A Ghost In Every Bar one of the finest singers in contemporary music interprets some of the greatest songs of the last 50 years. If either--or both--of those descriptions sound like hype, that's OK; sometimes the hype hits the nail on the head.Landesman was born in New ...

Ian Shaw: From Free Jazz to Noel Coward

by Bruce Lindsay
December 1, 2009

Ian Shaw is a jazz singer. This simple description is accurate--it's how Shaw refers to himself--but it falls well short of doing the man justice. Ian Shaw is one of the most distinctive, original and creative jazz singers on the scene: he is a talented pianist and songwriter with a knack for working with top-quality musicians, an ability to seek out and cover some of the finest songs in contemporary music, and a showmanship that ensures that his live performances ...

Ian Shaw: A World Still Turning

by Dr. Judith Schlesinger
September 25, 2003

I know I'm late to the party, since Briton Ian Shaw already has two Milestone CDs out in North America, but I've only recently “discovered" him with his first release for 441 Records, that new label run by seasoned hands. I have only one word for his music--yowpers! --but will be pleased to elaborate.

In a world currently rather short on male jazz singers, and positively deficient in those who are both gifted and sincere--as opposed to being annoyingly mannered ...

Ian Shaw: Soho Stories

by Craig Jolley
October 1, 2001

Ian Shaw swings. It's a dynamic swing--not the usual I'll get comfortable and let the rhythm section carry me. He'll speed through a phrase, pause (leaving out words), take off again, and sing through the end of the phrase into the beginning of the next idea. He likes to punctuate by dropping or jumping an octave. He is equally convincing on ballads where his time scintillates as much as on swing tunes. He'll go for a different emotional feel by ...