jazz vocal /piano quartet of easy swing, lush ballads and bossa novas from the American Songbook.

12 MP3 Songs
JAZZ: Jazz Vocals, EASY LISTENING: Background Music



Details:
What do Stan Getz and Blossom Dearie have in common? Both offer their listeners an intimate, soothing, romantic and, at times relaxing kind of music. Swinging, simmering. The intersection of those commonalities is right where youâll find the delightful Yvonne Monnett.

One listen to her debut CD, Thanks for the Memory, confirms those seductive traits. Repeat listenings, as you no doubt will want to do, also reveal this singer/pianistâs sound to be warm, charming, intimate and honest. Sheâs a knowing veteran of many years on the jazz scene who has lived the songs she loves. In other words, itâs REAL.

This is music to unwind by, with which to charm a visitor, or to play in the background as you and your lover dance â vertically or horizontally.

The comparison to Ms. Dearie is inevitable, for she was one of Yvonneâs earliest and strongest influences, and from who she absorbed the art of performing intimate music in a way that grabs the listeners and brings them right into the song with her. Yvonne plays with grace, elegance â and a down-to-earth tease if the song requires it.

That carefully crafted simplicity â of time, of phrasing, of accents and nuance â helps tell her stories with feeling. For Yvonne first and foremost considers herself a teller of great stories, just as Blossom Dearie, Carmen McRae and Charles Aznavour have done on their recordings. Her bright and at times spare self-accompaniment on piano was influenced by three other heroes â Bill Evans, Tommy Flanagan and Ahmad Jamal.

Yvonne is a native New Englander who has been immersed in music literally since birth. She began her piano studies at age 5. She has worked music venues of all varieties since the 1970s and has become a much-sought accompanist for local and visiting jazz greats and also teaches jazz voice in the Applied Music Program at Brown University. Yvonne played for Bill and Hillary Clinton when they visited Rhode Island in 2002. Later that year, she accompanied young singer Billy Gilman in a live performance on NBCâs âTodayâ show in New York.

The standards performed on Thanks for the Memory include the title track, a delightfully teasing versions of âGirl Talk,â âMakinâ Whoopeeâ and Dave Frishbergâs witty âPeel Me a Grape,â and a duet with Bob Mainelli on the classic âBaby, Itâs Cold Outside,â long associated with the late Ray Charles and Betty Carter.

Her top-notch collaborators on this CD gem include some of New Englandâs best and busiest jazz musicians â her versatile mentor Diamond Centofanti on sax, clarinet and flute; bassists Peter Kontrimas and Marty Ballou; and drummer Gary Johnson.

What the critics are saying:

- âHer voice is soft, but canât be ignored; there are no diva-style theatrics, but the smolder on âSlow Boat to China,â the simple joy on âWhat a Difference a Day Makesâ and the cheek on âPeel Me a Grapeâ show a range that plenty of more dramatic singers canât match.â â Rick Massimo, The Providence Journal

- âYvonne Monnett sings with a sparkling intimacy, buoyed by a swinging confidence and her own artful accompaniment on piano.â â Ken Franckling, jazz columnist, United Press International