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Robin McKelle

Robin McKelle comes out swinging on her second disc of big band jazz, Modern Antique. The bassist plucks some fat, rich chords, the pianist skitters over the keys, and McKelle herself confidently scats over the melody while the horn section eggs her on. The mood is playfully flirtatious, just this side of naughty. The entire combo is having so much fun " and so are you " that the tune is almost over before you realize it’s an ingenious re-arrangement of Steve Miller’s seventies classic, “Abracadabra.” That opening gambit sets the tone for everything that follows: The singer has created a stylistically ambitious follow-up to her debut while still managing to evoke and honor the forties big-band sound she explored on the remarkable Introducing Robin McKelle. There are more rhythm and bluestouches, revealing McKelle’s torchy side, and she concludes the album with a self-penned ballad (“Remember”) that fits in comfortably with the American Songbook gems that precede it. Modern Antique will impress the ever-growing audience who’ve already discovered McKelle — via National Public Radio, her glowing press notices, or good old word of mouth — and it should attract the even wider audience in the U.S. she clearly deserves. The Europeans are way ahead of us when it comes to McKelle; she’s already a vocaljazz star in France. The adventurous spirit McKelle brings to Modern Antique has distinguished her career from the start. For her debut disc, the Boston-based singer had such conviction about the jazz recordshe wanted to make that she was willing to risk her own finances to record it " no small feat, given the arrangements that needed to be commissioned, the top-notch players to be hired. Arranger-producer-trumpeter Willie Murillo (Brian Setzer Orchestra, Aimee Mann) shared her vision. Together they fashioned an album that balanced period authenticity with the present-tense thrill of hearing an artist eager to put her own stamp on songs like “Something’s Got To Give” and “Night & Day.” On Modern Antique, McKelle " who’s taught voice at her alma mater, Berklee, and sung with the Boston Pops — allows herself more room to stretch artistically and “put more of my personality and my own touch on it.” McKelle especially helped to shape smoldering ballads like “Save Your Love For Me,” which boasts a sumptuous string arrangement, and the urbanely sexy “Lover Man.” As she explains, “I really like blues and a groovy kind of feel.

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4
Album Review

Robin McKelle & The Flytones: Soul Flower

Read "Soul Flower" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey


First, Robin McKelle & The Flytones Soul Flower is not neo-soul. Neo-soul is what Amy Winehouse was and Cee Lo Green is (at least on his “Forget You"). Neo-soul is a cheeky attempt to cash in on a classic style while, at the same time, not taking it seriously. Second, Soul Flower might be better termed retro-soul, except that McKelle avoids the pitfall of clinging too tightly to the old style that has plagued other artists trying to put a ...

370
Album Review

Robin McKelle: Modern Antique

Read "Modern Antique" reviewed by Woodrow Wilkins


Sometimes, when a jazz vocalist does a big band arrangement of a rock or pop hit, the results can be classical. Robin McKelle avoids that trap from the very start with her swinging rendition of Steve Miller's “Abracadabra." The lyrics are perfectly suitable for a jazz offering, and the blend of McKelle's voice and the horns is magical.That cover opens Modern Antique, McKelle's follow-up to her debut, Introducing Robin McKelle (Cheap Lullaby, 2006). Boston-bred McKelle has taught voice ...

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Interview

Robin McKelle: Songbird On The Wing

Read "Robin McKelle: Songbird On The Wing" reviewed by Marcia Hillman


Robin McKelle's career as a recording artist and a performer is on the rise on both sides of the Atlantic. She is already a jazz star in France and has appeared at the Blue Note and Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola in New York City. Exposed to music at home by her mother, a musician, McKelle began singing at an early age and playing piano at the age of five. In her early teens, she became interested in jazz. She switched from ...

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Album Review

Robin McKelle: Modern Antique

Read "Modern Antique" reviewed by Marcia Hillman


Robin McKelle knows fine ways to treat a song. Once again, as in her debut Introducing Robin McKelle (Cheap Lullaby, 2006), her vocal ability and flexibility sparkles as she sings, scats and swings with a big band behind her. This time, however, she shows more rhythm and blues touches and also captures an old-fashioned torch song delivery in her treatment of mostly standard material. McKelle has a wonderfully rich assortment of qualities in her voice. She is ...

105
Album Review

Robin McKelle: Introducing Robin McKelle

Read "Introducing Robin McKelle" reviewed by Marcia Hillman


Robin McKelle's debut CD is a blast of fresh air from the past. Introducing is done from the stance of a band singer from the 1940s in musical format and material, logical since most legendary jazz and pop singers learned their trade that way. Most of the tracks are read in standard fashion--the band taking the opening choruses and the vocals coming in on the second, with strings added on the ballads. Many of the arrangements come ...

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Album Review

Robin McKelle: Introducing Robin McKelle

Read "Introducing Robin McKelle" reviewed by Jim Santella


Accompanied by a big band that features many of LA's top sidemen, Robin McKelle sings from the Great American Songbook on this solo recording debut. It's an excellent choice. The songs seem to be an integral part of her personality.

McKelle interprets “Dream with a subtle caress, “I've Got the World on a String with a glad-happy attitude, and “The Lamp is Low with seamless phrases that flow evenly on high. Her interpretations and those of her orchestra ...

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Interview

Robin McKelle: A Different Approach

Read "Robin McKelle: A Different Approach" reviewed by Woodrow Wilkins


Robin McKelle doesn't fancy herself a jazz singer. However, with a little prompting from her producer, she has released a first-rate jazz album. Unlike other vocalists whose debuts have featured many of the same standards, McKelle went back a little further with Introducing Robin McKelle. She even approached the process differently, spending her own money to make sure she got it done her way. All About Jazz: A lot of debut vocalists do standards, but your approach was ...

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Recording

Songstress Robin McKelle to Release "Mess Around" on E1 Music

Songstress Robin McKelle to Release "Mess Around" on E1 Music

Source: DL Media

SONGSTRESS ROBIN MCKELLETO RELEASE MESS AROUND ON E1 MUSICALBUM SHOWCASES A NUMBER OF GENRESINCLUDING SOUL, BLUES, AND JAZZU.S. TOUR DATES IN SUPPORTOF MAY 4TH RELEASE“I've wanted to do this kind of album for a long time. It's a project that spans a number of genres: soul, blues and jazz - all musical styles I love and which define my personality. It's an organic, flesh-and-blood record, recorded with musicians close to me. ...

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Festival

The 2008-09 JazzErie Season Brings Eric Alexander, Dave Liebman, Pete Mills, Robin McKelle to Town

The 2008-09 JazzErie Season Brings Eric Alexander, Dave Liebman, Pete Mills, Robin McKelle to Town

Source: All About Jazz

If you're among those in the Erie area who feel they've heard some good music this summer, well, wait until you hear what's yet to come. JazzErie has put together a highly promising 2008-09 concert season (its fifth annual) featuring some of the best jazz musicians in the world, as well as outstanding local and regional players. Most of the musicians who will be part of the upcoming season -- leaders and their band members -- place among the top ...

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Recording

New Candid Records Release by Sensational Jazz Vocalist, Robin McKelle

New Candid Records Release by Sensational Jazz Vocalist, Robin McKelle

Source: All About Jazz

"A unique new voice on the jazz scene who someday soon will require no introduction" - Jazz Week

“First-rate jazz album" - All About Jazz

Top 10 Billboard chart entry A Barnes & Noble bestseller Extensive plays on BBC Radio 2 Approaching 50000 sold in France

2nd July 2007 will mark the release of “Introducing", Robin McKelle's debut album that is already a best seller in the USA and Europe. Critics compare he voice to Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald! ...

Photos

Concerts

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Soul Flower

Sony Music
2013

buy

Soul Flower

Pirouet
2012

buy

Mess Around

Pirouet
2010

buy

Modern Antique

Cheap Lullaby Records
2008

buy

Introducing Robin...

Unknown label
2007

buy

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