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Jazz Articles about Joanna Pascale
Orrin Evans and the Captain Black Big Band: Walk A Mile In My Shoe
by Steve Plever
A glance through the track list--with covers of Stevie Wonder and Marvin Gaye and two swing-era vocal standards--could give you the wrong impression. Yes, this is a very accessible and soulful album, but it is serious and heartfelt jazz, with Orrin Evans' personal stamp making it work. Blues, soul and gospel sounds share the stage here with swing, straight-ahead and avant-garde influences--no surprise given Evans' decade of playing with the Mingus Big Band. Evans' piano sets the tone ...
Continue ReadingOrrin Evans and the Captain Black Big Band: Walk A Mile In My Shoe
by Angelo Leonardi
Il nuovo disco di Orrin Evans e della sua Captain Black Big Band ci ricorda l'importanza delle radici per la comunità musicale afroamericana: il gospel, il blues, le big band, i cantanti e strumentisti storici. Una risorsa che è anche identità collettiva e forza culturale. Come ha sempre fatto in passato, il pianista e bandleader di Philadelphia s'ispira alla tradizione per rinnovarla e arricchirla, con passione e freschezza. Stavolta le orchestrazioni sono funzionali alle interpretazioni di quattro prodigiosi ...
Continue ReadingJoanna Pascale at Chris' Jazz Cafe
by Victor L. Schermer
Joanna Pascale Chris' Jazz Cafe Philadelphia, PA November 10, 2018 The content of this show came as a complete surprise to this reviewer. I expected vocalist Joanna Pascale, who is by now a Philadelphia legend, to sing a typical set of standards from the Great American Songbook. Instead, she blew everyone away with a set of Italian tunes that I usually hear in the background at a little coffee shop called Anthony's in South Philadelphia! ...
Continue ReadingJoanna Pascale: To Tell a Story in Song
by Victor L. Schermer
Among jazz vocalists, there are two main categories: those who belt out a tune with flourish, ornamentation, punctuation, and improvising known as “scat." Ella Fitzgerald is the prime representative of that approach. Then there are those who omit the superfluous, carefully crafting every word and note, bringing out the underlying emotions. Think of Billie Holiday. Joanna Pascale is a vocalist who has honed the latter approach into a way of literally being with the song in an I-Thou relationship. An ...
Continue ReadingHis Master’s Voice: Joanna Pascale & Thana Alexa
by C. Michael Bailey
“Ahab beckons from the side of the whale..." I have had the pleasure to work with a most benevolent Publisher in Michael Ricci for 20 years. His editorial hand has always been liberal and indulging. It is a very rare thing that he would ask me to listen to something that has been ringing his bell. So rare, that when it happens, my ears perk up and I stand at attention. Michael's taste has always been exceptional ...
Continue ReadingJoanna Pascale: Through My Eyes
by AAJ Italy Staff
Secondo disco a nome della cantante di Philadelphia Joanna Pascale, una delle vocalist emergenti della scena statunitense, questo Through My Eyes raccoglie dieci standard a cavallo tra la fine degli anni '30 e l'inizio degli anni '60, molti dei quali relativamente poco eseguiti. Le atmosfere sono perlopiù notturne, tipicamente da Jazz Club, e la Pascale vi si muove con la più totale disinvoltura, mettendo in luce una notevole duttilità vocale che le permette di modulare tanto tonalità cangianti, quanto espressività ...
Continue ReadingJoanna Pascale: Through My Eyes
by Greg Camphire
Philadelphia native Joanna Pascale ably represents her soulful hometown on Through My Eyes, demonstrating why she's a favorite of some of the city's finest musicians, including preeminent drummer Mickey Roker--an expert on swing if there ever was one. Pascale has obviously done her homework, and spent some quality time in the woodshed. Sidestepping what could be another tired retread of the Great American Songbook by yet another generic vocalist, Pascale shows she's got the taste and skills to pull off ...
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