A VOICE OF HER OWN
Sue Giles, Vocalist
Black & White DVD review
Release Date: February 14, 2011Sue Giles has been making a strong impression in the New York/New Jersey area as a jazz singer. She discovered jazz when she was nine through the music of Ella Fitzgerald and has been dedicated to the music ever since. Her recordings are excellent but the recent DVD Black & White allows fans to experience her in performance as well as hear this up-and-coming talent.
Accompanied by pianist Art Hirahara, bassist Jason Fraticelli and drummer Justin Leigh, Ms. Giles is in top form throughout the seven selections. Stylishly shot (as one might guess from its title) in black & white, the live performance was produced in studio and has a classic feel. Ms. Giles looks quite relaxed and comfortable and sings with an ease in a way most people casually chat with friends.
The DVD begins with a mysterious riff and some finger snapping from the singer that forms the basis of a fresh version of "My Funny Valentine.” She displays a strong voice that is always in-tune and full of honest emotions, and an inventive bass solo by Fraticelli is heard between two powerful verses. Other highlights include the rarely performed standard “I Walk A Little Faster,” a highly expressive version of “Willow Weep For Me” and the optimistic “Give Your Heart” which the singer co-wrote with trumpeter Joe Magnarelli. Ms. Giles' heated scatting and blues approach on “Save Your Love For Me" is also memorable. Here, her rhythm section offers sympathetic yet stimulating support, giving her a perfect platform on which to create melodic variations and get her message across.
What's most impressive here is the fact that Sue Giles does not sound like any of her historic predecessors or inspirations, very much displaying a voice of her own. I think she clearly has a great future in jazz and is already a powerful and highly appealing singer who deserves to be discovered. Black & White is an excellent representation of how she sounds today, and of the strong talent that she possesses which will certainly continue to grow in future years.
- Scott Yanow, author of ten books including The Jazz Singers, Trumpet Kings, Jazz On Film and Jazz On Record 1917-76
SUE GILES - JAZZ VOCAL ARTIST: PRESS
Scott Yanow - ALL ABOUT JAZZ
(Feb 3, 2011)
Princeton Packet Magazine - June 2008
Trentonian Review, December 2008
Princeton U.S. 1 Magazine Review
"Hardly anyone at Baker's Keyboard knew who singer Sue Giles was when she made her Detroit debut last summer with pianist Harry Whitaker - but they sure knew her by the time she finished. She's a singer to watch: at turns girlishly effervescent and womanly soulful, an artist whith a full palette of vocal colors, but also an entertainer who reaches to grab the audience by the lapels and pull."
"Sue Giles has a voice that may remind you of young Sassy, throwing low curves and high inside pitches over the Bebop plate, making it sound as though she's not going to show her fast ball until and unless the night gets profoundly deeper."
"She swings with the cunning allure of an Ella Fitzgerald and enunciates with the welcome warmth and transparancy of a Sarah Vaughan - endearing and ebullient."
"I paused at the Williamsburgh Cafe, a jazz festival-unaffiliated restaurant that had nonetheless booked singer Sue Giles, an unknown with a vocal instrument reminiscent of the grand swinging tradition of the trilogy divas. She performed on the street, scatting beautifully with a full, ravishing contralto and advertising the surrounding festival venues to passers-by. Halfway through Love For Sale, Giles stumbled over the lyric, offering her microphone instead to a curbside pedestrian, Harry-Connick sideman Jerry Weldon, who gamely sang half a chorus beofre climbing into a car, Manhattan-bound. Some of the better offerings were relative obscurities, fittingly."
gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous. thank goodness for sue keeping the sound alive. amazing.
Deborah Waxman - The PEOPLE! (Jan 18, 2011)
Wow you can really blow man! I like your smooth flow - this just let's me know that Jazz isn't dead.Does you have a record deal yet?
You really have an amazing voice like some of my female band mates in the P-Funk.
Peace Otto
Otto Shipman (Jan 18, 2011)
(Jan 18, 2011)