Marianne Solivan

The end of the month is here, and on the 27th the powerful bittersweet Marianne Solivan, one of the most talented voices of NYC, performed with Saul Rubin, the friendly and valuable Marco Panascia on bass and Lawrence Leathers drums. Her powerful and poignant performances make her one of today’s outstanding artists.
She is that kind of singer who can bring you anywhere and as her first tune “Blue in green” starts you can’t help feeling deeply moved. The sorrow of this ballad, which is so hard to interpret without falling into an overwhelmingly dramatic attitude, is very well expressed. Due to the marvelous atmosphere her timbre creates, and the dynamics she is able to combine. Then her phrasing, the way she touches the words, the touching improvisation and the sweet accompaniment of the guitar of Saul are ethereal. Bill Evans should be proud. The next song is a shining medium swing “Can We Be Friends” fill up with the well-known irony of Marianne. Can irony be a way to describe the voice or the performer of a jazz singer? Well, Marianne makes it possible. It appears in the way she stretches the phrases, in her swing, in the choices of the songs in her repertoire: “Remember” and “I Wanna Be Around” are tunes where avoiding to smile is unfair.Irony that comes from her sunny, honest personality, is clearly described in songs like “Jazz: Ain’t Nothing But Soul” and “This Is New” where this lady shows her ability to create very clever improvisations and swings very hard. In other words, it’s pure joy, reminiscent of the best singers, such as Ella Fitzgerald and Betty Carter .And this is just part of the experience – once she got to her original song “Where Are You Now” it was time for her enthralling passion, and indomitable blues. Stunning.
Some of the best things are made with simplicity, and the duo with the amazing Marco Panascia on bass on “Sometimes I’m Happy” is delicious. How they build the phrasing and support each other is surprising. Everybody knows how hard it can be to sing with just a bass, it’s dangerous, you risk a loss of the intonation, of the path, possibly falling into repetitiveness, yet here there is just their dialogue, the comfort and the happiness of a friendship. The second duo is with Saul on guitar, a medley of “I’ll Follow you” & “Then I’ll Be Tired Of You” and Marianne seems very intimately involved. So, like a mirror shows your true self, her voice makes you realize how fragile a loving heart can be. There is a lot of the “human” and the “woman” in Marianne here, not just a “singer”.
Those colors gradually change into sweeter and gentler hues, appearing in two other ballads, both very smoothly touching “Last Time For Love” and another original “On A Clear Night” where Marianne’s sound turns even more rounded, supporting every change of range with care and taste. It seems just as delicate and pure as a teenage-girl in her first love bug. One more song to end this special night “Twisted” with its explosive vocalese. It never felt so easy and understandable!

This time you get out of Zeb’s simply with hair ruffled ….and actually isn’t it a nice change of hairstyle?!
See you at Zeb’s folks!

http://pamelieontheclouds.wordpress.com

This is the english translation of the Italian review....

A debut album expected and wanted to with such tenacity and sacrifice, a powerful vision that has brought great gratitude, by whom and by whom it engages describes the beauty and superb multitude of colors, a predestined. Marianne Solivan with Prisoner of Love, published by Hipnotic Records, independent record label founded by Tony Haywood with the aim of developing a creative and improvised music that would follow new and interesting directions, enters the world of great jazz. Finally, a real voice, which, sinuous, playing with the dreams and joys of his heart, without fear, it 'following old daguerreotypes now felt too many variations and squash digest. Jazz and 'in her life without asking permission, in a natural way, and she respects the tradition chose to be honest and daring, choosing the musicians who have accompanied these last four years of concerts between clubs, jam sessions and competitions , who have played a leading role (finalist in the 2009/2010 Jazzmobile Vocal Competition), telling, through the compositions, stories of love, separation and desperate loneliness, varying training: from duo to trio to quartet . A disc full of "names beautiful and powerful." Admirable versions of All Or Nothing At All-Lawrence Altman and Day Dream Ellington and Strayhorn in duo with Christian McBride. Marianne Solivan with his voice manages to wear both delicious and elegant dresses that garments sewn of overwhelming passion, capturing the audience with his stories well and virtuous. And now room for emotions ... Enjoy!

“SHE INHABITS HER SONGS”: MARIANNE SOLIVAN’S ONGOING ART
Posted on November 18, 2012

Midway through Marianne Solivan’s first song, the Beloved turned to me and whispered, “She inhabits her songs,” which I immediately took as a truth so self-evident that it deserved to be the title of this blogpost (copyright 2012 Lorna Sass).

We were celebrating at the second set of a jazz brunch at North Square (in the Washington Square Hotel, at the northeast corner of Washington Square Park in Greenwich Village, New York City) with the constantly-energizing singer Marianne, guitarist Ethan Mann, and her long-time associate, bassist Dmitry Ishenko. (For the schedule of jazz brunches, click here.)

In the space of an hour, Marianne Solivan showed herself not only a great improvising actress — a brave musical creature making up deeply moving scripts as she goes along. producing and directing them as the rhythm rolls underneath her — but an elaborately gifted musical architect. Each song felt like a new room in a previously unvisited house, full of surprising angles and turns, bathed in shifting lights. Her creations felt absolutely authentic: there was no practiced effect, no planned-out “surprises,” but we felt as if we were hearing and watching someone simultaneously inventing and inhabiting expansive spaces.

Some of the magic came from her choice of repertoire — she makes familiar songs new through daring tempo choices (a racing I CAN’T GIVE YOU ANYTHING BUT LOVE that shook some of the familiar affectionate dust from those familiar words and notes; a very slow HEART AND SOUL that showed off Loesser’s lyrics for the first time, rescuing that song from generations of amateur pounding duo-pianists). Some of her magic is in witty shifts of phrase, where expected clusters of words fall in places we don’t expect, elongated or compressed. In ALL OF NOTHING AT ALL, she took the “Please” that begins the bridge and stretched it out to dramatic length — making it a true heart-entreaty.

The highlights of her set were her reinvention of HEART AND SOUL at a tempo so slow that in other hands it would have come to a stop — making that song a painfully exultant exploration of love found — and a slow inquiry into Bobby Troup’s YOU’RE LOOKING AT ME, in which the singer takes “I’ve been such a fool — I can’t believe it,” to new heights . . . or new depths.

In all of her songs, Marianne was beautifully accompanied (in the most true sense of that word) by Ethan Mann, spinning out slightly lopsided-on-purpose single-note lines, and by bassist Ishenko, a fluid, flexible foundation of rhythm. It was an astonishing afternoon, but we expect no less from Marianne Solivan, a brave explorer jumping off into the unknown and spreading carpets out for herself and us to land on.

May your happiness increase.

Marianne Solivan
Prisoner Of Love
HIPNOTIC 10007
★★★★
Trumpeter Jeremy Pelt produced this album,
which places New York-based singer Marianne
Solivan in minimal but supremely musical set-
tings. In so doing, he gives maximum exposure
to her low-level dynamic of an alto voice. In a
way, she’s a throwback to the Julie London/Jeri
Southern school of jazz-informed torch sing-
ers of the 1950s. Exact diction, sure intonation,
emotional longing coolly held in check and a
well-chosen repertoire of melancholy ballads
link Solivan with her supper club forbearers.
Solivan is most comfortable in her chest
and throat tones. She uses her upper register
judiciously, never pushing the voice beyond its
attractive level. Solivan’s a fine balladeer, tell-
ing the song’s story, yet steering clear of cheap
emotion. On first hearing, she might be mis-
taken for a cabaret singer. But few on-the-beat
musical theater thrushes would risk the vul-
nerability of Solivan’s duets with guest bassist
Christian McBride.
On the McBride exchanges—“All Or
Nothing At All” and Billy Strayhorn’s “Day
Dream”—Solivan plays her jazz cards wise-
ly. She’s loose with the text of the former, sub-
tly playing with phrasing and accent place-
ment. On the latter, the clarity of her voice and
straight-ahead delivery allow the bass to come
in behind the beat, embellish the melody, or lay
out all together. It was smart to play off of rath-
er than compete with McBride.
The instrumental accompaniment is a col-
lective model of effective economy. Whether
it’s Peter Bernstein’s guitar or Xavier Davis’s
piano, Solivan seems to require nothing
more than chords simply stated or implied.
Michael Kanan’s spare piano contribution to
her unadorned reading of Cole Porter’s “After
You” would be at home at the old Café Carlyle.
Pelt himself makes one brief appearance on
“Moon Ray,” but it’s a meaningful turn.
Two Betty Carter-associated numbers, “I
Can’t Help It” and “Social Call,” swing moder-
ately with recessed blues feeling and rhythmic
aplomb. —Kirk Silsbee
Prisoner Of Love: Bliss; The Lonely One; All Or Nothing At All;
Prisoner Of Love; I Guess I’ll Hang My Tears Out To Dry; Moon
Ray; May I Come In; I Can’t Help It; Day Dream; After You; Social
Call. (48:54)
Personnel: Marianne Solivan, vocals; Jeremy Pelt, trumpet (6);
Peter Bernstein, guitar (1, 6, 7); Xavier Davis, piano (2, 4, 8, 11);
Michael Kanan, piano (5, 10); Christian McBride, bass (1, 3, 16);
Ben Wolfe, bass (2, 4, 8, 11); Johnathan Blake, drums (2, 4, 8, 11).
ordering info: mariannesolivan.com

This is it. Marianne Solivan’s Prisoner of Love is probably the best vocal jazz record of the year. The exquisiteness, expression and sentiment of her singing are supreme and matched only by her skill in enunciation.

The record, produced by Jeremy Pelt, finds Solivan delivering a set of clever pieces with uncommon honesty, sensuality and wisdom.

The Queens-born singer and composer lived with her family in Venezuela and New Jersey before settling in Massachusetts. She attended high school there and began studying classical voice, having already played alto saxophone. She appeared in some school productions and subsequently entered The Boston Conservatory after graduation, concentrating in musical theatre.

Despite drifting somewhat from singing, Solivan eventually returned to the well and earned a dual degree in Music Performance and Education at Berklee College of Music. She taught music for a year prior to heading to the New England Conservatory and grabbing a Master’s in Jazz Studies.

While her educational components are impressive, it’s her exceptional capability to climb inside the soul of the material that makes her fly. She is well beyond the go-through-the-motions singers of the genre by an enormous margin.

Solivan’s genius is amplified by one hell of a brilliant crew, comprising guitarist Peter Bernstein, pianist Xavier Davis, pianist Michael Kanan, bassists Christian McBride and Ben Wolfe, and drummer Johnathan Blake. Pelt provides a little trumpeting on Artie Shaw’s “Moon Ray.”

Though the make-up of the musicians changes, the flawless tones and striking sentiments purified through her vocals never falter.

“The music comes from a long tradition of jazz vocal repertoire without diving into the clichés that we are all very tired of,” she explains. “The music is sincere, passionate, bold, and very unique to what I do…Together we told stories of love: lost, stolen, broken, desperate, and lonely.”

Truly, Prisoner of Love runs the gamut of that most terrifying and terrible of human experiences. Whether she’s singing of regret on the sombre and sophisticated “May I Come In” or rejoicing in the anxiety of love on Cole Porter’s terrific “After You,” Solivan is as potent and refined as need be.

She even gets the group swinging hard on the dynamic and aptly-titled “I Can’t Help It.” Solivan brings her swagger and attests that she can’t bottle up her verve if she tried.

She fits the band like a glove, sashaying onto their exquisite surfaces without hogging the spotlight. Her subtle tones are matched by graceful piano-playing, while her driving notes are driven home by a dynamic rhythm section. Prisoner of Love showcases Solivan’s gifts in cool-as-hell style, proving that there’s nothing this heartfelt songstress can’t do.

Marianne Solivan
Prisoner of Love
PERSONNEL: Marianne Solivan, vocals; Peter
Bernstein, guitar; Xavier Davis, piano; Michael
Kanan, piano; Christian McBride, bass; Ben
Wolfe, bass; Jonathan Blake, drums; Jeremy
Pelt, trumpet.

By Eric Harabadian

It’s hard to believe that this is Solivan’s
debut recording. She has all the poise and artistic
wherewithal that reveals a true veteran artist.
Solivan draws from classic jazz touchstones in
terms of her vocal phrasing or choice of mate-
rial. But she unabashedly embraces the jazz lexi-
con and makes it her own.
“Bliss” is a beautiful ballad that sets the
stage for a most satisfying and substantive musi-
cal experience. From the first few words of the
song there is an articulation and poetic charm in
her delivery that is rare these days. Guitarist
Bernstein accompanies with a great solo and the
structure of the tune deftly shifts from a lilting
sway to an easy 4/4 swing. “The Lonely One” is
a bittersweet samba that finds Solivan walking
the line between loneliness and redemption.
When she describes an emotion you really feel
for her. And the acoustic piano of Xavier Davis
is the perfect foil that offsets the irony of the
lyrics. “All or Nothing at All” is an inspired duet
between Solivan and Christian McBride. Their
chemistry is electric as the leader’s seemingly
effortless vocals dovetail supplely with
McBride’s muscular, yet melodic bass lines.
Title track “Prisoner of Love” is an apt choice
because it fits Solivan’s style like a glove. This
is one of the ultimate torch songs, again further
enhanced by pianist Davis’ samba-like feel.
Slightly down the list, Jeremy Pelt guests on
Artie Shaw’s “Moon Ray.” He plays a smooth
and somewhat ethereal trumpet that seems to add
a bluesy vintage feel. “May I Come In” is a
lovely piece that displays Solivan at her most
vulnerable. Her pleas for forgiveness from a
romantic misunderstanding seem real. And Peter
Bernstein’s dense chordal accompaniment and
walking note lines add depth and emotional
weight to her delicate phrases. “I Can’t Help It”
is a Betty Carter nugget and it is a hard swinging
lounge type of tune. Davis’ rollicking drive and
rousing rhythms really kick this one up a notch!
There are some nice duets that follow—first with
McBride and Solivan on Ellington/Strayhorn’s
“Day Dream” and the sweet partnership between
the chanteuse and pianist Michael Kanan on
Cole Porter’s “After You.” The album concludes
with Gigi Gryce’s “Social Call.” It’s a brief and
swinging track that is upbeat and effervescent.
If this is, indeed, Solivan’s initial dalliance
into the jazz recording arena, better days for the
art form, as a whole, are certainly ahead!


Follow the link and download a free copy of the July issue to read the full review

Marianne Solivan is not only an affecting singer but an affecting artist. I know that her approach to the audience and to her songs — so candid, so deep — is the result of hard work at her craft — but she makes it seem new, fresh, unstudied. She isn’t “acting,” but exploring, finding her way through the notes and pauses, the facts of the words and the sweep of the music — to create something moving in each phrase.

To read the full review please follow the link...

On her latest CD Prisoner of Love, vocalist Marianne Solivan surrounds herself with some A-list, hard-swinging company.  They include guitarist Peter Bernstein, pianists Michael Kanan and Xavier Davis, bassists Christian McBride and Ben Wolfe,  drummer Johnathan Blake, and trumpeter Jeremy Pelt, who produced the disc. The first, but not the biggest, compliment I can give Solivan is that she sounds every bit in the same league as these seasoned accompanists, making a program of smartly chosen standards come alive in the moment.

To read the full article follow the link..

MARIANNE SOLIVAN
Album review: "Prisoner of Love"

By Geoffrey Himes
Friday, June 1, 2012

In the towering haystack of recent recordings by female jazz vocalists, all chasing Diana Krall’s commercial success, it’s often hard to find the golden needles amid the straw. But Marianne Solivan’s solo debut, “Prisoner of Love,” is a 24-karat sliver of the real thing.

To read the full review please follow the link...

The singer Marianne Solivan resides in Brooklyn and attended
Berklee, two good preconditions for a nice figure as a singer
jazz. On this album, debut, proves to be a true champion
in line with the great singers that have made the history of jazz.
The choice of titles and musicians is very clever. There are
standards not really well known along with Prisoner of Love
written and arranged by her, and musicians who are among the best of this genre and
which of course reside in New York.

To read full review follow the link... It's in Italian :)

English translation:
Prisoner of Love is the American jazz vocalist Marianne Solivan's debut disc.  And mind you a very strong one.  Solivan's vocals are so crystal clear and full.  The musical accompaniment is sublime.  And the numbers?  They are solidly established standards.
 
It is as though especially Solivan's vocals bring a new dimension to the American standard.  Gone is the rusty, the worn, it is smoky!  Not that we can then conclude that Solivan has fallen into an obvious pitfall and made just a nice album!  That she has not.  The eleven standards remain steeped in authenticity, and lived experience.  But Solivan's vocal clarity, fullness and lightness bring something new and becoming to the numbers.  (While listening this reviewer thinks of the clarity, fullness and lightness that emanated from Diana Krall when she first came out).
Each track of Prisoner of Love is redeemed by its constellation. And the strongest stand - in my opinion - the ballads in which Solivan sings to musical accompaniment of a single instrument.  It is numbers like All Or Nothing At All and Day Dream where bassist Christian McBride assists.  And the case of the tracks I Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out To Dry and After You, where the pianist Michael Kanan contributes.  The numbers are like basic research exposed.

NEW YORK — This city may boast the nation’s highest concentration of jazz musicians, venues, recording opportunities, and cover-charge-paying aficionados, but that doesn’t mean you can just show up here and get a gig.

Just ask singer Marianne Solivan.

To read the full article please follow the link....

Google Translation:

Prisoner of Love is the debut album by Marianne Solivan. The New York artist gives us 11 tracks including 10 standards and an unpublished composition.

The disc opens with "Bliss" in which the voice of the singer leans on... guitar by Pete Bernstein, while songs like "All Or Nothing At All" and "Day Dream", the atmosphere becomes thin due to the mere presence of the voice of Solivan and bass of Christian McBride.

"Moon Ray" has a soft mood at first, then busy with the voice of the artist who manages to make the song with her own interpretation. The piece is also enhanced by the clear phrasing of the trumpet of Jeremy Pelt. "I Guess I'll Hang My Tears Out To Dry," "After You" and the title track stand out in the arrangement of just piano and voice with Michael Kanan, which creates an intimate atmosphere. "I Can’t Help It" by Betty Carter has a solar performance and swinging through the floor of Xavier Davis, the voice of Solivan and Ben Wolfe on bass.

Prisoner of Love, despite the massive presence of ballads, is not coy as the voice of Solivan manages to give these standards a never seen dressing, personal and simple but never a given with arrangements that do justice to her voice.

The considerable contribution of musicians such as Jeremy Pelt, who also produced the disc, and the award-winning Christian McBride giving further depth to this great work that gives hope for a bright career for the young Solivan.

Newcomer Marianne Solivan has a husky chestnut mare of a voice, and displays alarming confidence with it on this disc produced by trumpeter Jeremy Pelt and endorsed by bassist Christian McBride (who plays bass on a number of tracks). The fascinating thing about his collection of standards and obscurities is that Ms Solivan mixes and matches the supporting musicians (Peter Bernstein/g, Xavier Davis-Michael Kanan/p, Ben Wolfe/b, Johnathan Blake/dr) in clever and unorthodox settings. A haunting duet with Kanan on Cole Porter’s overlooked “After You” is as delicate as an African Violet, while her bass duets with McBride on “Day Dream” and “All Or Nothing At All” are as spacious and luminous as a night in the Mojave Desert. Solivan has Pelt join in for a drummerless trio with Bernstein and McBride to create a sepia mood that holds on long after the last note. She can also kick out the jams, as she displays on the

I've always had the greatest respect for today's jazz vocalists, especially female vocalists, attempting to succeed in their own right. It's a tremendous challenge. They must pay attention to jazz's glorious history, but ultimately, if a performer doesn't move the literature forward, then his or her career tends to languish or wither and die. The goal as an artist is to spend time honing one's skills and, after paying attention to the lineage that came before, to establish one's own sound.

To read full article please follow the link

MARIANNE SOLIVAN
THE KITANO / APRIL 11

Singer MARIANNE SOLIVAN, sweetly candid, delves beneath the familiar.  A delicately intent sculptress, she reshapes but never distorts.  Bending notes, breathing verbal cadences into new, convincing speech, Solivan creates powerful, rhythmic music.  With pianist Michael Kanan and other kindred spirits, she honors yet illuminates jazz standards.  On her debut CD, PRISONER OF LOVE, she is accompanied by Christian McBride, Peter Bernstein, Xavier Davis, Jeremy Pelt – and for this CD she creates a new verse for the title song.  Solivan’s art is emotive but never melodramatic, strong yet never harsh.  What else would we expect from someone influenced early on by Ella Fitzgerald, Dominique Eade, Nina Simone, and Betty Carter?  On April 11, she will appear at the Kitano Hotel with a quartet including Boris Koslov and Darrell Green.  MS
By Michael Steinman

In his notes for Marianne Solivan’s debut album, bassist Christian McBride recalls a “time in history when vocalists and instrumentalists were on the same page. In addition to knowing lyrics, vocalists knew what keys they sang in, what the correct chords were, terminologies such as ‘bridge’, ‘tag’, ‘turnaround’, ‘8-bar phrase’ and so forth.” After lamenting the demise of those times, when he notes that instrumentalists as well as vocalists knew the words and even the verses of thousands of songs, he hails a “new crop of vocalists and instrumentalists” reviving those standards. He’s talking about Solivan.....

To read the full review follow the link.

Prisoner Of Love, Marianne Solivan, vocals. In this era of self-produced CDs at relatively reasonable cost, there’s a multitude of “wannabe” female jazz singers. Now and then an impressive one arrives in my mailbox for review. And this month, it’s Solivan. She’s the kind of singer who delivers a lyric without pretense. No show biz, no glitz, no frosting on the cake. It’s a tough assignment unless you have the jazz chops. On this debut recording, she has all the tools, and it certainly doesn’t hurt to have some stellar New York cats in your corner, including Xavier Davis and Michael Kanan splitting duty at the piano, Christian McBride and Ben Wolfe on bass, and trumpet ace Jeremy Pelt and guitar star Peter Bernstein as guest artists. Solivan mixes it up nicely on a program of well-chosen songs rarely done by others. For instance, there’s “Moon Ray,” “I Guess I‘ll Hang My Tears Out to Dry,” “Day Dream,” and two tunes which elicit memories of Betty Carter -- “I Can’t Help It” and “Social Call.” Perhaps my two faves were “May I Come In” and “After You,” both obscure but well written. Solivan definitely makes a splash as a singer from whom we need to hear more.
Hipnotic Records, 2012, 45:50.

Marianne Solivan: From Small Town to New York Pt. 2

To read part 2 follow the link

Marianne Solivan: From Small Town to New York Pt. 1

As Marianne Solivan releases her debut album entitled “Prisoner of Love,” we sat down to discuss how Solivan got into the business, the process of creating and recording music, as well as where she sees herself going. In part one of two, Marianne tells of her early days in Boston as well as her experiences moving around.

To read full article follow the link

Solivan has attracted an impressive coterie of fans among New York’s musicians. They include Christian McBride, who plays bass on her first album and Jeremy Pelt, who produced the CD....

To continue reading please follow the link....

I did not know the singer Marianne Solivan before hearing her at Smalls last year (in duet with Michael Kanan). I was a believer — convinced of her artistry — a few minutes into the first song.

To continue reading follow the link...

Check out our Live in studio performance and interview with John Schaefer.
I'm joined by Xavier Davie - piano, Boris Koslov - bass, & Jerome Jennings - drums.

HYPNOTIC
MARIANNE SOLIVAN/Prisoner of Love:  Whoa, produced by Jeremy Pelt with the backing crew having all the top, contemporary jazzbo on board?  Where did this come from you ask?  Certainly out of left field.  This top shelf jazz vocalist and her pals take on old tunes that were once standards that have pretty music been left behind by time making the repertoire new because it’s mostly new to you.  Simply a killer jazz vocal date that sweeps you off your pins before you know what hit you.  A must for sophisticated listeners looking for classy music to make them fell like grown ups.  Killer stuff.

HiPNOTIC RECORDS releases the debut recording of Vocalist/Composer MARIANNE SOLIVAN

PRISONER OF LOVE

produced by Jeremy Pelt and featuring Christian McBride, Peter Bernstein, Ben Wolfe, Johnathan Blake, Michael Kanan, Xavier Davis

“She is the modern day paradigm to which all singers should aspire." - Jeremy Pelt

"She's sensitive, she's powerful, she's funky, she's subtle, she's Marianne Solivan.....have mercy!" -Christian McBride

*2009 + 2010 JAZZMOBILE VOCAL COMPETITION FINALIST*

February 14, 2012, New York - On March 20, 2012, HiPNOTIC Records, will release the debut recording of vocalist/composer Marianne Solivan’ PRISONER OF LOVE, a series of intimate duos, trios, and quartet performances with Marianne’s favorite musicians and mentors, produced by trumpeter Jeremy Pelt and featuring GRAMMY® Award-winning artist/arranger Christian McBride, Peter Bernstein, Ben Wolfe, Johnathan Blake, Michael Kanan and Xavier Davis.

Hailed again and again as “the real thing” by Small’s Jazz Club owner, Spike Wilner and pianist Rick Germanson, Solivan is one of the most buzzed about jazz singers in New York. The 2009 + 2010 Jazzmobile Vocal Competition finalist has graced recital halls, jam sessions and club stages with luminaries Roy Hargrove, Steve Lacy, Jeremy Pelt, Peter Bernstein, Ray Gallon, Ugonna Ukegwo, Neal Minor and Michael Kanan. Armed with degrees from Berklee College of Music and a Master’s degree from the New England Conservatory, Solivan does not remember an “ah-ha” moment that brought her to the music she has devoted herself to: “I don’t recall having a big moment that made me like jazz. I just dug it.”

“The music comes from a long tradition of jazz vocal repertoire without diving right into the clichés that we are all very tired of. The music is sincere, passionate, bold and very unique to what I do. I chose to work with a number of musicians on the project to showcase the musical environments that I have been working in for the last 4 years in New York, mainly small group settings. Together we told stories of love; lost, stolen, broken, desperate, and lonely,” says Solivan.

After many years of performing in New York and throughout the US and Europe, Solivan finally felt ready to put down something with the added pleasure of working with some of her good friends on a series of duos, trios, and quartet pieces.

Solivan recalls the session with a great sense of pride and gratitude. “With Xavier Davis, Ben Wolfe and Johnathan Blake in the rhythm section it was easy to get into it on Gigi Gryce's ‘Social Call’, and Betty Carter's ‘I Can't Help It.’ After over two years of working in duo with Michael Kanan we were able to record two gorgeous pieces ‘I Guess I’ll Hang My Tears Out To Dry’ and Cole Porter's ‘After You.’ Peter Bernstein and I revisited ‘May I Come In’ which I learned from the great Blossom Dearie and Christian McBride and Jeremy Pelt joined us on Artie Shaw's ‘Moon Ray.’ I was overjoyed to be able to sing ‘All Or Nothing At All’ and Strayhorn's ‘Day Dream’ in duo with Christian McBride.”

Born in Queens, New York, Solivan lived with her family in Venezuela and New Jersey before the family settled in Massachusetts, where she attended high school. Already an alto sax student, it was in secondary school that she began singing seriously, studying classical voice and appearing in musical theater productions. Upon graduating, she entered The Boston Conservatory with a concentration in musical theater. After her first year in college, Solivan took time off from school and drifted away from singing, not returning for three years. The urge to resume studying voice and go back to school coincided with her discovery of the voice that would become her greatest influence: Ella Fitzgerald.

Solivan earned a dual degree in Music Performance and Education at Berklee College of Music, and taught music for a year before entering the New England Conservatory and earning a Master’s degree in Jazz Studies. Solivan moved back to the city of her birth in 2007, placing in the 2009 + 2010 Jazzmobile Vocal Competition, appearing as the only featured vocalist on clarinetist Darryl Harper’s The C3 project recording, Stories in Real Time, and touring France as the lead vocalist in an innovative staging of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar.

Solivan possesses a voice that can be tender and sweet while still being strong and passionate. She is able to capture the audience through honest storytelling while breathing new life into well worn standards.

For more information, please visit www.mariannesolivanjazz.com.

*UPCOMING APPEARANCES*

Marianne Solivan Quartet | March 6-10, 2012 @ 11PM | JALC’S Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola (AFTER HOURS immediately following FREDDY COLE)
featuring Xavier Davis, piano March 6-8 | Yotam Silberstein, guitar March 9-10 | Boris Koslov, bass March 6-9 | Barak Mori, bass March 10 | Jerome Jennings, drums

Marianne Solivian Duo | March 24, 2012 | The Drawing Room, Brooklyn, NY
Marianne Solivan and pianist Michael Kanan

Marianne Solivan Quartet | April 11, 2012 | The Kitano, NYC
John Di Martino, piano | Boris Koslov, bass | Darrell Green, drums

Marianne Solivan Trio |April 19, 2012 @ 7:30-9:45am | SMALL’S JAZZ CLUB, NYC
Michael Kanan, piano and Marco Panascia, bass

Marianne Solivan Trio | May 7, 2012 @ 7pm-9:30pm | Zinc Bar, NYC
Yotam Silberstein, guitar | bass TBD

Marianne Solivan | June 2, 2012 | DC Jazz Festival, Washington, DC
DC JAZZ FESTIVAL | Jazz 'n' Family Fun Days at the Phillips Collection – personnel TBD

Hear more from the musicians about Marianne….

"Marianne Solivan, has a big-hearted, joyful way of delivering a song. Her swinging feel and sunshiny disposition capture and delight her audiences. Marianne is the real thing!"
-SPIKE WILNER, Owner Smalls Jazz Club

"Marianne stands out from amongst her peers because of her warm sound and the clarity that she gives to each note that she sings."
– JOHNATHAN BLAKE, drummer

“Marianne Solivan is the real deal; a true jazz vocalist as well as jazz musician. She knows the history of her instrument yet maintains her own distinct sound and interpretation. I believe that she has found her own "voice" and always tells a compelling story.”
– RICK GERMANSON, pianist

“Marianne Solivan sings the sexy to the sublime. She has a wonderful combination of sensitivity, intelligence, and just plain old style. She is a great musician with a true gift for rendering a lyric.
- DARRYL HARPER, clarinetist C3 Project, Regina Carter

“Marianne Solivan sings with a rich, warm sound, excellent pitch, and a confident, natural feeling for swing. But most importantly, she sings like she has nothing to prove. She has no need for vocal 'gymnastics' (despite her considerable technical abilities). She chooses instead to invite the listener into her musical world with honesty, and vulnerability. She is a real storyteller.”
–MICHAEL KANAN, pianist, Jane Monheit

HiPNOTIC Records is a DC-based independent jazz record label launched in January 2000 with the aim of presenting creative improvised music by up-and-coming artist-composers striving to move the music in fresh and compelling directions. A “Washington insider” by day, Founder and President Tony Haywood started HiPNOTIC in his spare time after managing The Onus, an innovative ensemble led by clarinetist Darryl Harper, a former schoolmate at Amherst College. Recordings on the label include: The Onus’s 4-CD discography (The Onus, 1996, Reoccurring Dream, 2001, Y’All Got It, 2005, and Triphony, 2005); Harper’s 2008 recording Stories in Real Time, featuring vocals by Marianne Solivan; the self-titled 2000 recording by SEED (co-led by pianist Orrin Evans, bassist Mike Boone, drummer Rodney Green, and vocalist DAWN), jointly released with Evans's Imani Records imprint; and debut recordings by bassist Matthew Parrish (Circles, 2001), guitarist Jeff Ray (The Walkup, 2003), and Baltimore-based bass clarinetist Todd Marcus (In Pursuit of the 9th Man, 2006), whose sophomore CD Inheritance is due for release on HiPNOTIC in May 2012. Inheritance features Don Byron, Xavier Davis, George Colligan, Eric Wheeler, Eric Kennedy, and Warren Wolf playing Marcus originals and arrangements that fuse a post-bop straight ahead aesthetic with Middle Eastern influences from the bandleader’s paternal Egyptian heritage. Other notable sidemen and guests on HiPNOTIC recordings include Joel Frahm and Steve Hass (Circles), Darryl Hall (The Walkup), and Gary Bartz, Ralph Bowen, Duane Eubanks, Branford Marsalis, and Jaleel Shaw (SEED). Xavier Davis and Matthew Parrish appear on Stories in Real Time, and Parrish and Jeff Ray are charter members of The Onus.

Kim Smith
public relations

For Immediate Release
Kim Smith PR | ksmithpr@earthlink.net | 917 349 8090

HiPNOTIC RECORDS releases the debut recording of Vocalist/Composer MARIANNE SOLIVAN

PRISONER OF LOVE

produced by Jeremy Pelt and featuring Christian McBride, Peter Bernstein, Ben Wolfe, Johnathan Blake, Michael Kanan, Xavier Davis

“She is the modern day paradigm to which all singers should aspire." - Jeremy Pelt

"She's sensitive, she's powerful, she's funky, she's subtle, she's Marianne Solivan.....have mercy!" -Christian McBride

*2009 + 2010 JAZZMOBILE VOCAL COMPETITION FINALIST*

February 14, 2012, New York - On March 20, 2012, HiPNOTIC Records, will release the debut recording of vocalist/composer Marianne Solivan’ PRISONER OF LOVE, a series of intimate duos, trios, and quartet performances with Marianne’s favorite musicians and mentors, produced by trumpeter Jeremy Pelt and featuring GRAMMY® Award-winning artist/arranger Christian McBride, Peter Bernstein, Ben Wolfe, Johnathan Blake, Michael Kanan and Xavier Davis.

Hailed again and again as “the real thing” by Small’s Jazz Club owner, Spike Wilner and pianist Rick Germanson, Solivan is one of the most buzzed about jazz singers in New York. The 2009 + 2010 Jazzmobile Vocal Competition finalist has graced recital halls, jam sessions and club stages with luminaries Roy Hargrove, Steve Lacy, Jeremy Pelt, Peter Bernstein, Ray Gallon, Ugonna Ukegwo, Neal Minor and Michael Kanan. Armed with degrees from Berklee College of Music and a Master’s degree from the New England Conservatory, Solivan does not remember an “ah-ha” moment that brought her to the music she has devoted herself to: “I don’t recall having a big moment that made me like jazz. I just dug it.”

“The music comes from a long tradition of jazz vocal repertoire without diving right into the clichés that we are all very tired of. The music is sincere, passionate, bold and very unique to what I do. I chose to work with a number of musicians on the project to showcase the musical environments that I have been working in for the last 4 years in New York, mainly small group settings. Together we told stories of love; lost, stolen, broken, desperate, and lonely,” says Solivan.

After many years of performing in New York and throughout the US and Europe, Solivan finally felt ready to put down something with the added pleasure of working with some of her good friends on a series of duos, trios, and quartet pieces.

Solivan recalls the session with a great sense of pride and gratitude. “With Xavier Davis, Ben Wolfe and Johnathan Blake in the rhythm section it was easy to get into it on Gigi Gryce's ‘Social Call’, and Betty Carter's ‘I Can't Help It.’ After over two years of working in duo with Michael Kanan we were able to record two gorgeous pieces ‘I Guess I’ll Hang My Tears Out To Dry’ and Cole Porter's ‘After You.’ Peter Bernstein and I revisited ‘May I Come In’ which I learned from the great Blossom Dearie and Christian McBride and Jeremy Pelt joined us on Artie Shaw's ‘Moon Ray.’ I was overjoyed to be able to sing ‘All Or Nothing At All’ and Strayhorn's ‘Day Dream’ in duo with Christian McBride.”

Born in Queens, New York, Solivan lived with her family in Venezuela and New Jersey before the family settled in Massachusetts, where she attended high school. Already an alto sax student, it was in secondary school that she began singing seriously, studying classical voice and appearing in musical theater productions. Upon graduating, she entered The Boston Conservatory with a concentration in musical theater. After her first year in college, Solivan took time off from school and drifted away from singing, not returning for three years. The urge to resume studying voice and go back to school coincided with her discovery of the voice that would become her greatest influence: Ella Fitzgerald.

Solivan earned a dual degree in Music Performance and Education at Berklee College of Music, and taught music for a year before entering the New England Conservatory and earning a Master’s degree in Jazz Studies. Solivan moved back to the city of her birth in 2007, placing in the 2009 + 2010 Jazzmobile Vocal Competition, appearing as the only featured vocalist on clarinetist Darryl Harper’s The C3 project recording, Stories in Real Time, and touring France as the lead vocalist in an innovative staging of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar.

Solivan possesses a voice that can be tender and sweet while still being strong and passionate. She is able to capture the audience through honest storytelling while breathing new life into well worn standards.

For more information, please visit www.mariannesolivanjazz.com.

*UPCOMING APPEARANCES*

February 24-25, 2012 | Mandarin Oriental Hotel, Washington, DC | 8pm-Midnight
Featured vocalist with The Chris Grasso Trio featuring Tommy Cecil, bass + Lenny Robinson, drums
http://www.mandarinoriental.com/washington/dining/empress_lounge/

Marianne Solivan Quartet | March 6-10, 2012 @ 11PM | JALC’S Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola (AFTER HOURS immediately following FREDDIE COLE)

featuring Xavier Davis, piano March 6-8 | Yotam Silberstein, guitar March 9-10 | Boris Koslov, bass | Darrell Green, drums

Marianne Solivian Trio | March 24, 2012 | The Drawing Room, Brooklyn, NY

Marianne Solivan Trio |April 19, 2012 @ 7:30-9:45am | SMALL’S JAZZ CLUB, NYC

Marianne Solivan Quartet | May 22, 2012 @ 10pm | IRIDIUM, NYC

Hear more from the musicians about Marianne….

"Marianne Solivan, has a big-hearted, joyful way of delivering a song. Her swinging feel and sunshiny disposition capture and delight her audiences. Marianne is the real thing!"
-SPIKE WILNER, Owner Smalls Jazz Club

"Marianne stands out from amongst her peers because of her warm sound and the clarity that she gives to each note that she sings."
– JOHNATHAN BLAKE, drummer

“Marianne Solivan is the real deal; a true jazz vocalist as well as jazz musician. She knows the history of her instrument yet maintains her own distinct sound and interpretation. I believe that she has found her own "voice" and always tells a compelling story.”
– RICK GERMANSON, pianist

“Marianne Solivan sings the sexy to the sublime. She has a wonderful combination of sensitivity, intelligence, and just plain old style. She is a great musician with a true gift for rendering a lyric.”
- DARRYL HARPER, clarinetist C3 Project, Regina Carter

“Marianne Solivan sings with a rich, warm sound, excellent pitch, and a confident, natural feeling for swing. But most importantly, she sings like she has nothing to prove. She has no need for vocal 'gymnastics' (despite her considerable technical abilities). She chooses instead to invite the listener into her musical world with honesty, and vulnerability. She is a real storyteller.”
–MICHAEL KANAN, pianist, Jane Monheit

HiPNOTIC Records is a DC-based independent jazz record label launched in January 2000 with the aim of presenting creative improvised music by up-and-coming artist-composers striving to move the music in fresh and compelling directions. A “Washington insider” by day, Founder and President Tony Haywood started HiPNOTIC in his spare time after managing The Onus, an innovative ensemble led by clarinetist Darryl Harper, a former schoolmate at Amherst College. Recordings on the label include: The Onus’s 4-CD discography (The Onus, 1996, Reoccurring Dream, 2001, Y’All Got It, 2005, and Triphony, 2005); Harper’s 2008 recording Stories in Real Time, featuring vocals by Marianne Solivan; the self-titled 2000 recording by SEED (co-led by pianist Orrin Evans, bassist Mike Boone, drummer Rodney Green, and vocalist DAWN), jointly released with Evans's Imani Records imprint; and debut recordings by bassist Matthew Parrish (Circles, 2001), guitarist Jeff Ray (The Walkup, 2003), and Baltimore-based bass clarinetist Todd Marcus (In Pursuit of the 9th Man, 2006), whose sophomore CD Inheritance is due for release on HiPNOTIC in May 2012. Inheritance features Don Byron, Xavier Davis, George Colligan, Eric Wheeler, Eric Kennedy, and Warren Wolf playing Marcus originals and arrangements that fuse a post-bop straight ahead aesthetic with Middle Eastern influences from the bandleader’s paternal Egyptian heritage. Other notable sidemen and guests on HiPNOTIC recordings include Joel Frahm and Steve Hass (Circles), Darryl Hall (The Walkup), and Gary Bartz, Ralph Bowen, Duane Eubanks, Branford Marsalis, and Jaleel Shaw (SEED). Xavier Davis and Matthew Parrish appear on Stories in Real Time, and Parrish and Jeff Ray are charter members of The Onus.

Kim Smith
public relations
ksmithpr@earthlink.net

My new CD Prisoner of Love (HiPNOTIC Records) is finished and will be released on March 20, 2012!

This project has been very close to my heart.  After many years of performing in New York and throughout the US and Europe I finally felt ready to put some music on CD. I had the pleasure of working with some good friends and fantastic musicians on a series of duos, trios, and quartet pieces that mean a lot to me.  With Xavier Davis, Ben Wolfe and Johnathan Blake in the rhythm section it was easy to get into it on Gigi Gryce's Social Call, and Betty Carter's I Can't Help It.  After over two years of working in duo with Michael Kanan we were able to record two gorgeous pieces I Guess Ill Hang My Tears Out To Dry and Cole Porter's After You.  Peter Bernstein and I revisited May I Come In which I learned from the great Blossom Dearie and Christian McBride and Jeremy Pelt joined us on Artie Shaw's Moon Ray.  I was overjoyed to be able to sing All Or Nothing At All and Strayhorn's Day Dream in duo with Christian McBride. 

Prisoner of Love
HiPNOTIC Records
March 20 2012!

Jazz isn’t meant to be timidly conventional music: the jazz that moves us has an essential sweetness but takes risks.

The September 13, 2o11 performance at Smalls by singer Marianne Solivan, pianist Michael Kanan, bassist Barak Mori, and drummer Dan Aran is a living example. The quartet’s repertoire wasn’t ostentatiously “experimental”: no odd time signatures or eccentric tempos, nothing self-consciously cerebral.

But in every song these four musicians were doing their best to take the material on its own terms, as if no one had ever sung or played these songs before. The chances they took came off – their daring and expertise was subtle improvisation of the highest order.

If you haven’t heard Marianne Solivan sing before, prepare yourself for brave beauty — an open-hearted approach to each song, supported nobly by Michael Kanan, Barak Mori, and Dan Aran.

By now, I THOUGHT ABOUT YOU is familiar territory. Without distorting its emotional center, Marianne and the trio made it new, bending phrases around bar lines, testing the waters:

Follow the link to see all the videos of the performance.

JAZZ LIVES readers will already know the work of pianist Michael Kanan — his deep sensitivity to his fellow musicians, his splendidly intuitive accompaniment, his whimsical paths, reminiscent of Jimmy Rowles and Nat Cole.

But the singer Marianne Solivan may be new to you, as she was to me before July 12, 2011, when she and Michael performed thirteen songs at Smalls in New York City.

Follow the link to read full article.....

Irina came to see me sing at Smalls in December and created these beautiful sketches.

Her work is beautiful and inspiring. She draws all sorts of Jazz musicians and connects it to lyrics and poems.

Check it out!

Julius Caesar will be participating in the Bogota Theater Festival April 2012.

Congratulations Julius Caesar Cast and Crew! Les Inrockuptibles, a French weekly magazine,(mix of Time Out, the Village Voice and the New Yorker) picked « Julius Caesar » as one of the 5 best shows of the year 2010 !

I'm excited to announce that I am once again one of eight finalists in this years Jazzmobile Jazz Vocalists Competition!

Please mark your calendars for Monday July 26th when we will all perform at Gospel Uptown and the winners will be chosen.

Check out www.jazzmobile.org for more information and make reservations at www.gospeluptown.com

Check out our positive review in the May issue of Jazz Times!
In the Under Currents section.

I have the good fortune of being part of the cast of Julius Caesar directed by Arthur Nauzyciel. We are touring in throughout France participating in some wonderful theater festivals. This is truly exciting show and an amazing cast. If you are in France please make a point to come out and see this show.

JULIUS CAESAR (Jules César) ON TOUR
21 OCT - 24 OCT 2009
Maison des Arts de Créteil within the Paris Autumn Festival

28 OCT 2009
Le Cadran, Evreux within the Autumn Festival in Normandy

05 NOV - 06 NOV 2009
La Comédie de Clermont-Ferrand

12NOV - 13 NOV 2009
La Comédie de Reims - CDN

18 NOV - 19 NOV 2009
CDDB - Théâtre de Lorient - CDN

Good News!
I have been selected as one of eight finalists in the Jazzmobile Vocal competition!

Jazzmobile is a non profit organization that has been working to present, preserve, promote and propagate Jazz. There were live auditions last week and out of about 100 singers that came eight were selected to go on into the final round. These finalists will sing to a live audience at Gospel Uptown, located at 2110 Adam Clayton Powell Blvd (corner of West 126th Street), Harlem, NY, on Monday, July 27th 2009, 6:30 pm.

If your able I would love for you to come and be part of this exciting event.

Monday July 27, 2009
6:30pm FREE

Gospel Uptown
2110 Adam Clayton Powell Blvd
(corner of West 126th Street),
Harlem, NY

www.gospeluptown.com

Reservations are required!!
For Reservations Call (212) 280-2110

Hello friends,
I've just returned from Philly. I had opportunity to record with Darryl Harper and the C3 Project. This is an amazing group of wonderfully talented musicians performing the music of Darryl Harper Brian Landrus and others. This is one of the most beautiful selections of music that I have had the pleasure to sing and I can't wait till the record is finished so that I can share it with you.

Big thanks to the band! I had such a wonderful time working with you!

I also have a few gigs coming up in New York. Check the gigs page for more information.

I hope to see you soon!
-M