Drawings © 2006 Barbara Sfraga |
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Vocalist Barbara Sfraga has tracked one of the most captivating
jazz albums of the year with Under the Moon . Her vocal work is
consistantly inventive and sure, and she demonstrates a distinctive
feel for how to unlock a song in a new way. ...Sfraga's debut for
A440 is a major-league jazz record. -- ------------------------------------------------------------------ A look Under the Moon reveals Sfraga's star is rising. --Elliott Simon, All About Jazz ------------------------------------------------------------------ There's brazenness to Sfraga that's as arresting as it is invigorating. Never content with traditional readings or staid arrangements, she is a master of bold interpretation...Bottom line? Get out and get Under the Moon. -Christopher Louden, Jazz Times ----------------------------------------------------------------- This is jazz singing at its cutting-edge best, evidence...of the art's capacity for creative expansion and evolution. - Don Heckman, LA Times ---------------------------------------------------------------- She fulfills the promise of her first disc, immediately making the four-year wait for a follow-up worth it with a headlong dive into Stardust - taffy-pulling the melody while being carried along by a gentle, up- to-the-minute beat.- Gene Seymour, Newsday (NY) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- You might hear intimations of icons like Mark Murphy and Sheila Jordan in her delivery, but Barbara Sfraga's very much her own woman: On her new album Under the Moon, (A440 Music Group), she remodels and inhabits standards ranging from Stardust to Bob Dylan's Every Grain of Sand, and tosses in a wry, funky original (Never Walk Away) for good measure. -Time Out New York ----------------------------------------------------------------- This is only her second release as a leader, but it clearly shows that she deserves the kind of respect normally reserved for only the most accomplished jazz singers. Sfraga has a voice that binds itself to a song and that has the ability to take the listener to places strange and unknown. A master at rhythmic displacement, she manipulates time at will, constructing and deconstructing tunes in the most natural sense imaginable... She has a way of dancing around the melody and of attacking and releasing notes that creates a style that is uniquely her own". -JazzReview.com ------------------------------------------------------------------- She wraps her voice around and inside a song, interpreting it like
an instrumentalist, soaring, but never treating it like a mere vehicle,
never losing respect for the song. About Sfraga's repertoire: She
holds songwriters Duke Ellington (an affecting Mood Indigo, best
version you'll hear this year) and Bob Dylan (a luminous Every Grain
of Sand , with just voice and acoustic bass) in equal esteem. If
a mad gene-splicer could cross kd lang with Sheila Jordan, the result
might be Barbara Sfraga. ----------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------- The art of jazz singing has opened up to exciting new advances in recent years, and Barbara Sfraga is one of its most promising exponents. With Under the Moon Sfraga explores the hidden nuances of Ellingtonia, breathes new life into Bob Dylan's Every Grain of Sand and offers a dazzling technical display on the title track. --John Swenson, Editor, Rolling Stone Jazz and Blues Album Guide -------------------------------------------------------------------- on Oh, What A Thrill... --------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------- Her dynamic delivery brings to mind Anita O'Day or Patricia Barber, yet Sfraga's one of those rare warblers who becomes immersed in lyrics without over-embellishing for special effect. ...her self-assured, unpredictable phrasing at any tempo ...earns her high marks when compared with other new-generation jazz vocalists. --Nancy Ann Lee, JazzTimes Magazine -------------------------------------------------------------------- Her slow-dance simmer on Great Balls of Fire pegs her as a neatly
updated throwback to old- time torch singers and blues-belting mamas,
and her warm, round contralto projects an earthy, enveloping sexuality
on Rogers and Hart's I Didn't Know What Time It Was. But when she
dances through her own words to Lee Morgan's curvy hard-bop classic
"Free Wheelin'" (retitled Livin' The Life of Freedom),
or picks her way through the tongue-twisting lyrics to Slug It Up,
Sfraga becomes a thoroughly modern jazz singer... --------------------------------------------------------------------- Vocalist Barbara Sfraga is a musician who pushes boundaries in modern jazz on her debut album, Oh, What a Thrill , an ingenious set of soulful grooves and free swing, in which she supplements her own writing with standards, vocalese interpretations, and clever distillations of rock classics. --Drew Wheeler, CDNOW -------------------------------------------------------------------- Oh What a Thrill is Oh So Good. The program director's oh-wow factor
is all over this release. You just know it's gonna knock you over
in 35 seconds. Honestly, this is a moody, smoky, grinding, grooving
kick-ass record! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Barbara Sfraga is a real singer and one who, like Patricia Barber, forges an intriquing path between jazz and rock. --Jerome Wilson, Cadence Magazine -------------------------------------------------------------------- An unpredictable artist who can be bluesy one minute and abstract the next, Sfraga takes more than her share of chances on her promising debut album Oh, What A Thrill. [It is] highly recommended to those who are seeking something fresh and personal from jazz singing. --Alex Henderson, All Music Guide --------------------------------------------------------------------- I was very impressed by the depth of Barbara's musicianship and her unique style. She is a real jazz singer, yet doesn't lose sight of the power of the lyrics. --Fred Hersch --------------------------------------------------------------------- Barbara is unique in that she not only scats with fine originality,
but puts herself into a song with complete emotional, harmonic and
percussive concentration...brava and five stars, babe! ------------------------------------------------------------------- on live performances... --------------------------------------------------------------------- The vocalist consistantly came up with fresh ideas and sent the
music into unusual directions...Hopefully Barbara Sfraga will return
to Los Angeles again in the near future; she is well worth looking
for. ------------------------------------------------------------------- To watch Sfraga perform is to witness a complete and contagious
musical immersion...Her sincerity is audible on Under the Moon,
but it's absolutely magnetic when she's live. --Judith Schlesinger,
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