Barbara Sfraga

Barbara Sfraga is an artist who gathers no moss as she rolls through life, constantly evolving. Jazz Times said “She has never met a genre she didn't like or couldn't assimilate.” Described as “consistently inventive” (Billboard) and “jazz singing at its cutting edge best” (LA Times), she’s been on a musical journey that evolved from church organist to rock keyboardist to ‘voicist’. A classically trained vocalist, Barbara jumped ship to sing rock, pop, R&B and jazz. She throws all those influences into the pot to create and sing the music she feels with no boundaries, as evidenced in her recordings, “Oh, What a Thrill” (1999, Naxos Jazz), “Under the Moon” (2003, A440 Music Group) and the most current “Timelessness Frozen in Time” (2006, SyncTimiCity), a collective effort featuring keyboardist/vocalist Mala Waldron, bass artisan Christopher Dean Sullivan, soundrhythium Michael T.A. Thompson and multi-reedist Allen Won.

The ensemble changed its name to The Timelessness Project in 2008, to reflect the cohesiveness of the collective. “There really is no leader in this ensemble”, says Barbara. “Rather, the group is fueled by all five of us, as we all contribute to the writing and promotion of the project. It’s a real team effort, and I know it sounds cliché, but we really are a family. There’s some heavy-duty love up in here!”

THE NEXT STEP. The coalescence of Sfraga’s “journeyart”, the evocative photography of Sfraga, Thompson and Waldron and the original music of The Timelessness Project (some of which can be found on Barbara Sfraga & Center Search Quest’s 2006 recording, “Timelessness Frozen in Time”) materialized into the multi- media venture, “Timelessnessity”, which seamlessly blends the aural and visual dimensions of the group. The ensemble had a strikingly visual side from the onset. Fans are struck by the their enchanting signature sound, but also, the visual side of the group - how they interact - which is the visual component of the improvisational interplay that is ever present in their music. That, combined with the very organic jewelry some of the musicians sport (Sfraga is also a jewelry designer) set the scene for a natural blending of disciplines. Sfraga’s 2006 book, The Subway Series, A Book of Drawings Sprinkled With Words contains some of the artwork featured in “Timelessnessity”.

Additional projects Sfraga is actively working with which she plans to record with soon:

bassdrums’n’voicethang with Center Search Quest’s bass artisan Christopher Dean Sullivan and soundrhythium Michael T.A. Thompson, a no-chords trio in which the players transcend their instruments, exploring sounds and silence.

Album Review

Oh, What A Thrill by C. Michael Bailey
Under The Moon by Franz A. Matzner
Under the Moon by Elliott Simon
Under the Moon by C. Michael Bailey
Under The Moon by Jim Santella
Timelessness Frozen In Time by Michael P. Gladstone

August 13, 2008

"Bassbass'n'voicethang" with Special Guest Andrea Wolper

July 10, 2007

Barbara Sfraga & Center Search Quest Tune in Live to Hear Radio...

June 19, 2007

CA Tour Dates: Barbara Sfraga & Center Search Quest: The Timelessness...

January 04, 2007

Barbara Sfraga & CSQ + Mala Waldron Group perform during IAJE, Friday,...

September 27, 2006

Barbara Sfraga & Center Search Quest at Jazz Standard, Monday, October 9

September 19, 2006

Barbara Sfraga & Center Search Quest at Dizzy's Club Coca Cola...

August 11, 2006

Barbara Sfraga & CSQ's upcoming NYC dates/release for "Timelessness...

June 22, 2006

Barbara Sfraga & Center Search Quest CD/Book Release Thu., June 22, @...

June 14, 2006

CD/Book Release: Barbara Sfraga & Center Search Quest, @ Makor-NYC,...

April 07, 2006

Barbara Sfraga & CSQ, Fri., 4/7 @ Enzo's Jazz @ The Jolly Hotel 8:30 PM...

(Preview) The singer likes to call herself a voicist -- presumably Sfraga's way to invest her vocals with an instrumental perspective (a ala saxophonist). But the truth is that she really doesn't have to do anything other than allow her inventive singing to speak for itself. Always eager to bring new life to the most familiar songs, Sfraga has gotten together with the gifted quartet Center Search Quest to develop new material in a style eclectic enough to combine elements of cutting-edge improvisation with R&B- tinged rhythms. - Don Heckman Los Angeles Times, Critics Choice

(Preview) And at La Ve Lee it’s the amazing NYC vocalist Barbara Sfraga and Center Search. Sfraga’s latest, Timelessness Frozen in Time, is a funkier, groovier concoction than her earlier stuff. Still, the opening tune, hook laden and suffused with a Flora Purim feel, extends for a non-radio-friendly 10 minutes. And aside from a terrific take on the Rufus classic “Tell Me Something Good,” the rest of the tunes are just as stretched and spacy. Expect some wildly inventive singing and plenty of improv workouts even if the newer material is distinctly less radical than before. Just wait until she slides into Cole Porter or Dylan. The lady’s a trip, in a vocal field where trippiness is nearly nonexistent. Good band too. Even if she calls her bass player a “bass artisan” and drummer a “soundrhythmist.” - Bricks Picks: The Surreal Thing Tasty Jams for Summer Nights By Brick Wahl, LA Weekly

On "Timelessness Frozen in Time"
"There’s no doubt Sfraga ’s a jazzbo, but she leaves no doubt that she’s about pushing the envelope, so much so that she bills herself as a voicist rather than a vocalist. Cutting edge from start to finish, even when tackling some well known funk, this set of mostly group written originals succeeds in pushing the envelope in the tradition of the best progressive jazz in contemporary times no matter what freak flag it flies under. Anyone who’s dug progressive jazz in the past has something new to look forward to." - Midwest Record Recap

"...these jazzicists are a cohesive group, both in terms of their own interplay and the ease in which they incorporate soul, funk, rap and adventurous modern jazz into the mix. Sfraga's clear voice is always appealing, and the whole set has a soaring energy that is in keeping with its positive message music slant." - Chris Heim, Jazziz Magazine

On "Under the Moon"
Her (Sfraga's) vocal work is consistently inventive and sure, and she demonstrates a distinctive feel for how to unlock a song in a new way. ~ BILLBOARD Magazine (Critic's Choice)

"There's brazenness to Sfraga that's as arresting as it is invigorating. Never content with traditional readings or staid arrangements, she is a master of bold interpretation...Bottom line? Get out and get Under the Moon." -Christopher Louden, Jazz Times

"This is jazz singing at its cutting-edge best, evidence...of the art's capacity for creative expansion and evolution." - Don Heckman, LA Times

"She fulfills the promise of her first disc, immediately making the four-year wait for a follow-up worth it with a headlong dive into Stardust - taffy-pulling the melody while being carried along by a gentle, up-to-the-minute beat." - Gene Seymour, Newsday (NY)

"You might hear intimations of icons like Mark Murphy and Sheila Jordan in her delivery, but Barbara Sfraga's very much her own woman: On her new album "Under the Moon", (A440 Music Group), she remodels and inhabits standards ranging from "Stardust" to Bob Dylan's "Every Grain of Sand", and tosses in a wry, funky original ("Never Walk Away") for good measure." -Time Out New York

On "Oh, What a Thrill":
"Her slow-dance simmer on "Great Balls of Fire" pegs her as a neatly updated throwback to old- time torch singers and blues-belting mamas, and her warm, round contralto projects an earthy, enveloping sexuality on Rogers and Hart's "I Didn't Know What Time It Was". But when she dances through her own words to Lee Morgan's curvy hard-bop classic "Free Wheelin'" (retitled "Livin' The Life of Freedom"), or picks her way through the tongue-twisting lyrics to "Slug It Up", Sfraga becomes a thoroughly modern jazz singer." - Neil Tesser, Chicago Reader (Critics Choice)

On Live Performance:
To watch Sfraga perform is to witness a complete and contagious musical immersion...Her sincerity is audible on "Under the Moon", but it's absolutely magnetic when she's live. -- Judith Schlesinger, All About Jazz (Nite and Disc column)

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