Album Notes

SPRING 2006 UPDATE: Mary has finished her third recording, a tribute to the pianist/singer/songwriter Matt Dennis. The working title: "Blues For Breakfast". Release should be in October 2006. Details to follow...

MAKE SURE YOU HAVE HER OTHER CD "You'd Be Paradise"

Praised by the NEW YORK DAILY NEWS as "a delicious jazz-blues singer with a smoky, sensuous sound" (Wayman Wong)

"Her style is precisely balanced between jazz and cabaret. Scratch her witty tough-girl-from-Jersey patter and you'll find a sensitive artist (but not frail!) with a wide-ranging, boldly colored voice and an open ear for offbeat material." - (Terry Teachout, The Washington Post)

"Conklin delves into a wide range of music. Her takes on blues singer Ann Rabson's 'You'll Never Get Me Out of Your Mind', classics like 'The Gentleman is a Dope' and a sensational run through the treacherous bopstacle course 'Fried Bananas' prove the finesse of a veteran singer." - (Ken Dryden, The Chattanooga Free Press)

"CRAZY EYES indicated that Conklin was someone jazz fans should keep an eye on." - (Alex Henderson, All-Music Guide)

"This is the break-up album of all time. Hear it for the songs, and for Mary's infectious voice. Throughout she shows strength, humor, attitude, and charm. And that is a heady combination." - (John Barrett, Jr., allaboutjazz.com)

"Conklin has a deep, smoky voice that doesn't wrap itself around a note so much as it taps the note on the noggin and says, 'Be cool!' Her stock in trade is phrasing; she employs deft syncopation to reveal fresh insights in melody and meaning. That method is most apparent in her signature song, "Crazy Eyes" (also the title tune of her CD). Other songs may be arranged more subtly, but phrasing of that nature is always at the center of Conklin's art. Whether delivering a bouncy, uptempo song called "El Cajon" or settling into a piercing, slow ballad like "Small Day Tomorrow," she finds the jazz rhythms that highlight the words rather than using the words to highlight the music."
(Barbara & Scott Siegel - TheaterMania.com)