Jazz Articles about Ilona Knopfler

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Ilona Knopfler: Live The Life

by Michael P. Gladstone
August 7, 2005

Beaucoup plaisir awaits on this English and French jazz vocal new release. Ilona Knopfler, born in Paris but a pre-school world traveler, made her stage debut at the age of fifteen in Hong Kong and later became the house favorite at the Jazz Club in Hong Kong. Moving to New York, Knopfler studied for five years at the Lee Strasberg Institute. This album was recorded in both New York and Paris.

Live The Life begins with the unlikely ...

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Ilona Knopfler: Some Kind Of Wonderful

by AAJ Staff
November 21, 2003

Ilona Knopfler, who comes from France via Hong Kong with a soulful, belting voice, is being billed as a “jazz singer.” This album doesn’t permit her to confirm that statement. I would say instead that she has taken non-traditional jazz tunes and sung them tastefully, in a classic traditional pop style with jazz inflections, reminiscent of the best of Jack Jones or Marilyn Maye.

For starters, there is a strong cover of Grand Funk’s "Some Kind Of Wonderful" that showcases ...

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Ilona Knopfler: Some Kind of Wonderful

by C. Michael Bailey
October 6, 2003

Parisienne Ilona Knopfler breezes through an eclectic collection of contemporary classics with a jazz flair. The music is vintage mid-‘60s to mid-‘70s AM radio fare. Ms. Knopfler’s band delivers a "Some Kind of Wonderful" with a Funk Brothers precision and a Tower of Power horn section sensibility. Rod Argent’s "It’s the time of the Season" and "He’s Not There" featuring pianist Eugene Maslov are sprite in tier renditions. Neil Sedaka’s "Breaking Up is Hard To Do" is tastefully performed, Ms. ...