Jazz Articles about Jane Monheit

Jane Monheit: Surrender Brings Victory

by Jeff Winbush
July 3, 2007

When an artist breaks through and achieves the chart-topping success that Jane Monheit has with Surrender (Concord, 2007), it's easy to make the assumption that it came as a result of radio airplay, an aggressive publicity campaign and a big dose of good luck. What's forgotten is how many one-night stands in half-filled clubs you have to endure before the gravy train pulls in. Not quite yet thirty years old, Monheit is an experienced and exciting artist who belongs in ...

Jane Monheit: Surrender

by Jeff Winbush
May 18, 2007

Merely possessing a good singing voice is overrated. Whitney Houston has a great voice but too often squanders it on material beneath her talents. Knowing what kind of music best suits your voice is an underrated quality and one Jane Monheit possesses in abundance.Monheit is blessed with a dynamic instrument that possesses ample reserves of range, depth and style to spare. Surrender is her bid to move to the head of the class of contemporary vocalists. Monheit's voice ...

Jane Monheit: Tonight at Noon

by Ken Dryden
April 1, 2007

Vocalist Jane Monheit has been somewhat of a polarizing figure among jazz listeners and critics. Although she showed great potential following her second place finish in the Thelonious Monk Jazz Vocal Competition and won the Recording Debut of the Year Award from the Jazz Journalist Association, her recorded efforts since then have been a bit uneven, often with an overemphasis on overdubbing and occasionally, insufficient preparation for certain pieces. But this previously unissued session, recorded during a visit to the ...

Jane Monheit: Costa Mesa, December 16, 2005

by Jim Santella
December 27, 2005

Jane Monheit Founders Hall Orange County Performing Arts Center Costa Mesa, California December 16, 2005

The allure of Jane Monheit isn't about flash and dazzle and publicity and her good looks. It's about her music and the way that she communicates with her audience so naturally. She's so comfortable before an audience that she makes you feel free enough to enjoy the music without regard for what's around you. Founders Hall ...

Jane Monheit: The Season

by Jim Santella
October 11, 2005

It's that time of the year: time to enjoy our favorite Christmas songs and other traditional holiday songs that have left their imprint. Jane Monheit brings us these and much more with her holiday album, also including a few surprises along with the usual fare.

Her warm voice gives the album a cozy feeling. “Moonlight in Vermont," “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas," and Donny Hathaway's “This Christmas" provide the kind of soulful emotions that linger. Up-tempo romps ...

Monheit Madness? Frank & Joe Steal the Show

by R.J. DeLuke
December 1, 2004

There is a star belonging to vocalist Jane Monheit that some people are waiting to see rise in the jazz world, she of the glamour-girl magazine covers (A recent Downbeat issue, for example). It might be best for these people to settle in comfortably with a vat of strong coffee, perhaps.There is a the sea of “jazz singers," both in the United States and abroad and many of them are very talented, yet lacking that big break. We may ...

The Frank and Joe Show: 33 1/3

by David Rickert
October 20, 2004

It's easy to forget that in the beginning jazz was music designed for entertainment and not considered serious art. The Frank & Joe Show takes its inspiration from such a time, a bygone era when the audience preferred to jitterbug rather than to just sit and listen. Frank Vignola has already displayed a serious Django jones on his previous albums, yet wisely has avoided recording a CD full of gypsy music when the real thing is so ready and available. ...