Reviews (pdf) - Unlimited Myles

Mmmm, Jazz
http://www.7dvt.com/print/111157
Published on Seven Days (http://www.7dvt.com)
Mmmm, Jazz
Soundbites
By Dan Bolles [06.12.13]
They came, they saw, they scatted … er, musically speaking. And with the final notes of Poncho
Sanchez and Ray Vega drifting into the night air on Sunday, the curtain closed on the 30th annual
Burlington Discover Jazz Festival.
Traditionally, this would be the part of my annual recap column where I run through the long list of
festival highlights — and maybe lowlights — from the 10 days that were. But I approached jazz
fest a little differently this year. I took a more leisurely route to jazz enlightenment, picking my
spots instead of going all out and trying to get to as many shows as I could. Frankly, favoring
quality over quantity was refreshing. And it allowed me to appreciate the shows I caught from a
more relaxed perspective, which is really the best way to absorb music. To that end, there were two
performances in particular that stood out to these ears and, I think, captured the heart of the festival.
Or at least captured my heart. (Aww…)
In last week’s missive [1], I rolled out a long-standing column gimmick in which I gaze into the
future and review a show I haven’t yet seen, in this case Saturn People’s Sound Collective [2] at
the FlynnSpace. I don’t use that trick often, and even then only when I’m reasonably sure I won’t
be made to look like an idiot the following week. I’m pleased to report SPSC held up their end of
the bargain. Mostly.
In that column, I opined that the band would not merely be a local highlight but a “festival topper,
period.” In hindsight, that prediction was a little overeager. The 20-person arkestra was indeed a
highlight, though whether they really stood on par with some of the other festival greats is surely
debatable. What isn’t debatable is that Brian Boyes’ outfit is a deeply imaginative and profoundly
gifted group who are already a must-see local act even after only a handful of public performances.
As a bandleader, Boyes is an energetic and commanding presence, using his full body to coax every
last ounce of emotion from his players. With his mussed mop of hair and sharp jacket, he kind of
reminded me of a young Michael Chorney, a similarly adventurous local composer whose
influence on Boyes is obvious and likely stems from their time together in another spacey big band,
viperHouse.
Like Chorney, Boyes has a brilliant ear for melody, couching delicate phrases within deceptively
1 of 4 6/12/13 3:44 PM

Mmmm, Jazz
http://www.7dvt.com/print/111157
complex arrangements. This is music that stimulates both the mind and soul, but not nearly as
aggressively as, say, Steve Reich, another influence. Boyes’ compositions are surprisingly
accessible and listenable despite his many-tentacled approach, which is a credit to his skill. Like
another local music scribe I spoke to in the crowd that night, I was prepared for something more
challenging, a little weirder. I was pleasantly surprised to find Boyes striking an agreeable balance.
My only quibble is that the FlynnSpace itself might not be the best venue for a band with so many
acoustic variables: brass, reed instruments, strings, vocals, electric guitar, percussion, etc. At times,
I got the impression that band members were having a hard time hearing each other, which led to
some disjointed moments, especially certain attacks that hit with less than the required force. Still,
minor sound issues aside, it was tremendous performance.
And then there was Gretchen. Sweet, sweet Gretchen.
I have a confession. Even after delving deep into Gretchen Parlato [3]’s career and music, after
reading virtually everything that’s been written about her, and even after speaking with her and
writing a cover story singing her praises, I still found the notion that “Gretchen Parlato’s voice is an
instrument” to be a cute bit of music-crit hyperbole. Hell, I even interviewed the guy who was
among the first critics to use those words to describe her, Steve Greenlee.
I was wrong. Steve was right.
Parlato’s late set at the FlynnSpace last Saturday was among the finest performances I’ve seen. Not
just in jazz. I mean period. And, yes, her voice is absolutely an instrument. And a divine one at that.
I’m not sure I have never seen anyone do the things with a human voice that Gretchen Parlato can
do. And it’s not that she can sound like a trumpet or a saxophone or a cello — though I’ll concede
those comparisons are reasonable. It’s the emotion she evokes, often wordlessly, though not
necessarily by scatting. It’s the heartbreaking hitch in a quiet, mournful wail. It’s the precision with
which she effortlessly glides through arpeggios as if her throat has valves. It’s the softness in her
tone that, even from 50 feet away, makes it seem like she’s whispering in your ear.
Parlato’s set was short, barely an hour by my watch. But I’d wager she gave the audience more
chills during those 60 minutes than were felt during the rest of the festival combined. In the
moment, I was surprised the crowd didn’t rally more heartily for an encore. Even by stiff jazz-festaudience
standards it seemed a subdued effort, and Parlato didn’t return. In hindsight, I suspect
what was really happening was that we were all still mystified by what we had just seen. Which
was, simply put, greatness.
BiteTorrent
If there is one thing this column loves, it’s a good gimmick. And the upcoming VALOR fundraiser
for the Girls Rock VT [4] at Nectar’s on Saturday, June 15, is not merely a good gimmick, it’s a
great one. VALOR stands for Vermont Arm-Wrestling Ladies of Rock. Really. The fundraiser is a
double-elimination arm-wrestling tournament pitting eight local female rockers against each other,
“Over the Top” style. As of press time, the contestants have yet to be announced, which means I
can’t handicap the tourney for you. However, if you go and want to get some friendly wagering in
2 of 4 6/12/13 3:44 PM

Finding Her Voice: Gretchen Parlato
http://www.7dvt.com/print/110254
Published on Seven Days (http://www.7dvt.com)
Finding Her Voice: Gretchen Parlato
By Dan Bolles [05.29.13]
If you read up on jazz singer Gretchen Parlato [1], you’ll inevitably encounter some variation of the
phrase, “She uses her voice like an instrument.” That may be the ultimate compliment in a genre
that historically has placed a premium on musicality over flash, and has tended to view vocalists
more as entertainers than serious musicians. For example, consider that it took the prestigious
Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance at the University of Southern California 15 years to
admit its first vocalist. And that vocalist was Gretchen Parlato.
Increasingly, savvy jazz fans have become smitten with the 37-year-old Parlato, who will perform
on Saturday, June 8, as part of this year’s Burlington Discover Jazz Festival. Vermonters will then
have the chance to hear for themselves why she annually ranks at or near the top of critics’ polls of
the world’s finest jazz vocalists. For five years running, Parlato was named one of DownBeat
magazine’s “rising star” female vocalists, before being named the No. 2 Best Female Vocalist in
2012. That’s the same year she was named the Best Female Vocalist by the Jazz Journalist
Association. But these lofty accolades only tell part of Parlato’s story.
Famed producer Quincy Jones has said that jazz is equal parts soul and science. That notion goes a
long way toward describing Gretchen Parlato’s appeal. Some singers amaze with virtuosic
technique, profound displays that seem to defy the very limits of the human voice. Others petition
more directly to our emotional sensibilities, thoughtfully tugging our heartstrings with a sly turn of
phrase or a gentle croon. Rare is the singer who can do both. And when they come around, we tend
to refer to them familiarly: Billie, Ella, Frank.
“Gretchen” may not be there yet, but she gives us every reason to believe that her day will come,
and soon. Combining the ability and elegance of a classic jazz diva with the curiosity and vision of
the genre’s forward-thinking pioneers, Parlato represents a bold evolution of the jazz singer. No,
she is not the next Billie Holiday or Sarah Vaughan — and she would be the first to say so. She is
Gretchen Parlato. And she is the face of a new generation of vocalists who are challenging our
perceptions of how the human voice can be instrumental — literally and figuratively — in jazz
music.
Parlato was born and raised in Los Angeles and grew up in an eminently musical household. Her
father is Dave Parlato, a respected jazz bassist who played with Frank Zappa in the 1970s, as well
as with Barbra Streisand and Henry Mancini, among others. Her grandfather, Charlie Parlato, was a
singer and trumpet player who performed with Lawrence Welk. Parlato’s mother is a musician,
1 of 7 5/29/13 1:20 PM

Finding Her Voice: Gretchen Parlato
http://www.7dvt.com/print/110254
artist and graphic designer — she designed Gretchen’s website.
“My family was really big on exposing me to all types of music and art. Very early on there were
all types of sounds in the house,” says Parlato in a phone interview from her current home in New
York City. “It was a beautiful way to be spoiled.”
Parlato attended the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, a public school that specializes
in conservatory-style artistic training. There, she realized that music would become more than a
casual pursuit.
“I realized I needed and wanted to thrive off of an artistic community,” she says of her high school
experience. “That was when the realization happened that music wasn’t just a hobby, that this was
what I have to do with my life.”
It was also when Parlato began to approach her voice as an instrument.
Grammy-nominated jazz singer Tierney Sutton [2] was her private voice teacher while Parlato was
attending LACHSA in the early 1990s, and worked with the young singer over the nine years
following. Parlato also worked as nanny to Sutton’s son, and the two women have remained close
ever since, with Sutton advising and appearing on Parlato’s early recordings. Sutton says Parlato’s
unique talent was obvious from the outset.
“My immediate impression of Gretchen was that she had something special,” she says by phone
from California.
Sutton explains that when meeting new students for the first time, she asks them to bring in a
recording of themselves singing so they don’t have to perform for her cold. Parlato chose a school
recording in which she sings a note-perfect rendition of Stan Getz’s saxophone solo on
“Desafinado” (which, ironically, means “out of tune” in Portuguese).
“I just went, ‘Holy shit. What am I going to do with this girl? How can I not screw her up?’” Sutton
recalls.
She says she put Parlato on a “no-vocalist diet,” prescribing a listening regimen solely of
instrumental music.
“I knew from my own experience that if I had continued to listen to Sarah Vaughan, I’d be a dental
hygienist now,” quips Sutton. “The quality of my voice was different, so I listened to horn players
for their musical ideas. ”
Like Sutton, Parlato sings in a natural register that is higher toned than that of classic songbirds
such as Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald or Nina Simone — the most famous female tenor in jazz. Sutton
says she encouraged her star pupil to embrace the unconventional qualities of her own voice.
“I had been through that rodeo before,” says Sutton. “But there is nothing you can do but be who
you are. So I didn’t want anybody to mess with the sensibilities she already has vocally. And I
could tell she had the ability to listen to serious instrumental stuff.”
2 of 7 5/29/13 1:20 PM

Finding Her Voice: Gretchen Parlato
http://www.7dvt.com/print/110254
One of Parlato’s hallmarks is her ability to incorporate styles from beyond the traditional
parameters of the jazz idiom into her own work. In particular, she is greatly intrigued by the
rhythms of Brazilian music, and counts bossa nova legend Astrud Gilberto among her most
significant influences. That multicultural aspect of Parlato’s style was nurtured at the University of
California at Los Angeles, where she majored in ethnomusicology and jazz studies.
“That was a breakthrough that exposed me to what was possible in art and music,” Parlato says.
“To hear singers from all over the world, what they’re doing with their voices and what they have
been doing since the beginning of time, it opens you up.”
In 2001, Parlato entered the Monk Institute at USC, which had been an instrumental program since
its inception in 1986. Sutton was teaching there at the time and had recommended Parlato apply.
The young singer auditioned for a panel that included jazz luminaries Wayne Shorter, Terence
Blanchard and Herbie Hancock. Under the guidance of those masters and alongside fellow students
such as guitarist and vocalist Lionel Loueke [3], she began to unearth and hone the traits that would
come to define her, both personally and as a musician.
“It was an intense experience,” says Parlato of her two years at the Monk Institute. “It’s not just
about music. It’s about your own soul searching and development. You go through a huge
transformation, a breakdown, break-through process.
“You come out knowing much better what you want to do, and how you want to do it,” Parlato
continues, using words that evoke a certain famous Sinatra song. “It allows you to look into
yourself and discover how you want to present yourself, to do things your way.”
Parlato says part of her independent spirit stems from her time with Loueke, who would become a
frequent collaborator at the Monk Institute and was later a driving force on her 2009 album, In a
Dream. Parlato credits the West African musician with exposing her to atypical global rhythmic
patterns, which she has incorporated into her style.
“To just keep time with Lionel can throw people off, including me,” she says. “But he’s such a
beautiful musician. I’ve learned so much about texture, melody and harmony from him. He’s very
special.”
3 of 7 5/29/13 1:20 PM

Finding Her Voice: Gretchen Parlato
http://www.7dvt.com/print/110254
Sutton recalls of the Monk Institute, “the influences of all the players there were really diverse — it
wasn’t just jazz as usual.”
Nor was Parlato’s performance at the 2004 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Vocals competition
in Washington, D.C., which she won as something of a dark horse. Having recently graduated and
moved to New York City, Parlato was a relative unknown, in part because she had yet to record a
project as a solo artist. Over the years since, she’s been a guest vocalist on more than 50 recordings
by artists including Shorter, Loueke and Esperanza Spalding.
Parlato now has three albums of her own, including two on the cutting-edge indie label ObliqSound
[4], based in New York and Hamburg, Germany. But she didn’t record her first solo album until her
self-titled debut in 2005.
“I used to get frustrated with her,” admits Sutton, who urged Parlato to record her own music from
an early age. “It took her a long time to put something out for real. But she told me, ‘I just don’t
think I’ve found my voice yet. I don’t feel like I’ve got something to offer that is really my own,’”
Sutton explains. Then she adds, “God bless her, she was right. I give her a lot of credit for not
taking my advice.”
It’s difficult to find much negative criticism of Gretchen Parlato. What little there is tends to parrot
an age-old — and, frankly, tired — argument about what should and shouldn’t be considered jazz.
Can someone who reinterprets Duke Ellington’s “Azure” alongside the breezy, 1990s new-jack
swing of SWV’s “Weak,” [5] as Parlato did on In a Dream, really be called a jazz singer? And what
about those covers of Mary J. Blige’s “All That I Can Say” and Simply Red’s “Holding Back the
Years” on her 2011 album, The Lost and Found? This is the leading voice of jazz in the 21st
century?
4 of 7 5/29/13 1:20 PM

Finding Her Voice: Gretchen Parlato
http://www.7dvt.com/print/110254
Yes. And no.
“For me to say I’m a jazz singer could be a stretch to a traditionalist,” concedes Parlato. But that
statement comes with a caveat.
“It’s a broader term now,” she continues. “We can incorporate any influence or any genre and
redefine it.”
Reuben Jackson [6] is the host of “Friday Night Jazz,” a jazz radio program that airs weekly on
Vermont Public Radio. He assumed the post from longtime host George Thomas last year after
having spent 20 years as the curator of the Duke Ellington Collection at the Smithsonian Museum
in Washington, D.C. He says Parlato’s willingness to push boundaries is simply part of a
longstanding tradition of innovation in jazz.
“In order to be someone’s central-casting version of a jazz singer, it seems like you have to say it
every third sentence to let people know your jazz credentials as a singer,” Jackson says. “It’s
refreshing to hear someone who is so obviously musically committed to a breadth of material,” he
continues, citing as an example Parlato’s stunning, unlikely interpretation of the Miles Davis and
Bill Evans staple “Blue in Green” [7] from The Lost and Found.
“The original versions of those songs are already the definitive versions. So I don’t want to imitate
anything. There’s no point,” says Parlato of her approach to deconstructing established, sometimes
iconic compositions. “But a beautiful song is a beautiful song,” she continues. “So you break it
down and then add your own story. You want to honor the beauty of the original but do something
new.”
Parlato’s version of that Kind of Blue centerpiece is an impressionistic digression that is almost
unrecognizable from the original. However, Parlato evokes the Prince of Darkness’ somber
cerulean melancholy with breathy, yearning tones that kind of sound like a trumpet, even as she’s
singing the lyrics written by jazz vocalist and composer Meredith d’Ambrosio.
“It’s the power of nuance,” explains Jackson of Parlato’s innovative bent. “Someone like Billie
Holiday or even Miles Davis, who could recast a melody in a subtle way. It’s reinvention, but it’s
not hitting you over the head with scat singing. Gretchen has that sublime power, where it’s like
being knocked over with a muted trumpet.”
Indeed, subtlety has long been a key to Parlato’s approach. Even in conversation she is soft-spoken
and thoughtful. In concert, she often favors a sleek, understated black dress that renders her almost
indistinguishable from her bandmates, rather than call attention to herself as a front person.
In his review of a 2009 concert for the Boston Globe [8], jazz critic Steve Greenlee writes that
Parlato presented herself as a “fully integrated member of her band,” who “appears to see herself
less as a singer than as a musician whose instrument happens to be her voice.” He adds of her
hushed delivery that Parlato “softly moans some lyrics, stretches out syllables for two and three
bars, and adds wordless vocals that are more like sax solos than scat.” He likened her voice to a
cello. And a muted trumpet. And a trombone.
5 of 7 5/29/13 1:20 PM

Finding Her Voice: Gretchen Parlato
http://www.7dvt.com/print/110254
“She doesn’t see the band as a supporting character,” reiterates Greenlee, speaking by phone from
Portland, Maine, where he is now managing editor of the Portland Press Herald and Maine Sunday
Telegram. “She’s part of the band, and she incorporates her voice as if it were another instrument.
She interacts with her voice like piano would with a bass. In some ways, she’s more of an
improviser than most jazz vocalists are.”
Critic Larry Appelbaum [9] agrees that Parlato is unique among modern jazz vocalists, calling her
sound “instantly identifiable” in a recent email. Appelbaum is a regular contributor to several
publications, including JazzTimes. He also hosts a jazz radio program in Washington, D.C., and
serves as the senior music reference specialist in the music division of the Library of Congress.
Appelbaum says Parlato’s technical skill, combined with her profound musicality, set her apart not
merely as a vocalist but as a musician.
“She doesn’t have a large voice, but her ear and intonation allow her to sing in tune without
resorting to studio production tricks,” writes Appelbaum. “I think that’s also why so many
musicians call her for recording dates. She has the discipline and precision control of a studio
singer who can nail difficult intervals and phrasing. Her sound, approach and sensibility help make
her a musician, not just a singer.”
“The defining characteristic of a jazz singer is someone who doesn’t approach a song the same way
every time,” adds Greenlee. “The essence of jazz is improvisation. She improvises every time she
sings.”
Parlato seems to have little use for definitions of her music or whether what she does fits neatly into
classifications of jazz.
“To me, it’s not even anything to argue about,” she says. “Jazz is a style of music that was the
popular music of the day at a certain time and now has grown and transformed. We’re moving with
it and it’s moving with us. There is room for someone who wants to carry that tradition and honor
that. And there is room for other people to push it in a new direction.”
VPR’s Reuben Jackson agrees.
“You could put her under a microscope and pick apart every little detail,” he says. “But it’s really
about what you do with the material. It’s about curiosity. That’s what keeps pushing jazz forward.”
Parlato’s next project is a live album, her first. Due out this summer, it was recorded over a series of
New York City shows in December 2012 and features two different bands. One includes Taylor
Eigsti, Burniss Earl Travis and Kendrick Scott; the other has Eigsti, Alan Hampton and Mark
Guiliana. All are longtime collaborators with Parlato.
She says that record is primarily composed of songs from her previous albums, but that the live
versions will be markedly different from the studio cuts, capturing a chemistry that can only happen
in concert.
“These songs open up and there is a lot of space around them,” Parlato explains. “They change in
the moment when we play them live.”
6 of 7 5/29/13 1:20 PM

Finding Her Voice: Gretchen Parlato
http://www.7dvt.com/print/110254
That’s an enticing prospect for fans, particularly considering that, according to Sutton, Parlato’s
beguiling live persona is perhaps her most impressive trait. And it was the last part of her musical
soul to fully bloom, Sutton adds — the final discovery in a complex and challenging science.
“Because Gretchen has such a pure instrumental quality, translating that into a performance persona
took her a minute,” explains Sutton. “To watch her, in every aspect, say she has to do this her own
way, be her own person, bring in influences that are most dear to her — that was a lesson to me to
tell other students. When you really take those risks, it takes a while for people to understand it and
frame it in a way an audience can absorb.”
As her reputation grows, more and more audiences are doing just that: absorbing the brilliance of
Gretchen Parlato.
“The only thing I can do is to continue to create and offer my own music, and for it to come from a
genuine place,” Parlato says. “I don’t know how to define that. But as long as it’s honest, who cares
what you call it?”
Gretchen Parlato performs at the 2013 Burlington Discover Jazz Festival Saturday, June 8, at the
FlynnSpace in Burlington, 8 and 10 p.m. $25. flynntix.org [10]
Source URL: http://www.7dvt.com/2013finding-her-voice-gretchen-parlato
Links:
[1] http://www.gretchenparlato.com/
[2] http://www.tierneysutton.com/
[3] http://www.lionelloueke.com/
[4] http://www.obliqsound.com/
[5] http://youtu.be/WXH8g1M2Q78
[6] http://www.7dvt.com/2012vpr-jazz-reuben-jackson
[7] http://youtu.be/3iOUNR6GdWw
[8] http://www.boston.com/ae/music/articles/2009/10/16/parloto/
[9] http://larryappelbaum.wordpress.com/tag/larry-appelbaum/
[10] http://flynntix.org
7 of 7 5/29/13 1:20 PM

Parlato transports audience with masterful performance | The L...
http://www.lawrentian.com/?p=736 target=
Home About Submit Apply
News Features Opinions & Editorials Arts & Entertainment Sports Variety
Arts & Entertainment
Parlato transports audience with masterful performance
POSTED ON MAY 18, 2013 BY ANNA BUCHHOLZ IN ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT WITH 0 COMMENTS
On a night overflowing with music, jazz singer Gretchen Parlato concluded this season’s Jazz Series with an
exquisite concert on Friday night, May 10, backed by keyboardist Fabian Almazan, bassist Chris Morrissey and
drummer Mark Guiliana. Parlato sang tunes from her albums “In a Dream” and “Lost and Found,” showcasing each
musician’s individual voice while also creating a uni-fied texture and mood behind Parlato.
Coming from a musical family, Parlato first gained attention when she won first place in the Thelonious Monk Institute
Interna-tional Vocal Competition and has continued to turn heads in her solo work as well as her collaborations with
Wayne Shorter, Es-peranza Spalding, Marcus Miller and Herbie Hancock, among others.
The concert began with piano, bass and drums setting the groove to “Within Me” before Parlato walked on stage. A
four-note line laid down by the bass set the stage under the delicate colors of brushes by the drummer and twinkling
melodies by the piano until Parlato entered. The relaxing mood of the evening was immediately set when she began
singing.
Amid a plethora of female jazz vocalists, Parlato’s style is truly unique in its intimacy and delicacy of each inflection
and lyric. I can only describe her as having an aura about her; she was calming and almost introspective in her
sound, never sounding forceful or as if she was trying too hard. Her musical style reflected the sultry and sensual
sounds of her voice, with each tune feeling fluid and floating.
Her second tune was a cover of Simply Red’s “Holding Back the Years” from “Lost and Found,” followed by
“Butterfly,” which gave Parlato a chance to add body percussion to its bossa nova groove. Throughout the rest of the
concert, Parlato would play the caxixi or televi shakers (both percussive instruments)either as structural grooves or
extra embellishments. During one tune, Parlato created a percussive vocal track with popping sounds, whistles and
something similar to high squeaks.
Scatting is a typical characteristic of jazz singing, but Parlato’s style did not include this effect, instead improvising
longer melod-ic lines on one syllable. This created more of a textural landscape rather than conventional improvised
soloing.
One tune featured the piano and voice in a duet, created by elastic phrases and rubato lines between each player.
Almazan on piano covered the entire range of the piano, building thick textures of extended chords while Parlato
wove her voice in and out of his composition.
Transitioning into the final tune, drummer Guiliana soloed with meticulous rhythms and metric licks, sounding almost
mechani-cal in his precision, but still musically clever and groove- based. The audience then welcomed her back for
an encore tune called “Winter Wind” from her third album. Parlato wrote the tune and lyrics, which gradually build to
an extended period of all members improvising under her repeatedly singing, “it’s the time of your life… to hold on.”
Amidst all the music on Friday, I temporarily forgot I was in Appleton, Wis., rather than someplace like New York City.
Members of fusion band Snarky Puppy, based in Brooklyn, were seen at Parlato’s concert and then vice versa, with
Parlato’s band joining in the LU-Aroo festivities at Snarky Puppy’s show. Thank you to LU and all the people who
made such a great evening of music possi-ble!
Most Recent
“Grandchildren” describes overcoming loss through art
“Plough and the Stars” presents portrait of revolutionary
Ireland
Parlato transports audience with masterful performance
Shaolin Jazz lecture teaches listeners about links
between jazz and hip-hop
Snarky Puppy kicks off LU-Aroo with a fantastic show
Top Articles
Athletes of the Week: Nick Craker and Chelsea
Hameister
FEBRUARY 2, 2013
That was Lawrence: Black History and
Lawrence (Part 2)
APRIL 3, 2013
Spoken word poet Andrea Gibson discusses
gender and sexuality
APRIL 13, 2013
Tagged Anna Buchholz
Like 0 Tweet 0 0
Like
1 of 2 5/29/13 1:32 PM

Parlato transports audience with masterful performance | The L...
http://www.lawrentian.com/?p=736 target=
Add a comment...
Post to Facebook
Posting as Gillian Friedman
(Change)
Comment
Facebook social plugin
© 2012 The Lawrentian and Lawrentian Media Services. All rights reserved. The Lawrentian welcomes your input and submissions. To submit, click here.
2 of 2 5/29/13 1:32 PM

Profound calm on a summer's day
Cheong Suk-wai
689 words
18 March 2013
Straits Times
STIMES
English
(c) 2013 Singapore Press Holdings Limited
Gretchen Parlato's sweet lulling voice had the effect of a glass of cold spring water
Review Concert
GRETCHEN PARLATO
Esplanade Recital Studio
Last Friday
Gretchen Parlato is a revelation, with all the elation and elevation that word suggests.
The Los Angeles-based chanteuse was on her first outing in Singapore, but the
audience might well have been present at the dawn of song; so pure, clear and sweet
was her lulling voice.
Like a bird with a bell-tinkle of a call, you wished she would go on and on, such was the
soothing effect of her ruminations.
The evening began "full of love, full of hopes, full of fears", as she cooed on her first of
seven-song set and continued like so to the close.
From musing about April showers to the unravelling of dreams, it was as if she were
sculpting sound out of air, each note perfectly formed and pealing with profound joy as it
emerged from her lips. Her delivery was as unadorned as it was heartfelt, a simple
evocation of the miracle that is music, at once soothing and stirring.
It was art of the utmost subtlety and it seemed that she had curated her performance
right down to her simple dress, which was flecked with blue, gold, orange and white and
might have been torn from a canvas of Van Gogh's.
The audience was doubly blessed this evening by the presence of Parlato's
accomplished trio, comprising the hyper- intuitive keyboardist Taylor Eigsti, the
innovative yet disciplined drummer Justin Brown and the hulking gentle giant of a
bassist, Burniss Earl Travis.
Brown provided a rollicking muffled rumble to most of the proceedings, which was
complemented by Travis' strutting, ever-dependable deep notes. But he stayed
resolutely in the background throughout, to shade Parlato's reflective inflections just so.
Occasionally, Brown would let loose with a synchopated vibe, most notably on the song
Weak, where he coaxed a hopscotch rhythm out of his snares and hi-hat. But for the
most part, he too was content to shape a wide and warm soundscape in which his
collaborators could nestle.
Eigsti lit everything up with his mesmerising, barely-there plinks. He was a born virtuoso
who also plucked the strings in the belly of the grand piano, thumped its wooden body
for emphasis and then let loose a few spooky vibes on the synthesizer atop it.
Through all their ministrations, Parlato soared higher and higher, contemplating the
human condition with grace, clarity and a knowing shrug now and then, especially on her
songs Winter Wind and Without A Sound.
Listeners who came expecting lyricism from her would have missed the point; Parlato
saw herself as an instrument, not as a performer, and so her plaintive renditions seemed
like a host of melodious epiphanies. She said so much with so few words, just as how
one is usually speechless during life's biggest moments. Hers was the soundtrack of
eternal calm, like drinking the sweetest, coldest glass of spring water on a summer's

day.
"Oo-wee, oo-woe, oo-wor, oo-why, oo-me," she crooned on the song Magnus, which
soon got the audience singing along. She had named the tune after a little boy who had
chanted that to his mother's pregnant belly. "One day, the most beautiful girl in the
world/Made the most beautiful boy in the world," continued Parlato, and everyone
swooned as the song cartwheeled to a crescendo.
The crowd clamoured for more, and the musicians came on again with the hypnotic All
That I Can Say, bringing the night to a blissful rest.
From the beginning to the end of this hour-long show, they were an uncommonly tight
act yet, as is the case with the most seasoned artistes, they made it all appear effortless.
For this reviewer at least, Parlato and her trio were the gems that have shone the
brightest at Mosaic this year. Long may they lift the hearts of everyone everywhere.

Gretchen Parlato Live
https://www.jazzhistoryonline.com/Gretchen_Parlato_Live.html
Concert Reviews
home page search profiles interviews cd reviews dvd reviews concert reviews retro reviews book reviews sidetracks
historical essays links sitemap about/contact
Gretchen Parlato at Rockwood Music Hall, New York City (December 6, 2012)
By Nicky Schrire
It is no small feat for an artist to grow and innovate while paying homage to the jazz
tradition. These opposing traits have led to recent debates on the nature and definition of
jazz. While the vocalists who channel their inner Billie Holiday (some with meticulous
accuracy, their twenty-year old physical forms belying their old souls) tend to be more
easily received by audiences and critics, it takes a certain amount of courage and
audacity to stretch the boundaries of jazz and charter unknown territory. One vocalist
whose creativity excites and inspires me is Gretchen Parlato, a singer well known for her
lilting, soft-toned vocal stylings and her blend of jazz, hip hop, pop and R&B genres. This
week, she performed two shows at New York City’s Rockwood Music Hall as she
recorded a live CD and DVD. Rockwood’s plush red interior and Parlato’s phenomenal
lineup set the scene for an intimate and spirited performance.
The evening featured what Parlato called the “two configurations” of her touring band and
“the core” of her music. Parlato and her band tour extensively and it was fascinating to
hear how the often-performed repertoire has grown and developed over a multitude of concerts. Parlato’s cover of SWV’s “Weak” opened
the set and it was immediately apparent that the musicians were reveling in space, sonic interaction and true spontaneity. Kendrick Scott’s
clean attack on the drum kit was familiar but never predictable. He would often drop out and then re-enter, never letting time lapse. Burniss
Earl Travis’ use of electric bass on this tune was particularly effective and stylistically appealing. It also provided nice contrast when he
moved to acoustic bass for tunes like Francis Jacob’s “On the Other Side” (from Parlato’s second album, “In a Dream”). Parlato noted that
Travis had started playing with her in March of this year and knew all her music after about two gigs on the road. Clearly, Travis is a kindred
spirit and a perfect fit for Parlato’s brand of jazz. I had my reservations when two slower, R&B-infused tunes (Lauryn Hill’s “All That I Can
Say” and “Better Than”) were played one after another. However, Parlato’s original composition “Better Than” had developed so beautifully
since I last heard it that I completely forgot we’d been in ballad territory for a while. Parlato had the audience sing along on a newly created
recurring motive that wove in and out of the arrangement. This new aspect only added to her spellbinding rendition.
Many critics focus on Parlato’s breathy style of singing but they fail to recognize that Parlato is acutely aware of her delivery of both lyrics
and wordless, improvised phrases. And her feathery tone is merely one facet of her vocal technique. When improvising, she adopts a direct,
breathless tone and the flexibility and range of her instrument is all at once apparent. These traits were very much on display with
awe-inspiring solos on Djavan’s “Flor De Lis” and Simply Red’s “Holding Back the Years”. It’s impossible to mention the above two songs and
not take note of Parlato’s musical kinship with pianist Taylor Eigsti. Eigsti’s playing is simultaneously sensitive, supportive and present. He
solos with immense agility and panache, and as an accompanist, he introduces succinct repeated phrases that compliment and highlight a
drum, bass or vocal line. His ostinato patterns were particularly effective at the end of Wayne Shorter’s “Juju”. The song appeared on both
Parlato’s self-titled debut album (in a medley with “Footprints”) and her recent, critically acclaimed record “The Lost and Found”. Tonight’s
performance was utterly mesmerizing, almost trance inducing.
By this time, the rhythm section had changed to Alan Hampton on bass and Mark Guiliana on drums. As a long-time admirer of Parlato’s
music, I felt a tad nostalgic seeing Hampton playing bass again. Her most recent album saw Derrick Hodge hold down the bass position so it
was nice to revisit this particular personnel. Hampton opened “Juju” with the expected bass line only to steer the tune in a different direction
from both album versions. With Eigsti’s harmonic input, the song displayed quite dark undercurrents and the use of a pedal point at several
stages breathed new life into the song. “Alô, Alô”, usually Parlato’s solo tour de force, benefited from the percussive input of Giuliana on kit,
Eigsti on the piano lid and Hampton on the body of his bass. It was also incredibly fun to watch them get percussively creative with their
instruments all while Parlato, not skipping a beat, played her televi shakers with focus and sung on.
The evening closed with Hampton and Parlato’s co-creation, “Still.” Hampton wrote the music and Parlato contributed the lyrics to this
deceptively simple, highly catchy tune. With Hampton switching to guitar, Travis returned to claim the bass and Scott joined in on an extra
snare drum. The performance of this song perfectly captured the magic of Parlato and her band. There was so much joy in the delivery of
this beautifully crafted tune that the already content audience couldn’t help but share in the feelings of admiration and love that Parlato and
1 of 2 3/28/13 11:16 AM

Gretchen Parlato Live
https://www.jazzhistoryonline.com/Gretchen_Parlato_Live.html
her band were celebrating on stage.
The album and DVD will be released in early 2013. For more information about Parlato’s upcoming performances, visit gretchenparlato.com
Photo by Nicky Schrire. L-R: Taylor Eigsti, Gretchen Parlato, Burnis Earl Travis, Kendrick Scott.
Content copyright 2013. Jazz History Online.com. All rights reserved.

Gretchen Parlato: The Lost and Found
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=38845
Home Jazz Near You Musicians News Photos Advertise Donate
Articles Reviews MP3s Videos New Releases Future Articles Log In Sign Up
Share Share Share Share Share Share More
4
CD/LP/Track Review
Gretchen Parlato: The Lost and Found (2011)
By C. MICHAEL BAILEY, Published: June 27, 2011
Gretchen Parlato is emerging as the most important jazz singer since
Cassandra Wilson. Her vocal approach is so unique and her repertoire so
eclectic that she stands to create a jazz vocal genre unto herself. After
placing first in the 2004 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Vocals
Competition, Parlato released her eponymous debut, self-produced, in
2005. Warmly received, she followed her freshman effort up in 2009
with In a Dream (Obliqsound), her critical gravity growing.
And those are just Parlato's recordings as leader. She has been a featured vocalist on many
records, including David Binney's Greylen Epicenter (Mythology, 2010) and Esperanza Spalding's
Chamber Music Society (Concord Music Group, 2010).
Much anticipated, The Lost and Found appears, revealing Parlato's sonic evolution toward an end
very different from Wilson's. Where Wilson has intently explored the earthy, organic nature of the
music she sings, Parlato has entered the laboratory to distill her music to its bare essence: a
whisper, a scent, an echo, a suggestion. Her light, no-pressure approach better reveals the
harmonic metaphysics of the songs she sings, whether originals or standards.
The Lost and Found draws much from her two previous releases. Parlato's Wayne Shorter fixation
that prompted her to include the saxophonist's "Juju/Footprints" medley on her first recording,
and "ESP" on In A Dream, reprises "Juju" alone on The Lost and Found. The fondness that Parlato
has for impressionistic music manifests itself in her version of Miles Davis/Bill Evans "Blue in
Green," and a cover of Simply Red's "Holding Back The Years," rendered as diaphanous mist,
Parlato's light voice perfect for the role.
The singer's reprise of "Juju," possesses a crystalline translucence, made acute by Dayna
Stephens' wandering saxophone and pianist Taylor Eigsti's run-rampant sonic investigations. Her
soft voice provides stark contrast to its support, making for an edgy affair all the way around.
Lauren Hill's "All That I Can Say," a successful vehicle for Mary J. Blige, proves equally successful
for Parlato, who imparts a lighter contemporary vibe to the song.
1 of 3 3/28/13 11:12 AM

Gretchen Parlato: The Lost and Found
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=38845
Parlato is a young and vibrant artist, from whom we are only beginning to hear, and whose future
is bright, indeed.
Track Listing: Holding Back The Years; Winter Wind; How We Love; Juju; Still; Better than; Alo,
Alo; Circling; Henya; In a Dream (Remix); All That I Can Say; Me and You; Blue in Green; The
Lost and Found; Without a Sound.
Personnel: Gretchen Parlato: vocals; Taylor Eigsti: piano; Derrick Hodge, Alan Hampton: bass;
Kendrick Scott: drums; Dayna Stephens: tenor saxophone.
Record Label: ObliqSound
Style: Vocal
Share Share Share Share Share Share More
4
Shop for jazz:
Amazon CD Baby CD Universe HDtracks iTunes
Gretchen Parlato Related
Photos
Videos Articles Artists Fans Links Calendar
View more Gretchen Parlato photos | Upload Gretchen Parlato photos
2 of 3 3/28/13 11:12 AM

Reprints
This copy is for your personal, noncommercial use only. You can order presentation-ready copies for
distribution to your colleagues, clients or customers here or use the "Reprints" tool that appears next to any
article. Visit www.nytreprints.com for samples and additional information. Order a reprint of this article now.
April 1, 2011
Look Back at a Legend, Then Revisit Disco
By NATE CHINEN
Aretha Franklin
A marvelous talent shrouded in needless luxury: that’s the usual take-away on Aretha Franklin’s
tenure at Columbia Records, which lasted from the time she was 18 to 24. “Take a Look: Aretha
Franklin Complete on Columbia” (Columbia/ Legacy) attempts a corrective. A lavish reissue
package — 11 CDs and a DVD of clips from “The Steve Allen Show” — it keeps an abiding focus on
that incandescent voice. The earliest albums are nominally jazz, with songbook standards in
genteel combo settings. (From the vantage of a culture that has seen the fifth songbook album
from Rod Stewart, it may seem Ms. Franklin’s career unfolded in reverse.) You hear her poise and
projection; you also hear the influence of Dinah Washington, and not only on “Unforgettable,” a
Washington tribute album from 1964. Not surprisingly Ms. Franklin’s most electrifying
performances have a firm foothold in the church. “Won’t Be Long,” one of the first tracks she
recorded for Columbia, captures her better than the lustrous orchestral ballads and brittle pop
songs of later sessions. But she was adaptable with her gift, then as now, and there are auspicious
moments scattered throughout this set. Greatness was just up ahead. It didn’t come from
nowhere.
Gretchen Parlato
The new breed of jazz singer is a chameleon, intuitive and watchful, preoccupied with mood and
flow. Gretchen Parlato has been one of these for a while, but she hasn’t given us an album as
transfixing as “The Lost and Found,” which ObliqSound is to release on Tuesday. Engaging deeply
with the pianist Taylor Eigsti, the bassist Derrick Hodge and the drummer Kendrick Scott, she
fashions a mellow, drifting sound informed by Brazil and Wayne Shorter and organic R&B. (Her
associate producer, the keyboardist Robert Glasper, exerted a strong influence, it’s clear.) She
covers tunes by Simply Red and Mary J. Blige and the samba luminary Paulinho da Viola. There
are a few sleek originals, and tracks with Ms. Parlato’s words set to music by Mr. Shorter and Mr.
Eigsti, among others. Her lyrics frame introspection in terms of changing seasons, the sun and the
stars, the afterimage of a dream. It could easily be precious, but it suits Ms. Parlato and her
ethereal control.

Gretchen Parlato: “The Lost and Found” (2011, Obliq Sound)
Written by Andrea Canter, Contributing Editor
Tuesday, 19 April 2011
If ever a record label matched (in name) the artistry of its talent, it’s Obliq Sound when it comes
to Gretchen Parlato. And if modern jazz singing is all about using the voice as an instrument,
Parlato has put her instrument front and center, not with free improvisation and intervallic
gymnastics, but with a restrained palette and the power of suggestion. When I think of Parlato, I
don’t hear Charlie Parker; I hear Miles Davis.
Winner of the 2004 Thelonious Monk Vocal Competition, Gretchen Parlato has quickly evolved a
sound based largely on nuance and subtlety, appealing as much to Brazilian, R&B and pop
audiences as to modern jazz listeners. On her third release, she offers an eclectic soundscape of
15 songs, four of her own compositions, 6 more with her own lyrics (including her take on Wayne
Shorter’s “Juju”). Her band fits her musical attitude perfectly—Taylor Eigsti, himself a young
phenom on keyboards; much accomplished Derrick Hodge on bass; another young upstart, Kendrick Scott, on drums; with guest
turns from saxophonist Danya Stephens, guitarist Alan Hampton (who contributes “Still”), and co-producer/keyboardist Robert
Glasper (who contributes “A Dream Remix”).
Despite the diversity of source material, Parlato’s airy delivery provides a consistent sonic transparency from one track to the
next, from the wispy opening cover of Simply Red’s “Holding Back the Years” to the ambient closing of Eigsti’s “Without a
Sound.” In between, her vocalese soars in tandem with Stephens’s sax on “Juju, reaching its most haunting edges on Ambrose
Akinmisure’s “Henya;” her whispering echoes create a celestial fantasy of Glasper’s “A Dream Remix.” Her swaying acappella
vocal/percussion performance on Paulinho da Viola’s “Alo Alo” (sung in Portuguese) and charming vocal duo with composer Alan
Hampton on “Still” are other high points.
While Parlato sails on waves of impressionism, she’s buoyed by the more assertive finesse of her band, particularly Taylor Eigsti
who sparkles on “Winter Wind” and “Blue and Green” and, most exquisitely, on “Henya,” while Hodge and Scott provide the
soul and heartbeat throughout.
The CD package comes with the full set of lyrics for all 15 tracks, a welcome addition that confirms (my) suspicion that
Gretchen Parlato’s success may lie as much in her poetry as in her vocal stylings. The Lost and Found highlights both talents.
Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites
Close Window

Parlato keeps it cool
Rising jazz star tops iTunes chart with modern, intimate sound
THE OTTAWA CITIZEN APRIL 9, 2011
Rising jazz star Gretchen Parlato.
Photograph by: Image supplied, The Ottawa Citizen
The Lost and Found ****
Gretchen Parlato (ObliqSound)
Call her the anti-Céline Dion. Instead, Gretchen Parlato is winning over listeners with a much more
understated, intimate sound. Parlato has been a voice apart ever since she won the Thelonious Monk
International Jazz Vocals Competition in 2004 (just ahead of Ottawa's Kellylee Evans), instantly
recognizable thanks to her pure, cool timbre and the sighing, susurrant quality of her voice.
Her latest CD, The Lost and Found, released last week and already topping the iTunes jazz chart, is
an impressive and generous collection of 15 tracks that delve expertly and with much feeling into
Parlato's many interests.
The disc's hip-hop quotient is considerable. Take, for example, the beat-driven cover of Holding Back
The Years that opens Parlato's CD. Co-producer Robert Glasper, a pianist equally at home in jazz
and hiphop settings, has converted the Simply Red pop-soul tune into little more than a four-chord
loop, animated by Kendrick Scott's catchy beat. The tune is minimalist but mesmerizing, thanks to
Parlato's delivery and to the masterful layering of Taylor Eigsti's piano and Fender Rhodes.

The contemporary, R&B-tinged grooving continues on a chilledout version of All That I Can Say,
which Mary J. Blige recorded, the trippy, post-production shortie In a Dream Remix and Parlato's own
Better Than. However, there's much more to Parlato than Quiet Storm circa 2011. Other Parlato
songs on The Lost and Found are more exultant, such as How We Love and Winter Wind.
Parlato devotes much of her disc to music by her next-gen jazz contemporaries. She's written lyrics
for moody pieces by Eigsti (Without A Sound), saxophonist Dayna Stephens (the CD's title track), and
trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire (Henya -a disc highlight thanks to its gravitas). She pushes at genre
boundaries with a cover of the folky Still, a vocal duet with its guitarpicking composer Allan Hampton.
Since her high school days in Los Angeles, Parlato has been mad for bossa nova and other Brazilian
musics, which of course are a natural fit for her gentle, breathy singing. That passion is reflected on
Alô, Alô, a brief, overdubbed, one-woman show of singing and percussion, and by the tack that she
and Eigsti, playing Fender Rhodes, take on their duet Me and You.
Adding another aspect to her disc, Parlato covers -if not Great American Songbook tunes -straightup
jazz tunes. Her way, it should be stressed. Blue In Green has been Glasperized, set to a present-day
groove and made kaleidoscopic with many additional chords.
Wayne Shorter's Juju is the CD's headiest track. Compared to the saxophonist's original, Parlato's
version is slowed down to maximize the mystery, and it builds from its tranquil beginnings to a
ferocious peak, with saxophonist Stephens and Parlato -her voice seemingly transformed into a
powerful siren's call -swirling in tandem. Parlato's ability to wield her voice as an instrument,
improvising all the while, will address any jazz purist's skepticism about her bona fides.
With many of the jazz singers who have risen to the top over the last 15 years, there is arguably a
simple, shorthand way to describe what makes them distinctive and appealing. Cassandra Wilson is
earthy and soulful, Norah Jones is an ingenue with a touch of Texas twang. It's not as easy as it
might seem to peg Parlato. Yes, she's cool and she's got that whispery thing happening. But The
Lost and Found shows that Parlato's artistry is much more than her signature, sighing sound -she can
be absolutely entrancing in so many different ways.
Peter Hum
Pop & Rock
Mischievous Moon ****
Jill Barber (Outside Music)
On her fourth album, gifted singer-songwriter Barber moves away from the dreamy pre-Beatles pop
that defined her 2008 artistic breakthrough, Chances.
This time, she and principal collaborator Les Cooper have crafted a batch of songs that, in some
cases, already sound like standards, all lush orchestration and romantic declaration. But Barber's

master stroke is in keeping the arrangements from sounding too indebted to the Great American
Songbook and throwing in some sweet bossa beat (Took Me by Surprise), playful ballroom sexiness
(A Wish Under My Pillow) and Bacharachian beauty (Any Fool Can Fall in Love).
The first single, Tell Me (with a French version tacked on at the end of the album), winks at light
1970s soul, but it's not representative of this disc's delightful depths.
Bernard Perusse
Kaeshammer ****
Michael Kaeshammer (Alert Music)
The boogie-woogie pianist best known as a must-see live act reaffirms his true colours here: he's an
R&B hound, particularly if there's a New Orleans roll to the beat. We knew that, but the double-time
rhythm and sassy horns of fast-andfabulous opener Rendezvous state the case with unprecedented
eloquence, while Kisses in Zanzibar lays down a slightly steadier secondline shuffle from the Crescent
City.
Pop often takes the centre stage, while jazz rarely gets forgotten for long, but there's a more joyous,
authoritative swing to this disc than we've heard on any of the pianist's previous work. And don't miss
the gorgeous, deeply moving instrumental remake of the Impressions' People Get Ready, one the
reasons this is Kaeshammer's best yet.
Bernard Perusse
First Light Rating **1/2
Easy Star All-Stars (Easy Star Records)
Joyous as their first full-length album of original songs may be, it's hard to escape the conclusion that
Easy Star All-Stars were a lot more engaging when they were giving Pink Floyd, Radiohead or the
Beatles a dreadlocked makeover.
Clocking in at almost an hour, with 14 tracks, First Light's bloated unevenness becomes obvious if
you take out a couple of alternative versions, lose throwaway songs like Paid My Dues, Unbelievable
and All the Way and deep-six out-of-place borderline pop like the title track. What you're left with is
some solid old-school reggae like the anthemic Don't Stop the Music, the brisk and punchy Universal
Law and the wonderful, soulful Reggae Pension.
An uplifting and inviting set, sure, but a bit too disposable.
Bernard Perusse
© Copyright (c) The Ottawa Citizen