Laurie Antonioli

Listen to a sneak preview of Richie Beirach's classic song "Leaving" with lyrics by Laurie. Pepe Berns on Bass, Richie Beirach on piano.................................Go to www.laurieantonioli.com to see and hear the latest!..................................................... ...................Jazz Podium Matthias Weiller January 2005 "FOREIGN AFFAIR" Laurie Antonioli featuring Nenad Vasilic............................ Between the tradition of the Great American Songbook and the better class of pop song there's no shortage of women singers – some acclaimed as new divas while others, measured against Ella & co, are found wanting. But only a few women are carving out new paths of a contemporary vocal jazz. Laurie Antonioli is a Californian with Montenegrin ancestors, now a university teacher in Graz, who is able to weave classic jazz singing, modern instrumental-sounding vocalizations and elements of Balkan folk into a valid vocal language of her own. Her influences are not only such diverse singers as Louis Armstrong, Joni Mitchell, Neil Young, Bobby McFerrin und Mark Murphy, but also include instrumentalists like Miles Davis, Wayne Shorter, Keith Jarrett und Joe Henderson. She made her debut on albums of pianists George Cables („Soul Eyes“, 1985) and Joe Bonner („New Beginnings“, 1987), and after that, family and teaching interests took priority. With the dark timbre of her voice she can converge with the bass sound of Nenad Vasilic or equally, in higher registers with the fine, sweetly sculpted lines that Johannes Enders produces on the soprano sax. The whole recording lives in the matured sound of an uncluttered instrumental lineup. Antonioli carefully selected the collaborators for her distinctive project: Johannes Enders, individualist on saxophones, Nenad Vasilic, tersely phrasing Serbian bassist and co-composer, Armend Xhaferi, Albanian guitarist who works with bending techniques from blues and country, and John Hollenbeck, the stylistically adaptable percussionist from New York. Highlights are the tracks where Antonioli enjoys extended scats, oriental-mystical and deftly rhythmic on Vasilic's "Tschusch Chochek", bluesy on Antonioli's own "I know you" and entranced-swinging on Keith Jarrett's "The Cure"....................................................... ..........................................................ST EREOPLAY - December 2005 "THE DUO SESSION"............LAURIE ANTONIOLI & RICHIE BEIRACH ..........................Time is the only criterion for quality, postulated Oscar Peterson. In that case, the long-missed tapes of Richie Beirach and Laurie Antonioli, recorded in 1992, deserve the seal of approval as a timeless treasure. It’s the result of a five-hour session in San Francisco’s Mobius Studio which is appreciated by the Kronos Quartet, among others, for its flawless recording quality. The delicacies created by the classically-trained pianist and the virtually unknown vocalist are simply extraordinary; the sensitivity with which Antonioli sets text to Miles’ “Flamenco Sketches” sends shivers down one’s spine. Her melodies soar weightlessly over Beirach’s gentle, discreet structures. Played by this superlative duo, even worn-out standards acquire a unique magic. Elegantly swinging lines, the Steinway’s pearly tone wafts on the breeze: an album that sets a new high-water mark.