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Jazz Articles about Suzanne Pittson
Suzanne Pittson: Out of the Hub: The Music of Freddie Hubbard
by Wilbert Sostre
The vocalese and scatting tradition is alive and well in singer Suzanne Pittson. With Out of the Hub: The Music of Freddie Hubbard, Pittson continues to establish herself as one of the best singers on today's jazz scene. Out of the Hub includes tunes written by or associated with trumpet legend Freddie Hubbard, with Pittson writing or co-writing five lyrics, which Hubbard approved just three months before his passing in 2008. To honor Hubbard, Pittson recruited ...
read moreSuzanne Pittson: Blues And The Abstract Truth
by AAJ Staff
Billy Eckstine once said to an aspiring vocalist Use your natural chops, never affect an accent that is not your own" and to her credit there is not one iota of affectation in Suzanne Pittson's vocal style. She sings with clarity and never loses the essence of the song with useless histrionics. Pittson's instrument is her voice. No Saxophones, Brasses, Strings or Percussion can duplicate the human voice, it is an entity unto itself capable of twists, turns and innuendo ...
read moreSuzanne Pittson: Resolution: A Remembrance of John Coltrane
by Dave Hughes
One of the most adventurous vocal CDs to come around in a long time is Suzanne Pittson's Resolution: A Remembrance of John Coltrane. Pittson achieves her goal of molding her voice into saxophone-like solos. She's bold and daring, very much in the spirit of the CD's honoree. The occasional slight lapse in intonation can be forgiven in settings like this where caution is thrown to the wind and Pittson immerses herself into the song. Her husband, Jeff Pittson, proves to ...
read moreSuzanne Pittson: Resolution: A Remembrance of John Coltrane
by Jack Bowers
Resolution is a “concept” album whose cardinal purpose is to reshape the music of saxophonist John Coltrane, especially from his seminal work A Love Supreme, for vocalist Suzanne Pittson and her accompanists. As one who was never a partisan of Trane’s later “spiritual” period, I find it difficult to appraise with confidence those aspects of the session. Besides two sections from A Love Supreme (“Resolution” and “Pursuance” with lyrics added by Suzanne and husband Jeff Pittson) they include Trane’s “Liberia” ...
read moreSuzanne Pittson: Resolution: A Remembrance Of John Coltrane
by Jim Santella
Scat singing and original lyrics mark Suzanne Pittson’s second release, which is centered on John Coltrane’s landmark A Love Supreme album. With a piano trio and tenor saxophonist, altering her voice at times as if it were a trumpet, Pittson sings of life and love, the deep feelings we have buried inside, and how the music can help us find our way. From Northern California, the singer holds Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from San Francisco State University, where ...
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