Album Notes

Jazz Vocalist Carla Norris grew up banging out blues riffs on the piano when she could hardly walk. Her mother's love of all musical genres was her early childhood education. Later the sensitivity, spirituality and wonderfulness of John Coltrane's music sparked a desire in Jazz's direction.

Funk, RnB, Top 40 and various Pop bands later she settled into the music of the Jazz masters. Invited to open for Bobby Blue Bland in Chicago and another invitation to sing in Paris sealed the deal, but only after having quit the music scene for over 13 years.

Now, making up for time away, each note is precious, each emotion genuine, each song, personal. From Bop to Pop, "Jazz with training wheels", Standards or the Funky, jazzy stuff, Carla does it.

This debut CD, HELLO, I REMEMBER, is dedicated to her deceased husband amazing drummer Tommy Hopkins, Jr. The spoken lyric tagging Willow Weep For Me, entitled "My Prayer Is Already Answered", was written especially for him.

Also featured are some of Dallas, Texas' outstanding, strong, master Jazz artists who make it a pleasure to work with in and out of the studio.




********** Outside Reviews/Performance Feedback *********

"Carla,
Congratulations... I think this recording is going to do big things for your career. People will at last get the message about your talent, intelligence, and dedication to your friends and loved ones. BEST WISHES.
Roger." (Roger Boykin, Jazz Radio Host at KKDA in Dallas, TX, Producer, Multi-talented musician, and educator.

"You did an excellent job. Your hubby wuld be proud! Thanks. CD is great. Right now #4 is my favorite"...Tammy (The Potter's House Mass Choir member)

"On Behalf of the Sammons Center for the Arts and the Sammons Jazz program, please accept our thanks for appearing on our jazz concert series. We were thrilled to have you on our series and your performance was exceptional. Please extend our thanks to your band members and express our admiration for their superb musicianship and exciting performance. You have helped us achieve our goals in presenting the Sammons Jazz Series: To present to our patrons the most talented local and national jazz artists in a comfortable listening environment. Again, it was a pleasure to have you as part of the series and we look forward to working with you again in the future. James Gilyard, Artistic Director"

"Norris is a skilled improviser and never backs down from some interplay with a instrumentalists." The Denton (Texas) Record Chronicle.