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New York Voices

New York Voices

“It’s certainly not something that occurred to us when we were thinking about starting a band in 1988,” says Darmon Meader, musical director and tenor singer of New York Voices, about the seminal vocal ensemble’s 30th anniversary. “But the band has a momentum of its own—it has a life now.” Indeed, that momentum and life force has a firm grip on Meader and his bandmates, baritone Peter Eldridge and dual sopranos Lauren Kinhan and Kim Nazarian. Each has a separate and busy career of his or her own, working as a soloist and educator in the jazz vocal world, but each makes New York Voices their top priority. “We’re like a four-headed old married couple—we’re just a big family at this point,” Meader says. Life also bursts forth from every corner of Reminiscing in Tempo, the quartet’s anniversary release (although the 30-year mark was technically 2018) and one of the most ambitious, accomplished undertakings in their entire catalog. Working with revered producer and longtime friend Elliot Scheiner, NYV takes a deep dive into the jazz canon, surfacing with standards by Cole Porter and Al Jolson and gems from the catalogues Chick Corea, Fred Hersch, and Duke Ellington, along with an Al Jarreau-penned lyrical treatment of Dave Brubeck. As always, however, the band looks beyond the jazz repertoire as well, rendering two inventive originals, classics by the Beatles and Ivan Lins, and even a pair of settings for the Cuban classical composer Ignacio Cervantes. “It is quite a span to cover,” says Nazarian, brimming with enthusiasm. “Honoring the composers, as we do with Cervantes, and some of our jazz icons that we have not covered in the past, like Fred Hersch—I think that’s really special. There are still some firsts on this record for New York Voices, and after 31 years, I think that’s pretty amazing!” Adventurous though they may still be, Reminiscing in Tempo also finds the band having settled into a mature, confident phase. They are aware of their achievements, but don’t feel the need to harp on them. “I think we’re more comfortable in our own skin now,” Eldridge says. “I think initially we were out to impress. Flashy is fine, but when you’re in it for the long haul, you realize how empty that can be. The music’s supposed to feel good, too. So we’ve settled into a nice combination of the sweet and the splashy.” It’s a combination that has long characterized their thoughtfully programmed recordings and concert performances over the years with age as the refining element to their ever evolving story.

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Album Review

Luiz Millan: Brazilian Match

Read "Brazilian Match" reviewed by Chris M. Slawecki


Brazilian Match is a tour-de-force of classic and contemporary Brazilian music written by and featuring singer-songwriter Luiz Millan. Millan's fifth album is a leader is his first for Jazz Station Records and Brazilian jazz impresario Arnaldo DeSouteiro, whose storied history includes working with Antonio Carlos Jobim, Eumir Deodato, Dom Um Romão, João Donato, and other legends, and who called Millan “a composer's composer." “A great melodist who also happens to be a great poet, a fabulous storyteller; a ...

5
Album Review

New York Voices: Reminiscing In Tempo

Read "Reminiscing In Tempo" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey


What the quartet New York Voices achieves with their performance of Dave Brubeck's “Blue Rondo Á La Turk" disguised as “Round, Round, Round" by lyricist Lauren Kinhan is nothing short of a schizophrenic jazz “Carmina Burana." Lithe, muscular, and smart, the performance is dense and thought-provoking, deftly navigating between its disparate 9/8 and 4/4 sections. The 9/8 sections are presented in almost astringent counterpoint, the vocals cast precisely, almost as in a cantata or oratorio. When the time ...

4
Album Review

New York Voices: Reminiscing In Tempo

Read "Reminiscing In Tempo" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky


Time flies, so why shouldn't New York Voices revel in that passage on life's jet stream? Reminiscing In Tempo marks the celebrated vocal quartet's 30th anniversary in style, presenting a dozen performances delivered with imaginative flair. The arrangements and vocals, not surprisingly, are airtight, and the joy in the music is palpable. Demonstrating mastery of an idiom too often ignored, the Voices put their magnetic pipes and impossibly accurate harmonies on display in myriad settings, moving artfully ...

2
Album Review

Bob Mintzer Big Band / New York Voices: Meeting of Minds

Read "Meeting of Minds" reviewed by Jack Bowers


Here's an appetizing treat for fans of big bands and vocals alike, neatly wrapped in one handsome package by the stalwart Bob Mintzer Big Band and the splendid New York Voices. Together, band and voices take a fresh look at eight memorable standards from the Great American Songbook written by such master craftsmen as Cole Porter, Jerome Kern, Hoagy Carmichael, Kurt Weill, Burton Lane and others, entwining for good measure a brace of instrumentals: Vincent Youmans / Irving Caesar's buoyant ...

4
Album Review

Bob Mintzer Big Band/New York Voices: Meeting Of Minds

Read "Meeting Of Minds" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky


Meeting Of Minds plays more like a merger than an encounter. And that, after all, is how all successful collaborations should feel. Hearing Bob Mintzer's big band and New York Voices join forces for a trip through newly-arranged takes on '30s and '40s gems from the Great American Songbook is a reminder that some music can ring timeless and appear pliant all at once when placed in the right hands. New York Voices has paired up with ...

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Album Review

Lauren Kinhan: A Sleepin' Bee

Read "A Sleepin' Bee" reviewed by Dan Bilawsky


Leaning on touchstones as a creative resource can be tricky business. If an artist puts too much stock in the original, they end up with a second-rate likeness of the archetype. But if they move too far away from the model, the tether breaks and the connection is completely lost in the wind. It takes a shrewd conceptualist to find the right balance between bowing and breaking free, and vocalist Lauren Kinhan most definitely fits the bill. ...

3
Album Review

New York Voices: Let It Snow

Read "Let It Snow" reviewed by Edward Blanco


New York Voices is unquestionably one of the finest singing ensembles ever assembled and with Let It Snow, lend their quality vocals to the wintery season of cheer delivering a powerful performance of familiar Christmas songs sure to be regarded as a future holiday classic. Kim Nazarian, Lauren Kinhan, Peter Eldridge and founding member and tenor vocalist Darmon Meader, have been planning this project for some time after adding Christmas tunes to their December concerts many years ago. The music ...

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Recording

New York Voices Celebrate 30 Years Of Singing Together With "Reminiscing In Tempo," Due Aug 16 From Origin Records

New York Voices Celebrate 30 Years Of Singing Together With "Reminiscing In Tempo," Due Aug 16 From Origin Records

Source: Terri Hinte Publicity

Thirty years after they began, the members of the vocal jazz quartet New York Voices remain undimmed in their commitment to making music together—a commitment they celebrate with Reminiscing in Tempo, set for an August 16 release on Origin Records. Produced by Elliot Scheiner, the album reaffirms NYV’s position in the elite of vocal jazz with an ambitious program of originals, standards, rediscovered jazz gems, tunes by Ivan Lins and the Beatles, and two pieces by 19th-century Cuban classical composer ...

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Recording

New Bob Mintzer Big Band – New York Voices Album, "Meeting Of Minds," Out Now From MCG Jazz

New Bob Mintzer Big Band – New York Voices Album, "Meeting Of Minds," Out Now From MCG Jazz

Source: All About Jazz

“Meeting of Minds focuses on the integration of voices with the big band. The combination of the dynamic writing styles of Bob Mintzer and Darmon Meader, from New York Voices, produces a very dense yet very fresh sonic palette. There are subtle harmonic and rhythmic nuances in the arrangements that blend together to deliver an engaging musical journey. The repertoire draws on the Great American Songbook from the 1930s and 1940s. Each arrangement transforms a classic song into a modern-day ...

1

Performance / Tour

Jazz this week: Carmen Bradford, New York Voices, Ramsey Lewis, and more

Jazz this week: Carmen Bradford, New York Voices, Ramsey Lewis, and more

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

Check out more events at Jazz Near You: St. Louis. This week's lineup of jazz and creative music in and around St. Louis includes a couple of shows by touring jazz vocalists that require a bit of a trek from the city, but should be worth the trip, plus the usual variety of musical styles closer to home. Let's go to the highlights... Thursday March 12 Tonight, Jefferson College presents their “Spring Jazz Showcase," featuring special guest vocalist Carmen Bradford, ...

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Performance / Tour

New York Voices Performing at Shalin Liu in Rockport on November 25

New York Voices Performing at Shalin Liu in Rockport on November 25

Source: MassJazz: Jazz in Massachusetts

Jazz vocal group New York Voices is appearing at the Shalin Liu Performance Center in Rockport on Friday, November 25, 2011 at 8:00 p.m. Tickets are $19, $28 and $34, and can be purchased online. Formed in 1987, New York Voices is a Grammy Award-winning quartet that has emerged as one of the exemplary vocal jazz groups of our times. For a schedule of upcoming concerts at the Shalin Liu Performance Center, located at 37 Main Street in Rockport, click ...

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Interview

New York Voices Vocalist Peter Eldridge Interviewed at AAJ

New York Voices Vocalist Peter Eldridge Interviewed at AAJ

Source: All About Jazz

In 1986, a group of kids from Ithaca College got to sing at the Montreux Jazz Festival. Although it was on the patio, rather than the main casino stage, it inspired the creation of the New York Voices, one of the most successful and long-running vocal groups in music history. The Voices seem to be on continuous tour, performing at the world's most prestigious venues. After six of their own albums, and two Grammy-winners with Paquito D'Rivera and the Count ...

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Award / Grant

NEA Jazz Master Paquito D'Rivera with Claudio Roditi and New York Voices

NEA Jazz Master Paquito D'Rivera with Claudio Roditi and New York Voices

Source: All About Jazz

NJPAC'S ALTERNATE ROUTES PRESENTS NEA JAZZ MASTER PAQUITO D'RIVERA WITH CLAUDIO RODITI & NEW YORK VOICES FOR ONE PERFORMANCE ONLY OF BRAZILIAN DREAMS, MAY 14, 2006

Newark, New Jersey - As part of the New Jersey Performing Arts Center's Alternate Routes series, jazz legend and 2005 recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) Jazz Master Fellowship, Paquito D'Rivera will perform with Brazilian jazz trumpter Claudio Roditi and Grammy Award winning vocal ensemble, ...

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Performance / Tour

Patti Austin, Kurt Elling, Charlie Hunter, Bob Mintzer, Janis Siegel, New York Voices are performing at the 12th annual GPU Berks Jazz Fest

Patti Austin, Kurt Elling, Charlie Hunter, Bob Mintzer, Janis Siegel, New York Voices are performing at the 12th annual GPU Berks Jazz Fest

Source: All About Jazz

READING, PA -- February 6, 2002 -- The GPU Berks Jazz Fest, presented by the Berks Arts Council, is a special event whose roots grow deep into this community’s fabric. This year’s 12th edition of the festival runs from Friday, March 15 through Sunday, March 24 and features more than 120 events at multiple and various venues throughout Berks County.

With a smorgasbord of jazz guaranteed to satisfy all musical appetites, March winds in Berks County have distinctive jazz overtones. ...

Wendy Jones
vocals
Fifth Element
band / ensemble / orchestra

Photos

Concerts

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Brazilian Match

Jazz Station Records
2023

buy

Reminiscing In Tempo

Origin Records
2019

buy

A Sleepin' Bee

Self Produced
2017

buy

Live with the WDR Big...

Palmetto Records
2013

buy

Andar Descalço (Barefoot) feat. Randy Brecker

From: Brazilian Match
By New York Voices

In the Grove of the Jacarandas

From: Brazilian Match
By New York Voices

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