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Diane Hubka

"Diane Hubka makes her way into a select group of jazz vocalists/instrumentalists, where she rightly assumes a place of honor." (ALL ABOUT JAZZ) Whether singing with a group or accompanying herself on seven-string guitar, she gets straight to the heart of a song, playfully improvising over what New York's VILLAGE VOICE calls "as eclectically entertaining a collection of material as one could wish for." Diane's newest CD will be released on Oct 2! West Coast Strings (SSJ Records) features the singer with a far ranging program of music with eight West Coast master guitarists, plus soul-jazz veteran, Bobby Pierce guesting on Hammond B- 3. Hubka also plays guitar on three tracks. Don Heckman writes in the liner notes, "On this captivating new album, Diane has assembled a West Coast jazz guitar summit, with each of the all-star groupings providing the perfect setting for her soaring vocals." Concord recording artist and one of the world's foremost 7- string players, Howard Alden says: "I think voice plus seven-string guitar is an ideal combination. It's rare to find someone who can perform with both single-handedly, but Diane does just that - beautifully!" ALL MUSIC GUIDE calls Diane Hubka "one of the top jazz vocalists of her generation." The Sinatra Society of Japan invited Diane Hubka to perform and record her CD, I Like It Here/Live in Tokyo, (SSJ-USA 2009) which received a nomination for the prestigeous "Jazz Disc Award" by Swing Journal. "Hubka dazzled the Japanese audience with her intelligent improvisations, understated emotions and energy." (EASTWIND IMPORT.) With overseas tours in Turkey & Japan and club appearances throughout the U.S., she continues winning the international acclaim that began when her first CD, Haven't We Met, was released on the Dutch Challenge/A-Records label in 1999. It featured the legendary alto sax player Lee Konitz, and garnered a Jazz Award Nomination for "Best Recording Debut." A vital member of New York City's jazz scene for two decades, the award-winning vocalist relocated to Los Angeles in 2004, where she collaborated with pianist Christian Jacob (Maynard Ferguson, Tierney Sutton,) to record Diane Hubka Goes to the Movies, (18th & Vine, USA; SSJ Records, Japan; 2007.) JAZZTIMES heralded its "winning results" and ALL ABOUT JAZZ declared, "Hubka has created an entirely new songbook all her own." Her third CD, You Inspire Me, (VSOJAZ 2002) was a personal tribute to her love of jazz guitar, with seven of the world's top virtuoso guitarists playing on alternate cuts.

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Extended Analysis

Diane Hubka: West Coast Strings

Read "Diane Hubka: West Coast Strings" reviewed by Geannine Reid


This Blue Ridge Mountain-bred artist grew up in Western Maryland in a musical family and learned violin, trombone and guitar from an early age. After college Diane Hubka moved to Washington, DC where she frequented local jazz clubs Blues Alley, One Step Down and Mr. Y's Soul Kitchen, absorbing the sounds of local legends Charlie Byrd and Shirley Horn, hearing national acts, as well as honing her own skills in those rooms. In 1986 she moved to New York City ...

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Album Review

Diane Hubka: I Like It Here/Live in Tokyo

Read "I Like It Here/Live in Tokyo" reviewed by Ken Dryden


Cool-toned vocalist Diane Hubka first caught the attention of jazz journalists with her 1999 debut CD Haven't We Met?(Challenge-A) and she has continued to prove herself as an inventive, gifted interpreter of a wide range of material on her subsequent releases. Since leaving New York City for Southern California in 2004, she has played and recorded with a variety of top West Coast musicians. Hubka faced two challenges for I Like It Here/Live in Tokyo. After being ...

382
Album Review

Diane Hubka: I Like It Here: Diane Hubka Live in Tokyo

Read "I Like It Here: Diane Hubka Live in Tokyo" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey


Diane Hubka has made a reputation for being a straight-ahead, no-nonsense jazz singer and guitarist. Her previous recordings--Goes to the Movies (2008, 18th & Vine), You Inspire Me (2002, VSOJAZ), Look No Further (2000, Naxos)--all reveal a keen jazz talent with a conservative singing approach and swinging guitar sensibility.

Hubka solidifies her hold on mainstream jazz vocals with an excellent live set recorded in Tokyo, December 5, 2007. Hubka is supported by the superb trio of pianist Kiyoshi Morita, bassist ...

368
Album Review

Diane Hubka: Diane Hubka Goes to the Movies

Read "Diane Hubka Goes to the Movies" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey


Hubka, Hubka...

The marketplace is clotted with exceptional recordings by female jazz vocalists/instrumentalists, the vast majority complimenting their voices with a certain piano talent. Diane Hubka is one of the few, if not the only, female vocalist who also plays guitar. She has enjoyed considerable exposure with recordings like, Haven't We Met (A-Records, 1998), Look No Further (Naxos, 2000), and You Inspire Me (VSOJAZZ, 2002). Diane Hubka Goes to the Movies is her first release since You Inspire Me, during ...

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Album Review

Diane Hubka: You Inspire Me

Read "You Inspire Me" reviewed by Roger Crane


Listening to Diane Hubka is a delight. Somehow it is appropriate and nice that Diane Hubka sounds just the way she looks, namely, cool, understated and very pretty. But there is much more to singing than a lovely voice and Hubka can do it all. She is a master of time and she can employ melody modification with the best jazz singers. She can also scat convincingly, but it is her burnished sound that captures the listener; it is a ...

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Album Review

Diane Hubka: You Inspire Me

Read "You Inspire Me" reviewed by Dave Nathan


Working with a rotating set of musicians seems to be in vogue in recent years. Ray Brown has his Some of My Best Friends Are...series, Pat Martino a couple of years back did a disc with several visiting guitar compatriots. Even Frank Sinatra toward the end of his career cut albums which featured a number of different singers. Now comes songbird Diane Hubka, with an album which has her working with what are billed as “seven of the world's greatest ...

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Album Review

Diane Hubka: Look No Further

Read "Look No Further" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey


Skylark. Sweet-toned with considerable scat chops, Diane Hubka turns out and assertive collection of standards and vocalese on Look No Further. Ms. Hubka and friends swing with a gentle confidence, always maintaining a forward momentum. Ms. Hubka's voice requires no make-up. Her tone and approach are crystalline and precise. When she scats (as she does on the title track), it is without excess and grandiosity. She makes it look (sound) easy.

Hubka's band includes the fine pianist Frank Kimbrough, who ...

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Christopher Loudon, JAZZTIMES "She wraps her clear-as-mountain-stream sound around “The Look of Love,” “Close Enough for Love,” and “Wild is the Wind” with consistently winning results." Michael G. Nastos, ALL MUSIC GUIDE "A picture perfect vocalist if there ever was one." Ed Benson, JUST JAZZ GUITAR "If your toes aren't tapping here you've got a problem..." Shohei Chujo, Japan's SWING JOURNAL "5 out of 5 Stars: Arguably the biggest discovery since Gambarini." Masamichi Okazaki, Japan's SWING JOURNAL "4 1/2 out of 5 Stars: Hubka is also a good guitarist, and we get to hear her accompany herself in Luiz Bonfa’s “Manha de Carnaval.”" Joe Lang, JERSEY JAZZ "It is always a pleasure to listen to a singer who combines a pleasing voice with intelligent lyric interpretation and the kind of musicianship and musicality that Diane Hubka possesses

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