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Cynthia Felton
Cynthia is active as a performer and an educator. Her background prepared her well for both career areas. She has a Bachelor of Music degree from Berklee College of Music, a Master of Arts degree from New York University in Jazz Performance, and a Doctorate in Jazz Studies from the University of Southern California.
Her singing style embodies jazz, rhythm & blues, and gospel music -- a perfect fit for the broad stylistic range of compositions she chose for her debut recording. image_page3
Cynthia's new release, Afro Blue, pays tribute to the legendary Oscar Brown Jr. whose work she greatly admires. The cd features twelve songs either written by Oscar or for which he wrote lyrics. In addition to Mongo Santamaria's Afro Blue, the cd features other jazz classics such as Miles Davis’ All Blues, and Bobby Timmons’ Dat Dere.
Cynthia produced and arranged all of the music on this CD, and created settings which not only provide a showcase for her own prodigious talents but also those of the outstanding musicians with which she chose to surround herself. All of the instrumentalists on this recording shine as superlative and sensitive accompanists, and many also contribute wonderfully effective and imaginative solos. Some of the musicians include Cyrus Chestnut, Robert Hurst, Jeff Tain Watts, Ernie Watts, Patrice Rushen, and Wallace Roney, to name a few.
The CD opens and closes with her deeply moving rendition of the spiritual "Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child.” The arrangement is for solo voice and solo violin, Cynthia and violinist Lesa Terry present a soulful treatment which provides the ideal beginning and ending for this CD filled with musical treasures.
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Cynthia Felton: Cynthia Felton Sings The Nancy Wilson Classics: Save Your Love For Me
by Dan Bilawsky
Dr. Cynthia Felton dots all the i's and crosses all the t's when putting together an album. She's a detail-oriented singer with enough smarts, business savvy, and musical skill to pull off whatever type of project she wants to pursue, be it a salute to a woefully under-appreciated figure like Oscar Brown Jr. or a tribute to jazz's most lauded figure--the great Duke Ellington. For her third tribute album, and fourth album overall, Felton turns her attention to the work ...
read moreCynthia Felton: Freedom Jazz Dance
by C. Michael Bailey
Cynthia Felton has released two exceptionally well-conceived concept recordings in Afro Blue: The Music of Oscar Brown (Self Produced, 2009) and Come Sunday: The Music of Duke Ellington (Self Produced, 2010). She makes a partial break with this refined focus to release a collection of personal favorite standards on Freedom Jazz Dance. Like her two previous recordings, Felton has opted to employ a variety of musicians as available as opposed to a single unit. Clearly, there is no reason to ...
read moreCynthia Felton: Freedom Jazz Dance
by Dan Bilawsky
Vocalist/academic Cynthia Felton established herself right out of the gate with two artist-specific tribute albums that were stacked with A-list guests and highlighted her supple and soulful vocals. Felton's debut--Afro Blue: The Music Of Oscar Brown (Self Produced, 2009)--was a welcome nod to an underappreciated figure in jazz, and her journey through the world of constantly lauded jazz giant Duke Ellington was a worthy follow-up, but a third single-figure album would have been too predictable. Instead, Felton wisely broke from ...
read moreCynthia Felton: Come Sunday: The Music Of Duke Ellington
by Dan Bilawsky
Vocalist Cynthia Felton turned a lot of heads with her debut, Afro Blue: The Music Of Oscar Brown Jr. (Self Produced, 2009), and her sophomore effort is bound to gain even more attention. While Brown is an important, if often overlooked figure, Felton ups the ante with her honoree of choice here. Duke Ellington is considered by many to be the alpha and omega of jazz. Artists have been paying tribute to Ellington for generations with single ...
read moreCynthia Felton: Come Sunday: The Music of Duke Ellington
by C. Michael Bailey
Dr. Cynthia Felton made quite the splash with her self-produced debut, Afro Blue: The Music of Oscar Brown, Jr. (2009). In the spirit of well-assembled theme recordings like Karrin Allyson's Ballads: Remembering John Coltrane (Concord, 2001) and Todd Bishop's Pop Art 4 disc, 69 Annee Erotique, Afro Blue is a solid look at a master's craft of writing lyrics for jazz pieces. Felton treads more familiar territory on Come Sunday: The Music of Duke Ellington, undertaking the ...
read moreCynthia Felton: Afro Blue: The Music of Oscar Brown, Jr.
by C. Michael Bailey
Oscar Brown, Jr. (1926-2005) was a man of many talents and interests. Brown could count himself as a singer, songwriter, arranger, playwright, poet, and civil right activist with political proclivities. In jazz, Brown is best remembered for providing lyrics to many instrumental jazz standards, including Miles Davis' “All Blues" and Bobby Timmons' “Dat Dere."
Dr. Cynthia Felton is a woman of many talents and interests. Felton serves as the Artistic Director for The Ethnomusicology Library of American Heritage. She sports ...
read moreVocalist Cynthia Felton Releases "Afro Blue – The Music Of Oscar Brown Jr."
Source:
All About Jazz
With her beautiful voice and alluring style, it's hard to resist Cynthia Felton and her newest release, Afro Blue – The Music of Oscar Brown Jr.. Confident, sensual, and infectiously jazzy, Felton displays her pipe power and music knowledge thoroughly and proudly on every track. A testimonial to its namesake and full of irrepressible swing, Afro Blue goes beyond the status of a cover album and into the realm of undeniable masterpiece. Felton doesn't wade into the tricky depths of ...
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Cynthia produced and arranged all of the music on this CD, and created settings which not only provide a showcase for her own prodigious talents but also those of the outstanding musicians with which she chose to surround herself. All of the instrumentalists on this recording shine as superlative and sensitive accompanists, and many also contribute wonderfully effective and imaginative solos.
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