It's a rare occasion to feel like you're witnessing history--especially in a hyper modern era bent on planned obsolescence. Â Enter Laura Coyle, a relative newcomer to the straight ahead Jazz scene. Â All around Atlanta, she is proving to be the little black dress of an oft interpreted genre.
Coyle sings with an intimate knowledge and quite obviously a love for the tunes she chooses to perform.  It's an egoless pursuit of music that is a testament to purity in art. Perhaps it is her fifteen years as a professional illustrator and designer that fuels this telepathy.  Even well worn tunes like The Girl From Ipanema seem to have a fresh picked quality, as heard on her first release Laura Coyle.  Not so much reinterpreting but channeling--you feel yourself sinking in and thinking, "oh, that's how it's supposed to sound..."
A jazz aficionado from her teen years, she is so literate in the tradition that it is clear that she brings out the best in the seasoned musicians she keeps company with. No one is reining anyone in, everyone shines. Â Louis Heriveaux on piano, Bernard Linnette on drums (Coyle's mentor who gets a nod for her unique percussive gifts) Craig Shaw on bass...these are serious players she runs with, and they all flow together with confidence. Â Released in the summer of 2008, Coyle's first recording is a great introduction to serious jazz---but with great affection. Â There is no posturing in her lyrical presentation, she commands perfect pitch and has a truism to a tune that makes calling it a "cover" seem erroneous.
Fans of her live shows feel almost smug knowing that they are experiencing a moment that will stand the test. Â There is no "spin" in Coyle's treatment of standards of well known and obscure Jazz tunes. It's just spot on. And like classic French cooking, you don't put lemongrass in the Coq au Vin and you don't rewrite Jazz history. Â You pay homage to it. Â Laura Coyle does it proud.
--Michele Niesen
Visit Laura's website: lauracoylejazz.com
