"The first thing you notice about Gretchen Parlato is that she's a singer with a deep, almost magical connection to the music," says jazz legend Herbie Hancock. "She takes a lot of chances with her understated style, and it works. Every note is expressive, powerful, and pretty. And most important, her heart is in the right place." Gretchen's petite bearing and vocal enchantments evoked another famed spell-casting pixie for one reviewer, who called Gretchen's 2003 performance with Herbie in Paris "a fairy-tale like show. . . in the universe of Bjork."
This recording mixes elements of Jazz, Brazilian and African music. She is joined by a superb and complimentary rhythm section of Lionel Loueke (guitar and voice), Aaron Parks (piano), Massimo Biolcati (bass), and Cafe (percussion), each musician beautifully allowing the nuances of her soft and sensual voice to shine.
With this shrewd, emotive, and subtle approach, Gretchen has quickly created a buzz around New York. She moved from Los Angeles in 2003, after completing the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance, where she was the first vocalist ever to be selected by Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, and Terence Blanchard. She charmed and awed judges by taking first prize in the 2004 Thelonious Monk Jazz Vocals Competition.
Gretchen performed as part of "A Celebration of Jobim" at the Hollywood Bowl with Oscar Castro-Neves, Gal Costa, Ivan Lins, and Dianne Reeves, and at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington D.C. She has performed with Roy Hargrove's Big Band, and provided vocals for Terence Blanchard's 2005 Blue Note album, "Flow", vocals with hip hop DJ Cut Chemist and vocals on Self Scientific's 2005 release "Change.", the soundtrack to the 2004 film "Seeing Other People" starring Jay Mohr and Walt Disneys "A World of Happiness", which also featured such artists as Lou Rawls, Gary Oldman, Deborah Harry, and Isaac Hayes. She has performed with greats such as Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, and Oscar Castro-Neves, and has studied with Terence Blanchard, Dave Holland, and Tierney Sutton. Her sound mixes Jazz, Brazilian, and African elements, creating a unique style all her own. Gretchen just recently performed with Wayne Shorter at Jazz a la Villette in Paris.
"I think in an inconspicuous way, Gretchen Parlato knows how to play the same instrument that Frank Sinatra played." comments jazz legend, Wayne Shorter. "Theres no one out there like Gretchen."
"Parlato's sense of subtle rhythmic interplay and understated theatrical nuance takes the ache of Frank and implicates it throughout an improvisational-based esthetic that rests, most often, on Brazilian master-class moments... As simple and restive as she sounds in print, her voice-scatting, cooing, leaning back then soaring-can leap through complex tempo and rhythmic shifts as if riding rapids."
-A.D. Amorosi, New York Press
"She enters the music, becoming part of the band, improvising in melody and rhythm, prying open sweet spots in the songs... it's evident that she's an extraordinary singer."
-Ben Ratliff, New York Times
visit www.gretchenparlato.com for more info & performance dates
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