Jazz Articles about Karrin Allyson

Karrin Allyson Live at Birdland

by Michael P. Gladstone
June 18, 2007

Karrin Allyson Birdland New York, NY May 19, 2007

The time is 9 P.M. at Birdland, and jazz singer Karrin Allyson is about to open a four-night engagement at the famed Manhattan club. The musicians are all gathered together, and the singer is amongst friends with whom she's been performing since her Kansas City days and with whom she made her debut recording on Concord Records in 1993. Although she has recorded with ...

Karrin Allyson: Footprints

by Suzanne Lorge
July 6, 2006

Karrin Allyson marked the release of Footprints at the Blue Note in April--a subtle introduction for a great album. The twice Grammy-nominated vocalist typically turns out great albums, so in and of itself, this isn't the news. What sets Footprints apart is Allyson's keen understanding of the jazz instrumental classics from which the CD borrows: It's a rare singer who can interpret the great horn players' star turns with this kind of poise. For the show Allyson ...

Truth, Tradition & Karrin Allyson

by Mathew Bahl
April 26, 2006

Honesty...“That's the goal," explains jazz vocalist Karrin Allyson. “I think it's important to be honest when you're singing and playing and not to sound like someone else. We all have influences and people we love, but we are own people."Nearly every aspiring jazz singer talks about finding his or her unique voice. However, by defining individuality in terms of authenticity rather than dissimilarity, Karrin Allyson has managed to achieve that ideal. In the process, she has ...

Karrin Allyson: Footprints

by C. Michael Bailey
April 26, 2006

Jazz vocalist Karrin Allyson has one peer: Cassandra Wilson. Both women have impacted jazz vocals in the last decade, swerving the genre into interesting places. Allyson's most critically acclaimed release, Ballads (Concord, 2001), came after the release of six solid, if less received, releases for the label. This concept recording gave way to forays into sleek blues (In Blue, 2002) and pop jazz (Wild for You, 2004). Allyson returns to the vocalese concept of Ballads with Footprints.

On ...

Karrin Allyson: Wild For You

by Jim Santella
July 5, 2004

The change in Karrin Allyson’s performance is significant; but that doesn’t alter the unique vocal presence through which we’ve come to know her and to appreciate for a decade and a half. In Wild For You , we still have the expressive treatment of lyrics, the delicate aura that combines scat singing with meaningful communication, and the sensual interplay that energizes her bands to create spontaneously and naturally.

Never a forceful singer, she combines the cool school with ...

Karrin Allyson: Wild for You

by C. Michael Bailey
July 4, 2004

West Coast-based jazz vocalist Karrin Allyson was five albums into her Concord career before she hit on niche—well-conceived concept recordings. The first in this series was From Paris to Rio (Concord 4865, 1999), which found Ms. Allyson in the original French and Portuguese mood. From Paris to Rio contains a collection of specifically chosen melodies, all intricate and ornate. It was followed in 2001 with what may be Allyson’s masterpiece, Ballads: Remembering John Coltrane (Concord 4950), where the singer took ...

Karrin Allyson Quintet

by Christopher Jones
March 12, 2004

Karrin Allyson QuintetD’Mitriou’s Jazz Alley Seattle, WA

When I think of Kansas City—specifically the jazz that came out of that city in the 1930s—I think of Count Basie and his big band; I think of Lester Young and his solo on “Doggin’ Around”; I think of cutting contests and gutbucket blues and tight ensemble riffs. Mostly, I think of how jazz, as it migrated north to urban centers like K.C., blossomed from a provincial folk music into ...