Album Notes

"Lower the lighting, shake up a pitcher of martinis and throw a scarf over the "No Smoking" sign. You are ready to spin the new CD of jazzy torch songs from Susan Artemis, a local singer/pianist who wears her heart on her keyboard . . ."
Chuck Graham, Tucson Citizen

Thus begins a review of Susan Artemis' CD, "Small Day Tomorrow." For this, her first CD, Susan wanted to record some standards that are rarely recorded, such as "All About Ronnie," "That Ole Devil Called Love" and the title tune, "Small Day Tomorrow;" as well as some chestnuts like "That Old Black Magic" and "Come Rain or Come Shine." You may be surprised to see "Some Enchanted Evening" on the songlist, but as Chuck Graham says: "Forget everything you've ever heard. Artemis slows down the tempo and intensifies the phrasing. A bass solo by (Scott) Black adds to the melancholy, ending any comparison to either Enzio Pinza or Mary Martin. Suddenly that line 'you will see a stranger / across a crowded room' becomes the thought of a watchful musician on the bandstand, playing night after night for an everchanging sea of faces. But one night a magical face appears in the crowd, only the musician can't follow - because the band can't leave the bandstand. All the musician can do is hope that special face returns some night soon."

Susan was born in New York, and spent most of her childhood in eastern Massachusetts, where she started taking piano lessons at the age of eight. She continued her study of classical piano through high school and into college at the University of Vermont. While living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin in the eighties, she took up jazz piano, first under the tutelage of the late Tony King, and later with David Hazeltine. She also began studying voice in Milwaukee with Jesse Hauck. After receiving a certificate in Jazz Studies at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music in 1987, Susan launched her performing career, first in Milwaukee, and later in Ohio and Virginia. She moved to Tucson in 1997, where she plays regularly at area clubs and restaurants, as well as in concerts and jazz festivals. Wherever she performs, she charms audiences with her sultry voice and sophisticated piano interpretations of classic jazz standards by the likes of Gershwin, Rodgers and Hart, Cole Porter and others. You can view her performing schedule on her website at www.susanartemis.com.