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Gretchen Parlato

Gretchen Parlato's voice is a thing of wonder. Striking the ideal balance between precision and flexibility, she is never predictable, blurring the lines between singer and instrumentalist as she takes a lyric—and at other times improvised flights of wordless fancy—to places it's never before been. On In a Dream, her debut album for ObliqSound, which releases August 25, Parlato and her intuitive support team reinvent constantly, Parlato impeccably articulating in a voice so ethereal that the listener might very well feel that he or she is "in a dream."

Coming four years after her self-titled debut, In a Dream finds Parlato embarking on a beguiling journey deep into the heart of both her own compositions and classic material by the likes of Stevie Wonder, Duke Ellington, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter and others—all of which she instantly makes her own. Each song emerges as a unique world unto itself, yet there's an undeniable thread linking them all together.

Aligning with a virtuosic quartet she describes as "inspiring, creative, sensitive, musical souls"—Lionel Loueke on guitar, Aaron Parks on piano and Fender Rhodes, Derrick Hodge on acoustic and electric bass, and drummer Kendrick Scott—Parlato brings the warmth and compelling command of her much-heralded live performances to 10 exquisite new peeks into her artistic personality. In a Dream firmly places Gretchen Parlato in the upper echelon of today's vocal artists.

Both Hancock and Shorter are already fans. Hancock has said that Parlato has a "deep, almost magical connection to the music," and Shorter has said "in an inconspicuous way, Gretchen plays the same instrument as Frank Sinatra."

Michele Locatelli, the album's producer and co-founder of ObliqSound, notes that Parlato's desire to blend a broad range of musical influences sets her apart. "Even though her means of expression is jazz-based, it goes beyond that. The defining thing about her, however, is her subtle sense of rhythm and timing: she makes a song seem easy when it's not."

From the opening number, her interpretation of Wonder's "I Can't Help It," best known via Michael Jackson's rendition, Parlato's extraordinary vocal calisthenics, immaculate sense of timing and nuanced phrasing are in full bloom. Parlato transforms the song into a breathy neo- bossa nova, joined solely by Loueke's closely intertwined, sweet guitar lines and vocalized percussion and bass accompaniment. "The song just grew organically and has continued to develop every time we play it," Parlato says.

The song list runs the gamut from classic Brazilian— "Doralice," learned from the legendary singer/guitarist João Gilberto—to the flowing "Turning Into Blue," penned by the bassist Alan Hampton, with lyrics by Parlato based on Buddhist teachings. The way in which she stretches out the word "turning," then catches up with "into blue" is indicative of Parlato's innate ability to work miracles with a lyric and hold the listener's attention via her ingenuity. Ellington's "Azure," says Parlato, "taps into that dreamlike state we can be in when we long for someone and feel completely alone. I love to reveal the beauty in the darkness." Performed in a 5/4 rhythm, the track features a stunning bass solo by Hodge.

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Radio & Podcasts

Gretchen Parlato and Lionel Loueke, Wayne Shorter, Trevor Dunn, and Others

Read "Gretchen Parlato and Lionel Loueke, Wayne Shorter, Trevor Dunn, and Others" reviewed by Jerome Wilson


This program covers a wide range of jazz styles. The artists heard include the duo of Gretchen Parlato and Lionel Loueke, Trevor Dunn's Trio Convulsant, Wayne Shorter, and Will Bernard.Playlist Henry Threadgill Sextett “I Can'r Wait Till I Get Home" from The Complete Novus & Columbia Recordings of Henry Threadgill & Air (Mosaic) 00:00 Gerry Mulligan / Art Farmer Quartet “Moonlight In Vermont" from Complete Live In Rome Concert (Lonehill Jazz) 1:13 Doug McDonald “Desert Jazz" from Big ...

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Play This!

Gretchen Parlato: Turning Into Blue

Read "Gretchen Parlato: Turning Into Blue" reviewed by Mike Jacobs


From her album In A Dream (ObliqSound, 2009), Gretchen Parlato's “Turning Into Blue" is a sublime and seductive feast for the ears. Featuring Aaron Parks, Kendrick Scott and Derrick Hodge. ...

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Album Review

Gretchen Parlato, Lionel Loueke: Lean In

Read "Lean In" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi


Le collaborazioni discografiche tra la vocalist losangelina e il chitarrista del Benin iniziano nel biennio 2005/2006. Prima è venuto Gretchen Parlato, l'album debutto della cantante, e qualche mese dopo Virgin Forest (Obliqsound), il terzo lavoro di Loueke che comprendeva già Herbie Hancock. Negli anni successivi i due interpreti hanno continuato a collaborare in vari contesti privilegiando le comuni affinità: il jazz contemporaneo, l'amore per le musiche etniche (i ritmi in particolare) di Africa e Brasile, qualche suggestione pop e la ...

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Album Review

Gretchen Parlato and Lionel Loueke: Lean In

Read "Lean In" reviewed by Geno Thackara


With a voice as sweet and cool as a spring breeze, Gretchen Parlato would sound at home in any cozy jazz club from jny: Paris to jny: Sao Paulo. The sound of Lionel Loueke's voice and guitar is at least 60 percent rhythm, with his plucking and crooning having an innate percussive pulse running through it. Two decades of collaboration and close friendship are on display with Parlato and Loueke's first full duo-recording; Lean In shows the breadth of their ...

Album Review

John Ellis, Andy Bragen: The Ice Siren

Read "The Ice Siren" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi


Dopo Dreamscapes e MOBRO John Ellis e Andy Bragen firmano un altro lavoro d'ampio respiro, che si snoda in equilibrio tra scrittura cameristica, jazz e opera contemporanea. Ellis ha scritto la musica e partecipa come strumentista; Bragen ha composto il libretto, ispirandosi al filone gothic fantasy di autori come Tim Burton ne “La sposa cadavere" (titolo originale The Corpse Bride). L'opera è stata commissionata dalla Jazz Gallery di New York e presentata lo scorso anno durante ...

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Interview

Gretchen Parlato: Pursuing Her Passion

Read "Gretchen Parlato: Pursuing Her Passion" reviewed by R.J. DeLuke


"I haven't gotten dressed up like that for a few years," says singer Gretchen Parlato with an infectious chuckle. “It'll be nice." The unassuming and down-to earth Parlato was breezily referring to the 2021 Grammy Awards in Los Angeles on Jan. 31. Her latest album Flor (Edition Records), inspired by the music of Brazil, is nominated in the best jazz vocal album category. She lives in LA and will attend. “When you get nominated, it's really ...

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Radio & Podcasts

Gretchen Parlato, Shabaka Hutchings, Francois Lana, Artemis & More

Read "Gretchen Parlato, Shabaka Hutchings, Francois Lana, Artemis & More" reviewed by Ludovico Granvassu


There's too much great music to squeeze into two hours a week of Mondo Jazz. Here's a mixtape to share more gems from Roxana Amed; Gretchen Parlato; Lionel Loueke; Artemis; James Brandon Lewis; Francois Lana; Ron Miles; Michael Wolff; Francesco Bearzatti; Shabaka Hutchings; Christian Scott aTunde Adjuah. Happy listening! Playlist Roxana Amed “Chacarera para la mano izquierda" Tumbleweed -Single (Sony Latin) 0:00 Gretchen Parlato “Magnus" Flor (Edition) 0:00 Lionel Loueke “Cantaloupe Island" HH (Edition) 8:32 Artemis ...

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Event

Vocalist Gretchen Parlato Closes Lawrence University 2012-13 Jazz Series on May 3

Vocalist Gretchen Parlato Closes Lawrence University 2012-13 Jazz Series on May 3

Source: Rick Peterson

Innovative vocalist Gretchen Parlato closes Lawrence University 2012-13 Jazz Series Friday, May 10 with an 8 p.m. performance in the Lawrence Memorial Chapel. Hailed by jazz legend Herbie Hancock as “a singer with a deep, almost magical connection to the music” Parlato has been attracting fans and critics alike since winning the 2004 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Vocals Competition. A Los Angeles native, Parlato released her debut self-titled album to critical acclaim in 2005. Billboard magazine called her follow-up second ...

Recording

Trumpeter John Daversa Returns with Crackling Small Group. Special Guests Bob Mintzer and Gretchen Parlato

Trumpeter John Daversa Returns with Crackling Small Group. Special Guests Bob Mintzer and Gretchen Parlato

Source: Two for the Show Media

Street Date: September 25th, 2012 “John Daversa is pioneering a new jazz sound"  —Marc Myers, Jazz Wax On the heels of 2011's high-energy, take-no-prisoners, boundary-stretching Junk Wagon: The Big Band Album, acclaimed L.A.-based trumpeter-composer-arranger John Daversa scales things back for his upbeat follow up, Artful Joy.  "It was difficult trying to find the right album name for this one," says Daversa, who has been leading a big band and small group concurrently for the past six years. “I didn't realize ...

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Interview

Gretchen Parlato Finds "Peace of Mind" as a New Breed of Jazz Diva

Gretchen Parlato Finds "Peace of Mind" as a New Breed of Jazz Diva

Source: All About Jazz @ Spinner

Gretchen Parlato is not your stereotypical jazz diva. You won't see this singer up on stage dressed in a prom dress, and her beautiful voice doesn't have the impressive range of other some singers out there. With a short asymmetrical haircut and a hip fashion sense, her look is her own. Nonetheless, it is Parlato's voice that stands out. She has singular ear for rhythm and phrasing, texture and subtlety. Her sweet spot is a breathy whisper that beckons with ...

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Contest

Enter the ObliqSound "Gretchen Parlato - In a Dream" CD Giveaway Contest

Enter the ObliqSound "Gretchen Parlato - In a Dream" CD Giveaway Contest

Source: All About Jazz

All About Jazz members are invited to enter the ObliqSound “Gretchen Parlato - In a Dream“ giveaway contest starting today. We'll select FIVE winners at the conclusion of the contest on December 9th. Click here to enter the contest

(Following Gretchen Parlato at AAJ automatically enters you in the contest.)

Good luck! Your Friends at ObliqSound

About In a Dream Gretchen Parlato's voice is a thing of wonder. Striking the ideal balance between precision and flexibility, ...

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Performance / Tour

Jazz Singer Gretchen Parlato: Her Music is Pacific, Like the Ocean

Jazz Singer Gretchen Parlato: Her Music is Pacific, Like the Ocean

Source: Seattle Jazz Scene

The title of Gretchen Parlato's new album “In a Dream" (Obliqsound) aptly captures the sustained mood of ethereal introspection that she evokes from the first track to the last. Possessing an enticingly crystalline voice and a ravishing concept deeply informed by samba ballads and bossa nova, Parlato is among the very best of a rising generation of jazz singers, an artist who has taken her own sweet time forging a highly personal sound unlike that of any of her peers. ...

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Recording

Gretchen Parlato's "In a Dream" Released on Obliqsound on August 25

Gretchen Parlato's "In a Dream" Released on Obliqsound on August 25

Source: Michael Ricci

Gretchen Parlato's voice is a thing of wonder. Striking the ideal balance between precision and flexibility, she is never predictable, blurring the lines between singer and instrumentalist as she takes a lyric -- and at other times improvised flights of wordless fancy -- to places it's never before been. On In a Dream, her debut album for ObliqSound released August 25, Parlato and her intuitive support team reinvent constantly, Parlato impeccably articulating in a voice so ethereal that the listener ...

134

Performance / Tour

Seattle Times Review: Jazz Port Townsend Showcases a New Generation of Jazz

Seattle Times Review: Jazz Port Townsend Showcases a New Generation of Jazz

Source: Seattle Jazz Scene

PORT TOWNSEND — During a workshop she helped teach on the art of vocal jazz, Gretchen Parlato confessed that many of her favorite singers were those who “don't really sing." Several hours before she took the big stage at McCurdy Pavilion for her festival debut, she explained some of the singers she liked the most did not have the greatest technical ability, but rather a certain quality to their voice, a pleasing sound, an emotional gravity. To a large degree, ...

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Performance / Tour

Handling Sneaky Rhythms as Singer or Bandleader

Handling Sneaky Rhythms as Singer or Bandleader

Source: Michael Ricci

Gretchen Parlato became a presence in New York jazz five years ago, around the time she won the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Vocals Competition. At the time she seemed to work best in collaboration: she played often with the guitarist Lionel Loueke in performances that nearly merged their sensibilities, and she turned up for a song on other people’s records — Terence Blanchard, Esperanza Spalding, Kenny Barron, Mr. Loueke. There was always some warm egolessness in her performances: for sure, ...

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Music Industry

Obliqsound Signs Vocalist Gretchen Parlato

Obliqsound Signs Vocalist Gretchen Parlato

Source: All About Jazz

ObliqSound is pleased to announce the signing of its newest artist, American vocalist Gretchen Parlato. Having appeared as a guest on three previous ObliqSound releases, the singer who Herbie Hancock describes as having a “deep, almost magical connection to the music" will release her debut ObliqSound album in 2009. The album will combine Parlato's vocals in duo and ensemble, working with Lionel Loueke on guitar and vocals, Aaron Parks on piano and Fender Rhodes, Kendrick Scott on drums and Derrick ...

"Impassioned singer and bandleader" —Ben Ratliff, NY Times

"The future of jazz is alive and well in the hands of artists such as Gretchen Parlato and Lionel Loueke... Together, they make an irresistibly engaging musical combination... Parlato's voice was a flowing, mobile instrument. At times it blended seamlessly with Loueke's guitar, often in tandem with Loueke's singing. At other times, her warm sound — a persuasive blend of innocence and irony — found the heart of tunes... And everything she sang revealed her capacity to become immersed in the music without losing her own interpretive way." —Don Heckman, LA Times

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Photos

Concerts

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Lean In

Edition Records
2023

buy

Flor

Edition Records
2021

buy

25 Years

Ridgeway Records
2020

buy

The Ice Siren

Parade Light
2020

buy

Live In NYC

ObliqSound
2013

buy

The Lost And Found

ObliqSound
2011

buy

Videos

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