Linda Ciofalo

“Ciofalo is a sophisticated singer and her voice carries a smile. It’s a winning combination.”--All About Jazz NY

Linda Ciofalo might be a familiar name on the New York vocal jazz scene, but she wasn’t yet a blip on my radar screen when I received a copy of her new recording, Sun Set (Lucky Jazz). But I’ll bet she’ll soon be one of the bright stars in the jazz sky. Ciofalo celebrated the CD's release at The Kitano in Manhattan on December 6th and undoubtedly will be heard frequently around the Big Apple and beyond.

Joan Stiles

“Professionally my first gigs were as a folk singer. I played a guitar, sang and did a singer/songwriter thing for a while.  I became very interested in Bob Dylan and Joan Baez. I researched the ballads and songs that influenced them. I learned all the words to the Bob Dylan songs, just like kids today know the words to rap music. I remember playing my first guitar until my fingers were absolutely bloody. I practiced all of the time. Within a few months, I was performing professionally. When there were high school dances, I would be the intermission act and I would perform Bob Dylan songs or ballads that I had written.” 

 You are probably thinking that the above quote could describe how a lot of musicians and singers get their start in music, and you would be right.  What is a little surprising is that the person who first performed “Revolutionary Bob’s” tunes is ensconced in a style of music very distant from anything Dylan ever thought of recording or performing. The individual quoted is jazz pianist Joan Stiles, whose debut CD, Love Call, released in 2004, was critically acclaimed and, in some circles, heralded as one of the emerging bright lights on the jazz music scene.  Love Call went on to be ranked # 9 on Jazz Week’s charts for 2004, quite an accomplishment for a then relatively unknown artist.  

Stacey Kent©Andrea Canter

“Her singular voice glides along a spectrum that runs from brittle and piercing (think of a jazzy Sandy Duncan) to a delicate whisper that trails into a light, flirtatious vibrato (Blossom Dearie)…Her stripped-down interpretations of standards reveal the lyrics with an unblinking clarity.”—Stephen Holden, New York Times

Now garnering the attention in the U.S. that has followed her career in Europe, Stacy Kent “has a voice that a less musically savvy performer might use as a building block for creating a cute, smiley persona, but…carries it in more sophisticated directions” (Stephen Holden, New York Times). With a new release that has critics buzzing, Kent will bring her magical voice (and super band with husband Jim Tomlinson) to Birdland in Manhattan, November 27-December 2.

Lou Donaldson©Andrea Canter

“It’s really groove music that’s made for people to dance to. That’s what jazz used to be about. But what’s also essential is that my music has a blues flavor, because when you get down to it, that’s what jazz is.” –Lou Donaldson (All About Jazz)

Two of the swingingest, hard boppin’ jazzers on the planet, saxman Lou Donaldson and B-3 organ grinder Dr. Lonnie Smith and quartet will unite at the Village Vanguard, November 27-December 2. At 81, Donaldson has played through more than fifty years of jazz history, from the pure bop of the 50s to R&B and soul/funk in the 60s and 70s, returning more and more to his trademark bop and blues in the last decade. A defining force of the Hammond B-3, Dr. Lonnie Smith is a frequent collaborator with Donaldson, ensuring nonstop swing throughout their residency at the Vanguard.