Jazz Articles about Janis Siegel

Dewa Budjana: Joged Kahyangan

by Ian Patterson
February 22, 2014

A million-selling artist in Indonesia with pop-rock band Gigi, guitarist Dewa Budjana's solo projects informed by progressive rock, Indonesian folk and jazz fusion reveal a greater spirit of adventure. Budjana's second release of 2013 on the MoonJune label following Dawai in Paradise is similarly melodic, though differs significantly. Firstly, the word-fusion-meets-prog rock of Dawai in Paradise gives way to a more overtly contemporary jazz approach on Joged Kahyangan. Secondly, whereas the earlier release featured predominantly Indonesian musicians, Budjana harnesses heavyweight ...

Janis Siegel: Janis Siegel - Nightsongs: A Late Night Interlude

by C. Michael Bailey
November 4, 2013

Vocalist Janis Siegel is the mezzo-soprano/alto quarter of the Manhattan Transfer as well as half of the female contingency of the same with soprano Cheryl Bentyne. Like Bentyne, Siegel has managed a very successful solo career, releasing ten recordings since 1981. Nightsongs: A Late Night Interlude follows 2006's A Thousand Beautiful Things (Telarc, 2006) and 2004's Sketches of Broadway (Telarc). Siegel is a wholesale master of jazz vocals subgenre: ballads, scats, bop, she competently does them all. Nightsongs endeavors a ...

Take Five With Janis Siegel

by AAJ Staff
October 3, 2013

Meet Janis Siegel: Over the past four decades, the voice of Janis Siegel, a nine-time Grammy winner and a seventeen-time Grammy nominee, has been an undeniable force in The Manhattan Transfer's diverse musical catalog. Alongside her career as a founding member of this musical institution, Siegel has also sustained a solo career that has spawned almost a dozen finely-crafted solo albums and numerous collaborative projects, amassed a large international fan base and garnered consistently high critical praise. Janis continues ...

Lorraine Feather: Language

by Nicholas F. Mondello
June 7, 2008

Lorraine Feather Language Jazzed Media 2008

By its very title, Language, from singer and lyricist Lorraine Feather, implies that Feather and company believe that they have the musical and linguistic chops to take on such a sophisticated concept for our entertainment. So it's good to find that Feather is a heavyweight who--with a championship caliber crew in her corner--delivers a resounding KO.

To some ears, story songs--word-intense tunes--may seem overly Broadwayesque and ...

Janis Siegel: A Thousand Beautiful Things

by Woodrow Wilkins
April 4, 2006

Janis Siegel is amazing. One of the principal voices behind The Manhattan Transfer from the start, she's also an accomplished solo artist. And the fascinating thing is, you never really know what she's going to do next. Enter A Thousand Beautiful Things. The title may be misleading, because each note counts from the first track to the last, adding up to tens of thousands of beautiful things on this album. A nine-time Grammy winner and seventeen-time Grammy ...

Janis Siegel: A Thousand Beautiful Things

by Jim Santella
March 21, 2006

The key word from the title of this latest release by singer Janis Siegel is beautiful. She interprets this lovely program of mainstream songs in such a way that we're able to sit back and reflect on the beauty that each one holds. Her message is sincere. Hers isn't some groove shop exercise where she entertains us with vocal acrobatics and whiz-bang instrumental technique. No, Siegel performs with genuine sincerity and delivers a message that reaches home, communicating with her ...

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. ...