KARRIN ALLYSON

Karrin Allyson in Italy Karrin Allyson spends two days out of three on the road, playing the major jazz festivals and clubs of the U.S. and making repeated tours overseas. In February 2004, she toured Australia for the first time. This summer, she embarks on yet another tour of Europe, South America and the Far East. As well as traditional jazz venues, Allyson has appeared at Carnegie Hall as part of a special tribute to Ella Fitzgerald, at Lincoln Center’s Avery Fisher Hall, and at the 92nd St. YMCA in New York City. The singer has been a popular and welcomed guest of Garrison Keillor on Prairie Home Companion on several occasions, most recently from Tanglewood, MA. And finally, Allyson and her band have performed with symphony orchestras around the country, including the new Carnegie Hall concert series at Zankel Hall. What has generated this much esteem and success? First of all there is the singer’s uniquely distinctive voice. Notable jazz critic and historian Gary Giddins affirms, “Allyson coolly stakes her claim.

Karrin Allyson in Italy She brings a timbre that is part ice and part grain...incisive, original, and emotionally convincing.” The Houston Press agrees wholeheartedly, “If there’s a choir in heaven, someday the exquisite vocalist Karrin Allyson will lead it. She’s such an otherworldly talent that the creator probably already has her on heavy rotation.” But there is more. When one listens to Allyson, you hear heart, intelligence, and musical sophistication. Her emotional range, from heartfelt to sassy, is beyond her musical peers. And there is a literate and engaging connection that honors the great traditions of blues, jazz and roots, expands to the Great American Songbook and embraces French and Brazilian rhythms. The classically trained Karrin Allyson is also a great bandleader—she is a musician’s musician. If you listen carefully, you will hear highly developed musical interplay with her band that sounds so effortless and natural that it conceals the deep level of musical sophistication. This is one of Allyson’s great achievements, and it is the result of working for more than a decade with an ensemble of fearless and powerfully committed jazz virtuosi. Together, they have developed a powerful and flexible language and style unique among current groups. You hear this every time you listen. Make no mistake — Karrin Allyson is singing to you. Discography: In Blue Ballads – Remembering John Coltrane, From Paris to Rio, Daydream, Collage, Azure-Té, Sweet Home Cookin’, I Didn’t Know About You. Agents: Jo Foster, Concord Records, 310 / 385-4218, E: jof@concordrecords.com and Kip Vanderbilt / Catie Monk Origlio PR, 212 / 695-7400 E: kip@origliopr.com / catie@origliopr.com . Ms. Allyson is listed in the World Who's Who in Jazz, Cabaret, Music and Entertainment Continues on P.114