At a time when many jazz singers seem bent on “out jazzing” each other with ever more complex and startling renditions of standards, it is refreshing to hear a new jazz singer with a gift for understatement.
Listen, and you may notice some of the graceful simplicity one associates with the likes of Astrud Gilberto or Chet Baker or even Blossom Dearie. In Pamela’s velvety lower range, you may detect hints of Julie London or Peggy Lee. Her cool approach reminds some of June Christy, while her phrasing is more likely to bring to mind a young Anita O’Day.
Pamela’s is an intimate voice, sometimes girlishly optimistic (as on the samba “It Might as Well Be Spring”), sometimes softly persuasive (pour yourself a cocktail and listen to the bluesy title song). Regardless of the groove, a jazz sensibility informs this entire outing, from song choice to phrasing to Joy’s choice in musicians, which cannot be faulted. She is backed by a trio of the San Francisco Bay Area’s best:
Pianist/arranger Mike Greensill is virtually always described in superlatives. The press has dubbed him “a local treasure” and “the perfect accompanist.” Greensill is joined by the graceful jazz-and-blues bassist Ruth Davies, whose credits include numerous platinum and Grammy-winning CDs. Rounding out this stellar trio is drummer Vince Lateano, who would doubtless be satisfied to be known by the company he’s kept, among them Cal Tjader, Woody Herman, Vince Guaraldi, Stan Getz, Dizzy Gillespie, and Carmen McRae.
Here’s what critics, DJs, jazz musicians, and other singers are saying:
“She's not trying to be a jazz singer, she just is. She's got an original way of approaching time and lyrics that's delightful, hip and completely natural. She has a lovely light voice and swings like crazy. No scatting - just standards in a fresh way.” — Leonard Levy, cinematographer and sax player
“With a voice as rich and smooth as whipped cream and honey, Pamela Joy held her audience in a trance induced by the lush, sensual sound of her voice, her quirky charm and the subtle, but skillful, way she turns a musical phrase.
Her improvisations are elegant, effortless and sly, enhancing the integrity of the original melody rather than obliterating it.
The seductive warmth of her voice, her elegant phrasing, creative arrangements, thoughtful musicianship and her ability to swing with the best of them, will intoxicate any lover of good singing and jazz.” — Cabaret Exchange
“A resident singer busting out with a wonderful new CD called I Thought About You, Pamela Joy (is) definitely an emerging artist here in the Bay Area worth supporting and worth hearing because she’s got a very nice voice and a very fine debut album…Very cool stuff here.” — Jesse “Chuy” Varela, KCSM Jazz 91.1
“Pamela's unpretentious style and impeccable intonation is a breath of fresh air…a serious song stylist in the jazz tradition.” — Laurie Antonioli, jazz vocalist, recording artist and chair of The Jazzschool Vocal Program
“Sultry, smoky, sexy, swingin’, subtle and smooth.” — Shaynee Rainbolt, jazz vocalist and recording artist
“Pamela Joy is arguably one of the most important emerging jazz singers in the San Francisco Bay Area. Her talent is met by two other forces: her commitment to craft, and a profound humility in the enormous undertaking of singing well. And singing well is precisely what she does.” -— Kevin Madden, jazz pianist and educator
“The sonorous quality of her voice and her unique way of enunciating induces the feeling of a warm and dreamy Sunday afternoon. She seems to savor each word, each vowel, before she lets them go, infusing every song with a sensuality and seductiveness.” — Nancy Tierney, performance coach, Unconditional Confidence Productions
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