IMN : Updates for Dianne Reeves

Confirmed Tourdates As Of May 14th, 2012

IMN

May 30th, 2012: Spoleto Festival Charleston, SC USA [Dianne Reeves Strings Attached featuring Russell Malone & Romero Lubambo ]
June 8th, 2012: Westhampton Beach Performing Arts Center Westhampton Beach, NY USA [Dianne Reeves]
June 22nd, 2012: Royal Theatre Victoria, CANADA [Dianne Reeves]
June 23rd, 2012: Vogue Theatre Vancouver, BC, CANADA [Dianne Reeves]
June 25th, 2012: Broadway Theatre Saskatoon, SK, CANADA [Dianne Reeves]
June 30th, 2012: The Bordeaux Wine Festival Bordeaux, France [Dianne Reeves with Orchestre National de Bordeaux Aquitaine]
July 10th, 2012: Jazz A Vienne Vienne, France [Terri Lyne Carrington's Mosaic Project featuring special guest Dianne Reeves]
July 14th, 2012: Auditorio Almansa San Javier, Spain [Terri Lyne Carrington's Mosaic Project featuring special guest Dianne Reeves]
July 27th, 2012: Lensic Performing Arts Center Santa Fe, NM, NM USA [Dianne Reeves]
August 4th, 2012: Fort Adams State Park Newport, RI USA [Dianne Reeves]
August 11th, 2012: Long Beach Jazz Festival Long Beach, CA USA [Dianne Reeves]
August 12th, 2012: San Jose Jazz Festival San Jose, CA USA [Dianne Reeves]
September 1st, 2012: Petrillo Band Shell Chicago, IL USA [Dianne Reeves]
October 30th, 2012: Salle Pleyel Paris, France [Dianne Reeves]
November 28th, 2012: Opelika Center for the Performing Arts Opelika, AL USA [Dianne Reeves Christmas Time is Here]
December 8th, 2012: Hill Auditorium Ann Arbor, MI USA [Dianne Reeves Christmas Time is Here]
March 21st, 2013: Stadtcasino Basel, Switzerland [Dianne Reeves]
March 22nd, 2013: Temple Du Bas Neuchatel, Switzerland [Dianne Reeves]
March 25th, 2013: Lucerne Hall KKL Luzern Luzern, Switzerland [Dianne Reeves]
March 26th, 2013: Tonhalle St. Gallen, Switzerland [Dianne Reeves]
April 27th, 2013: Sheldon Concert Hall St. Louis, MO USA [Dianne Reeves]
May 4th, 2013: Manchester Craftsmans Guild Pittsburgh, PA USA [Dianne Reeves]

LIVE REVIEW: A Jazz Singer Demonstrates the Fine Art of Holding Back

IMN

February 27th, 2012

from nytimes.com

A Jazz Singer Demonstrates the Fine Art of Holding Back
By: Stephen Holden

Grandeur with refinement: that describes the aura of Dianne Reeves, whose concert at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Rose Hall on Friday evening revealed her more than ever to be the vocal heir of Sarah Vaughan, whose voice could also travel anywhere. To call Ms. Reeves a warbler or a songbird isn’t just to trot out shopworn terms for a female jazz singer, but to point out how many of her introductions to songs are wordless, improvised exercises in tonal coloration.

These preludes have the feel of preparatory meditations before Ms. Reeves plunges into fresh musical territory. Within the semi-orchestral settings of her band — Peter Martin on piano, Romero Lubambo and Peter Sprague on guitars, Reginald Veal on bass and Terreon Gully on drums — the drums kept a lower-than-average profile. Rather than punching out hard rhythm, they supplied complex textural seasoning. Instrumental solos were tasty but never ostentatious.

To read the full article click here

INTERVIEW: Dianne Reeves: The Storyteller

IMN

October 22nd, 2011

from Jazztimes.com

Dianne Reeves: The Storyteller
Interview with the noted singer at the 2011 Clearwater Jazz Holiday

By:Gigi Brooks

The 2011 Clearwater Jazz Holiday located in Clearwater, Florida was four days of sheer musical talent. Its headliners, Christian McBride & Inside Straight along with Dianne Reeves, brought people from all over the country to watch in awe these great performances.

As usual Christian McBride held listeners captive while he tore into his bass with an approach and a fingering precision that makes him the world renowned innovative, Grammy Award-winning bassist that he is. There is no bassist quite like Christian Mc Bride in jazz today. His straight ahead quintet, Inside Straight, featuring alto/soprano saxophonist Steve Wilson, vibraphonist, Warren Wolf, jazz pianist, Peter Martin and drummer, Carl Allen performed tunes from their latest release The Good Feeling and tunes from the previous CD Kind of Brown, which takes one down the road of pure yet good ole’ down-home jazz.

One thing I know for sure is that the performance of a true legendary Jazz Diva, (I mean Diva in the sense of presence, style and elegance) cannot be put into words when you are sitting smack center in front of the stage listening to indescribable vocal talent that saturates your soul with pure joy.

I sat with my mouth wide open the entire time during the performance of Dianne Reeves. As a jazz radio personality and a lifetime collector of jazz music; I can say that I am the proud owner of all of Ms. Reeve’s recordings. However, nothing prepared me for what I heard live and in the flesh on that balmy Sunday evening as I watched her perform for the very first time.

To read the full article click here

Jazz Classics, Still of the Moment

IMN

September 26th, 2011

from nytimes.com

Excerpt from: Jazz Classics, Still of the Moment
By:Stephen Holden

Ms. Reeves applied her stamp to “Social Call,” the Betty Carter signature song, with lyrics by Mr. Hendricks. If Carter’s self-contained angular style and Ms. Reeves’s lush wide-open singing couldn’t be more dissimilar, the song welcomes both approaches. That one-man acoustic-music machine Bobby McFerrin joined Mr. Hendricks for an extended improvisation, “Scatting on the Corner,” in which they took turns singing the bass. The set closed as Mr. Hendricks and his guests gathered to turn “Jumpin’ at the Woodside,” into excitable group chatter.

To read the full article click here

Dianne Reeves Shines at Playboy Jazz Festival

IMN

June 14th, 2011

From the LA Times

Jazz review: Day 1 of the Playboy Jazz Festival at the Hollywood Bowl
By Chris Barton

Because as a jazz festival Playboy has long been less of a top-to-bottom survey of where the music is and where it’s headed than it is a massive annual party thrown in its honor, and Playboy’s musical approach remains as gleefully diverse as its crowd.

In her eighth festival appearance Saturday, singer Dianne Reeves was a breezily elegant representative from the jazz vocal tradition in a set highlighted by a richly contemplative take on the late Abbey Lincoln’s “Throw It Away” as the sun fell behind the trees. Reeves also flexed an ability to cast a wide net into new territory with a crackling cover of Ani DiFranco’s sassy “32 Flavors” and a set-closing romp through Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy.”

Read the entire review here

Dianne Reeves was simply terrific

IMN

June 6th, 2011

From The Charleston City Paper
Less Is More
By: Joy Vandervort-Cobb

I told you, Charleston. The place to be last night was the Gaillard Auditorium where Dianne Reeves and her boys, guitarists Romero Lubambo and Russell Malone, made it hotter inside than out. I strolled around the lobby, eavesdropping on conversations as I took in the large, mixed crowd. There were young and old, black and white, artists and musicians and vocalists and those of us who just dig vocal jazz. And bless us she did, even invoking a moment before her final bow to wish us all “peace and light” as she left the stage, guitarists in tow.

A very simple set met the sell-out audience at the Gaillard. There were three stools, two amps, two guitars on stands, and a small table center stage covered in black cloth, holding two water glasses and a vase of flowers in a small pool of light. The backdrop was a curtain that played light very well, shimmering upstage of the action with a break-up pattern (a gobo, for those of you in the know) to give some added visual interest in case the music wasn’t enough. It was. It was more than enough.

Ms. Reeves was in good voice, running up and down the scale from the attic to the basement from the center stool, a place she called “a sweet seat.” She was talking about sitting between her two extraordinary musicians. “The first time I played with these two five years ago,” she said between songs, “I thought to myself, ‘Oh, no. What is this gonna be? I was so used to singing with my band or having an orchestra — something more.’ Well,” she said grinning, “less is really more.” And for two solid hours, Reeves proved that adage true.

If you haven’t heard her 2008 album, When You Know, and you missed this opportunity to hear her with Malone and Lubambo as they made two guitars sound like a whole lot more, take a listen. When You Know’s “Social Call was the third song of the evening and it was simply outstanding. Reeves’ voice peaked and plummeted, rolling soprano to alto with ease.

To read more click here

Dianne Reeves brings her outsize talent back to Spoleto Viva la Voice

IMN

May 25th, 2011

From Charleston City Paper

*Dianne Reeves brings her outsize talent back to Spoleto
Viva la Voice*
By Joy Vandervort-Cobb

I’ve heard somewhere that jazz is dying. If it is, nobody told the Holy City and certainly no one has shared it with the inimitable vocal powerhouse Dianne Reeves.

“I don’t think jazz is dying,” she says, when confronted with the notion. “I think what we’ll find when we look back at this time period, in retrospect, what we’ll see is that jazz was reconstituting. Dying? I don’t think so. There are all these programs of study dedicated to jazz music, students of jazz. Dying … No.”

Reeves will be returning to perform in Charleston for the Spoleto Festival as part of the Wells Fargo Jazz Series on May 30 at the Gaillard Auditorium. And quite frankly, if you love music, if you love jazz, then there is no other place you’ll want to be that evening.

“I love Charleston, and I love this festival,” she says. “It supports the idea of music without boundaries. I’m coming with a scaled-down version of my band. No orchestra this time. It’s fun to sing this way.”

Recently Reeves has been traveling about with her small combo, which includes Romero Lubambo and Russell Malone, two guitarists she credits with helping her find a new place in her voice, a place she describes as “very light and sweet and peaceful.”

To read more click here

Dianne Reeves On Piano Jazz

IMN

May 16th, 2011

From NPR Music

Dianne Reeves On Piano Jazz
By Grant Jackson

This Piano Jazz episode from 1999 features one of today’s preeminent jazz singers. Dianne Reeves brings her rhythmic virtuosity to a sparkling set of standards, including duets with host Marian McPartland on “Close Enough for Love” and “Softly, As in a Morning Sunrise.”

Reeves was born in Detroit to a family full of musicians — her father was a singer, her mother played trumpet, an uncle played bass for the Colorado Symphony and her cousin is pianist, composer and arranger George Duke. She began studying piano at an early age and recalls singing ever since she can remember. Jazz music, particularly the work of Sarah Vaughan, resonates in Reeves’ childhood musical memories.

At 16, Reeves began singing with her local high-school jazz band. The group won a competition that eventually led to a feature performance at the National Association of Jazz Educators. It was there that trumpeter Clark Terry first noticed Reeves’ abilities and took her under his wing, encouraging her to pursue a career as a singer. She was invited on several occasions to sit in with Terry’s All-Star group, which gave her the opportunity to sing with jazz legends such as Tommy Flanagan, Jimmy Rowles and Louis Bellson.

Listen to the program here

JAZZ SPRING 2011 Dianne Reeves: ‘Strings Attached’

IMN

May 5th, 2011

http://www.funzine.hu/event-jazz-spring-2011-dianne-reeves/

JAZZ SPRING 2011 Dianne Reeves

Dianne Reeves is one of the greatest living jazz singers of our time. Her musical career stretches back to her teenage years at the beginning of the 1970s, when the legendary trumpeter Clark Terry became her mentor. Her first album, Welcome to My Love, was released in 1977, and has since been followed by numerous live and studio recordings. The American music community has recognized Reeves for her work so far by awarding her four Grammy Awards in the “Best Jazz Vocal” category. An intensively creative artist, Reeves gave a highly successful concert to promote her new album at the Főnix Hall in Debrecen in the spring of 2010. Just one year later she returns with a clutch of new musical ideas, which she presents on this occasion in the Palace of Arts for the opening concert of the 2011 Jazz Spring. The special thing about this concert, dubbed Strings Attached, is that the singer’s voice will be backed by two guitars, played by two musicians at the forefront of the jazz guitar.

To read the full article click here

Dianne Reeves STRINGS ATTACHED to perform in Cyprus

IMN

April 29th, 2011

www.mumsincyprus.com

Dianne Reeves is the pre-eminent jazz vocalist in the world today. As a result of her virtuosity, improvisational prowess and unique jazz and R&B stylings, Reeves received the Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Performance for three consecutive recordings—a Grammy first in any vocal category.

Reeves appeared in George Clooney’s “Good Night, and Good Luck,” the Academy Award nominated film that chronicles Edward R. Murrow’s confrontation with Senator Joseph McCarthy. The soundtrack recording of “Good Night, and Good Luck” provided Reeves her fourth Best Jazz Vocal Grammy in 2006.

To read full article click HERE

Jazz Great Dianne Reeves Works Vocal Miracles at Wisconsin Union Theater

IMN

April 7th, 2011

From the Daily Page

Jazz great Dianne Reeves works vocal miracles at Wisconsin Union Theater
By Dean Robbins

Was I lying when I called Dianne Reeves one of the greatest jazz singers ever in my preview article for her Isthmus Jazz Series concert? I don’t think anyone in Friday’s ecstatic audience at Wisconsin Union Theater would have indicted me. With her uncannily flexible voice, Reeves turned every song into a tour de force. Heck, she could even turn individual words into a tour de force, breaking them into scales, hopping crazy intervals, and never landing on the note you expected her to land on. Reeves matched her idol, Sarah Vaughan, in virtuosity, and that’s saying a lot.

But thankfully, virtuosity wasn’t the point. Expressiveness was, with Reeves’ technical skill serving as the means to an end. With help from an extraordinarily sympathetic quartet — pianist Peter Martin, bassist Reginald Veal, guitarist Romero Lubambo and drummer Terreon Gully — she rendered subtle moods on original songs and standards like “Stormy Weather.” With her beaming smile and occasional dance moves, Reeves gave the impression of enjoying herself greatly. “This isn’t a stage,” she said, sashaying in a white silk dress. “It’s really a playground.”

Read the entire review here

Dianne Reeves Makes a Case for Jazz's Relevance

IMN

April 4th, 2011

From Isthmus

Singer Dianne Reeves makes a case for jazz’s relevance
By Dean Robbins

The recent death of Abbey Lincoln made it official. The golden age of female jazz singers is over.

But that doesn’t mean the genre is played out — not by a long shot. Contemporary women are finding a way to sing jazz without slavishly imitating Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan, the three titans who set the standard over half a century ago. One of the best is Dianne Reeves, who appears as part of the Wisconsin Union Theater’s Isthmus Jazz Series on April 8.

Reeves rivals her idol, Vaughan, in virtuosity. She shapes phrases with exquisite subtlety, making use of a shiver-inducing lower register. Her ballads have a languorous quality, with dramatic swooping notes and a delicate vibrato. On up-tempo numbers, the lyrics sometimes dissolve into scat syllables, Fitzgerald-style, and Reeves melts into the band as just another instrument. At times like these, she communicates something ineffable — a sort of bliss that exists beyond the realm of words.

Familiar melodies don’t sound at all familiar when Reeves gets through with them. She has a gift for improvising, to the point where standards like “The Man I Love” and “Love for Sale” become something else entirely — something she can call her own. This is jazz singing of the highest order, matched by only a handful of others since Louis Armstrong invented the art form in the 1920s.

Read the entire interview here

Dianne Reeves: A Jazz Voice With Pop Sensibilities

IMN

February 2nd, 2011

From NPR

Dianne Reeves: A Jazz Voice With Pop Sensibilities
By Felix Contreras

When jazz fans of the future look back, I believe Dianne Reeves will stand out as one of the best voices of our generation. Hearing her live leaves little doubt: Not only does she nail all the things that define great jazz singers, but she also expands the idea of what a jazz vocalist is.

To my ears, Reeves is also a singer who celebrates her affinity for pop music with a jazz musician’s approach. On her self-titled 1987 album, she includes an ode to her grandmother titled “Better Days.” The construction of this tune has always reminded me of Earth, Wind and Fire’s sophisticated approach to pop music: intricate rhythm arrangements, lyrics that deftly slip into the song’s groove and choruses that leave listeners humming for days.

The entry point to understanding and appreciating the duality of a jazz approach to pop lies within the song itself. Jazz vocalists often deconstruct the original melody by exploring the musical DNA of the song: elongating certain notes, altering the melody based on alternate chords, changing the syntax of the lyrics.

Read the entire article here

Jazzy Mandarin & The Gate's Wide Open: Conversations With Dianne Reeves and Kurt Elling

IMN

January 28th, 2011

From the Huffington Post

Jazzy Mandarin & The Gate’s Wide Open: Conversations With Dianne Reeves and Kurt Elling
By Mike Ragogna

So, what happens when your elegant entertainer goes off script and speaks mandarin directly to a Chinese delegation in the White House? Well, global relationships survived intact after jazz vocalist Dianne Reeves delivered her beautiful, welcoming message to the international crowd although for a moment, the gesture was misinterpreted by a few officials as if it were the ’70s and it was The 5th Dimension singing “The Declaration of Independence” in Nixon’s White House. The following interview with the artist reveals just how beautiful the event was, who designed Michelle Obama’s stunning dress, her own musical history, George Clooney, and more. Also featured is an interview with another primo jazz vocalist, Kurt Elling, who shares his thoughts on his new Don Was-produced album The Gate and beyond.

Read the entire interview here

Dianne Reeves to Perform at the White House

IMN

January 19th, 2011

From NPR.org

A Jazzy All-American State Dinner For Chinese Prez

It’ll be jazz on the stage and prominent Chinese-Americans in the audience Wednesday night as Michelle and Barack Obama throw a “quintessentially American” state dinner for Chinese President Hu Jintao. What’s for dinner at the hottest event in town? Meat and potatoes, washed down with apple pie and ice cream for dessert, of course.

Action film star Jackie Chan was supplying some of the celebrity star power for the A-list guest list. Singer Barbra Streisand turned up at a State Department luncheon for the Chinese president and was expected to turn out for the dinner, too.

The dinner’s all-star jazz lineup includes trumpeter Chris Botti, two-time Grammy Award-winning vocalist Dee Dee Bridgewater, jazz icon Herbie Hancock, rising star Lang Lang and four-time Grammy-winning vocalist Dianne Reeves.

Jazz pianist Peter Martin, part of the entertainment lineup, prepped for his appearance by springing for a tux.

“I’m finally a grown-up, graduated from renting to owning,” Martin tweeted, adding that he was “super-excited” about the White House gig.

Read the entire article here

Dianne Reeves: Live In San Francisco

IMN

January 3rd, 2011

From NPR

The jazz singer Dianne Reeves is a powerhouse — a caretaker of a rich, hearty delivery which goes anywhere she sets her imagination to visit. That can be anywhere between tender balladry and authoritative declamations, though we’d expect her New Year’s Eve gig to lean toward the latter. In front of a crack staff of modern jazz musicians, including musical director Peter Martin on piano and Romero Lubambo on guitar, she counted down to midnight in Mountain Time and on the West Coast from Yoshi’s in San Francisco.

Personnel: Dianne Reeves, voice; Romero Lubambo, guitar; Peter Martin, piano; Reginald Veal, bass; Terreon Gully, drums.

Listen to the entire concert here