Jazz Articles about John Proulx

John Proulx: Say It

by C. Michael Bailey
April 20, 2018

Vocalist/pianist John Proulx has previously released three exceptional recordings on the MAXJAZZ Label (now owned by Mack Avenue Records): Moon and Sand (2006); The Best Thing For You (2006); and Baker's Dozen: Remembering Chet Baker (2016). With the death of MAXJAZZ founder Richard McDonnell, Proulx elected to self-release his recording Say It. The recording is produced by vocalist/producer Judy Wexler, whose own recordings, What I see (Jazzed Media, 2013), Under a Painted Sky (Jazzed Media, 2011), and Dreams and Shadows ...

John Proulx: Say It

by Dan Bilawsky
April 17, 2018

This fourth date from John Proulx clearly marks a new chapter in his career. After delivering three albums on the now-defunct MAXJAZZ imprint, and after a hiatus from recording under his own name, this triple-threat vocalist-pianist-composer returns with his first independently-produced offering. The music spotlights a man who's grown more comfortable in his skin and lived more of what life has to offer. With a band stacked with West Coast heavyweights, a playlist marked by eclectic material ...

John Proulx: The Best Thing for You

by C. Michael Bailey
November 13, 2012

While female jazz vocalists outnumber male jazz vocalists five to one, it would be a fallacy to believe there is not a wealth of talent among the men singers. With Louis Armstrong and Chet Baker now memories, and Mark Murphy and Jon Hendricks in twilight, as Kurt Elling ascends their throne, there exists a vocal diaspora of the most refined and sonically appealing voices singing, and they are all men. Andy Bey, Beat Kaestli, Henry Darragh and John Proulx all ...

John Proulx: Moon and Sand

by C. Michael Bailey
September 5, 2006

Los Angeles-native pianist/singer/composer John Proulx possesses the most thrillingly androgynous voice since Chet Baker whispered “My Funny Valentine. The comparison cannot stop there. Both Baker and Proulx nominally hail from the Midwest (Baker from Oklahoma, Proulx from Michigan). Both men sing with a vibrato-less high tenor; and both men gravitated to the same corner of the American musical canon.

But there is where the similarities end. To dispense with the necessary Chet Baker comparisons from the get go, John Proulx ...