Reviews

  

"It's not her warm voice, per se, that's earned Suzi Stern the accolades of Austin's jazz community for years. Rather, it's her uncanny interpretive powers to take a well-worn standard or pop tune and, with subtlety and grace, mold it into something unique... [On 'Leap of Heart'] she imbues timeless tunes by Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Sammy Cahn and the Gershwins with her own reflective style, adding refreshing twists throughout, be it a delightfully swinging scat chorus on Cahn's 'Time After Time' or a hint of compadre Tina Marsh's vocal gymnastics on Berlin's 'Change Partners'..."

- Jay Trachtenberg
Austin Chronicle

"Stern's 'Lament' stands as one of the finest albums of the decade - a masterpiece of understatement that honors the highest aspirations of jazz. "Lament" works with dark hues., but is by no means sad. Stern's affinity for texture, tone and nuance is ever present - in the lyrics, in the singing in the original arrangements...now there is a new album: 'leap of heart'..."
"Stern takes a love song filled with head-over-heels romantic imagery but imbues it with dabs of darkness and trepidation - acknowledging the risks of stepping into love..."

- Brad Buchholtz
Austin American Statesman

"American singer, Suzi Stern, provided elegent, wordless improvisations over melodious duets with saxophonist Paul Ostermayer that suggested a musical bond that has lasted years."

- Remco Takken
De Volkskrant
Amsterdam, The Netherlands

"It has been years since a singer has affected me so profoundly.  Suzi has it all: a fantastic vocal instrument, effortless musicality, and a special way of working with the material and evoking the deepest emotions."

"Jazz singer Suzi Stern goes deep into music - and takes her heart with her. Her songs are rivers of feeling. Stern is sensitive to the currents of melancholy, wistfulness, vulnerability. She lets her music flow in its own natural time, her voice sliding and gliding and bending in the direction of beauty..."

American Statesman 09

Stern can croon a ballad with all the torchiness of a Cassandra Wilson, then turn around and scat note-for-note with sax ace Paul Ostermayer...
- Austin Chronicle

* * *