"Vocal Shading and Rhythmic Finesse"

Karen was included in a recent Blog Series, Daily Dose of Vocal Jazz, by Vincent L. Stephens, Ph.D. Check it out, here.

Here’s the excerpt that includes her:

If you enjoy the way jazz goddess Billie Holiday and bop legend Sheila Jordan employ vocal shading and rhythmic finesse to interpret a song check out Karen Marguth, Gretchen Parlato, and Cyrille Aimée.

Karen Marguth

Bay area vocalist and educator Karen Marguth hit the jazz recording scene with 2009’s self-titled debut and has released a series of excellent albums. On 2015’s Just You, Just Me is Marguth and bassist Kevin Hill build from the promise of previous efforts like her excellent Carrol Coates songbook A Way With Words by taking somewhat of a left turn. Taking cues from the bass and voice master, Sheila Jordan, she tackles classics like “You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To” “I Got it Bad,” and “Imagination” perfectly capturing their melodic and rhythmic contours, and emotional essence in the sparsest of settings. She makes her greatest impact on her scat-laden rendition of the title track, a surprisingly blues-y and quite humorous rapid fire “Blues My Naughty Sweetie Taught Me,” and fresh songs like her loping version of Phoebe Snow’s “Harpo’s Blues” and the charming Johnny Mercer tune “Love’s Got Me in a Lazy Mood.” Other inspired choices include takes on Nellie Lutcher and Rickie Lee Jones. Marguth is quite assured in a variety of modes, and she and Hill have faultless chemistry.

Most recent album: On 2021’s Until (OA2), Marguth continues her eclectic approach interpreting Paul Simon’s “Hearts and Bones” and “Old Friends/Bookends” with great clarity, exploring Latin rhythms on Maria Gomez’s “La Ronda” and Sting’s “Until,” and swinging with aplomb (“Comes Love,” “Close Your Eyes”). She also contributes the original tune “Maureen” and take listeners on a unique journey on Andrew Bird and Shel Silverstein’s “Twistable Turnable Man.” 

Karen’s album Until (OA2 Records) is available for purchase.

Gretchen Parlato

Singer, composer, and percussionist Parlato, who studied Ethnomusicology and Jazz at UCLA, was admitted to the prestigious Thelonious Monk Jazz institute in 2001 and won the 2003’s Thelonious Monk International Jazz Vocals Competition prior to releasing her debut in 2005. Each of these milestones has helped her formulate her own sound. Sultry and simmering with a breathy (but never breathless!) slightly nasal intonation she defies jazz clichés. If you’re looking for a singer in a fancy suit singing “My Funny Valentine” in front of a band forget it. Instead she locates the jazz in popular songs like Mary J. Blige’s “All that I Can Say” and Simply Red’s “Holding Back the years,” nods to Miles Davis (“JuJu”) and contributes originals that traverse a spectrum of classical music and Brazilian music, among others.

Most recent album: 2021’s Flor (Edition Records) represents her evolving sound perfectly. There are beautiful uplifting songs with choral elements, notably “Wonderful”; lovely wordless tunes with classical overtones including “Rosa” and “Cello Suite,”; introspective originals (“What Does the Lion Say?” “No Plan”); and a brilliant reinterpretation of Anita Baker’s 1986 classic “Sweet Love.”

Cyrille Aimée

Born and raised in France, Aimee has been a on the jazz scene in the United States since the mid-2000s winning vocal competitions hosted by the Montreux Jazz Festival, Thelonious Monk Institution, and the Sarah Vaughan. A versatile improviser with a contemporary sensibility she is conversant with a range of material from Django Reinhardt style guitar jazz to the songs of Michael Jackson and Stephen Sondheim. Having recorded voice and guitar albums, small group albums, and sets with orchestras she thrives in a variety of settings. 2018’s Cyrille Aimée Live is an excellent distillation for everything she does well. Funky, swinging, and romantic she tackles 1940s swing, French jazz, Off the Wall and Thriller era Jackson songs, and Thelonious Monk with no regard for boundaries.

Most recent albums: 2021’s I’ll Be Seeing You (Daudel Records) recorded with guitarist Michael Valeanu, is a gorgeous set of standards sung intimately. Aimee also collaborated with Adonis Rose and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra on Petite Fleur (Storyville).