Susie Thorne

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~ NOMINATED FOR "BEST FEMALE JAZZ VOCALIST 2007" -
INDIE AWARDS, UNITED KINGDOM!
**October 2007** Watch for our upcoming interview with host Aja on Jazz Syndicate Radio - UK!
Tune In Now....
Chicago reviews "Blue Skies!" April 3, 2007
Listen to the Chicago review of "Blue Skies, Clear Day" on Listen Here Radio - "The Show" - Episode 14
Read our New York Review!
She lives and performs in Omaha these days, but I think many of us in the rest of the world will want Susie Thorne to get out more. She's a very cool and captivating singer who is able to bring a refreshingly original sensibility to songs of various stripes. Playful and creative with melodies and shifting rhythms, and very capable at scat-singing, she's very much a jazz vocalist with solid jazz musicians just as ready to experiment.
Her sound grabbed me right away: it is youthful and energetic, pure and sweet in higher tones, with a moody or salty quality at times in her lower register. Susie can really swing confidently and easily. Same goes for the band members: pianist Christine Hitt (full of interesting touches and mini-side trips) and bass player Tom Kennedy (of the Dave Weckl group) are also the co-producers. The other very able players are drummer Miles Vandiver, and two more who each play on six of the eleven tracks: guitarist Rick Haydon and sax player Jason Swagler.
When the tempo relaxes, Susie shows a more sensitive side: the Ellington elegance of "In a Sentimental Mood" reveals more emotions without risking being overly sentimental. Dreamy moods are created when she drifts through "Moon River," relishing the Johnny Mercer words and adding twists and turns to the Henry Mancini melody. If you're assuming that the title means she sings both Irving Berlin's "Blue Skies" and the title song of the musical On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, well, yes and no. Yes on "Blue Skies," an especially catchy version. I guess the "clear day" is an extension of that song's feel and the album design. (As it turns out, she has an earlier album, Love for Sale, that includes "On a Clear Day.") . This is not a borderline "jazz influenced" vocalist or a straightforward balladeer who happens to be accompanied by some jazz players - she's the real thing.
I look forward to more from this singer-
Rob Lester New York
February, 2007
Susie's CD is the Spotlight feature of the week on KMXT Radio- Kodiak, Alaska!
LIVE ONLINE BROADCAST ON ITALIAN RADIO THIS SATURDAY -
Bruno Pollacci, host of "A Voice, A Soul", an International Jazz Voices Program will feature Susie's new CD this Saturday evening from 8:00 - 9:00 PM (ITALY TIME!) you'll have to calculate your city's corresponding time and "sync up" to catch the show live. Click Here... to link to the Italian radio station and listen online! If you speak Italian ....you can read the review on their website!
If you miss the live broadcast - you can download the program directly from their site the day after at: www.animajazz.it
Thanks for listening!
Susie Thorne Entertains Thousands....Kansas City, MO.
"On October 6, 2006 jazz vocalist Susie Thorne's performance marked the conclusion of our inaugural season of Kansas City's "Just Jazz Series". Mid-America Arts Alliance would like to thank you for helping to make this first season a success. Please accept our appreciation for your extraordinary talents".
Amy Zoe Schoenhoff
New Ventures Coordinator
Full Story
"She hails from Nebraska - but she swings like a big city girl!" That's what critics are saying about Susie Thorne! Born in Hastings, Nebraska, the daughter of a classically trained vocalist mother and a professional trumpet player father (who was an occasional sideman for such greats as Lionel Hampton and Gerry Mulligan), Thorne was raised with a great love of music.
Susie shared a love of jazz with her father and still has all their old albums. As a young girl, Susie's favorite was Herb Albert and the Tijuana Brass! Susie was also fascinated with the vocal recordings and would sit for hours, playing them over and over again until she had mastered their exact phrasing and rhythmic interpretations. Her late father also owned and operated a jazz club in Omaha, Nebraska after his retirement. The club featured a popular Friday night jazz-jam which was recently featured on a PBS Special "Next Exit" for its long-running jam which is still occurring today. There, Susie was able to sit in as a young girl and try her hand at the standards.
Music was a big part of Susie's life in high school where she sang in all the choirs and accompanied the swing and jazz choirs on piano. Susie also studied classical voice privately with Julie Knowles, a choral composer and educator. After graduating from high school, Thorne traveled the United States as lead vocalist in a Rhythm and Blues band. Wanting to broaden her horizons, Thorne also traveled overseas where she entertained fans as a solo piano/vocalist on tour through Europe and Asia.
After returning to the states, Thorne re-connected with her jazz roots while studying piano performance at the University of Colorado at Denver. Once there she was re-introduced to vocal jazz and inspired by such legendary artists as Ella Fitzgerald, Nancy Wilson and Carmen McRae and went on to study vocal performance at the Academy of Vocal Arts. Thorne was invited back on tour and went on to perform for a loyal following in Japan and Hong Kong. There she continued her jazz studies with American jazz artists on tour.
Visiting her family in the US, she met her husband and settled in Omaha, Nebraska. Here she continues her musical studies at the University of Nebraska at Omaha where she studied classical voice with Wendy Eaton and has performed as a vocalist with the UNO Jazz Band. She has also studied vocal jazz techniques privately with Jennifer Shelton-Barnes and jazz-piano with Christine Hitt. Her first CD, "Love for Sale" was released in 2000 and greeted with critical acclaim, winning her comparisons to the vocal stylings of the legendary performers such as a young Eartha Kitt.
Thorne's second CD, "Blue Skies, Clear Day" features 11 songs with all arrangements by Susie Thorne and co-produced by Christine Hitt. "Blue Skies, Clear Day" was released nationally and internationally in November of 2006. Reviews of this current release are featured below.
Take a listen and you'll soon know what Nebraskans have known for years! She's Omaha's best kept secret........
Susie is available for clubs, festivals, workshops and clinics. Visit http://www.susiethorne.com/ for more information.
To Purchase: http://www.cdbaby.com for more information.
"I’m listening now and I have to say you swing right from the first note. I dig that!"
Jim Eigo, Jazz Promo Services, New York
Radio Stations are loving Susie Thorne!
Here's what they have to say................
November 10, 2006
“I'm very confident that I've heard, in my humble opinion, one of the 5 best jazz CD's of 2006.It will be part of my next broadcast, this coming Sunday, November 12, at 6 pm central time. At the beginning of the New Year, I will feature a broadcast on the best jazz releases of the past year, and this one will surely be in that company!”
Albert Pride, host of "The Jazz Is Out There" www.blazeradio.org
Birmingham, Alabama
November 10, 2006
"The Thorne album arrived the day after we talked. It's on my program today. Loved "No Moon at All"
Rusty Rush KAMU-fm - Public Radio at Texas A&M University
College Station, TX
November 16, 2006
"What a specific, clear and fine voice this lady has! Sounds a bit like a Young Rita Reys (Greatest Dutch Jazz Diva...), and also love musicians ….really a class-CD…..my compliments..... "
~ Joost van Steen - "Jazz & Blues Tour" The Netherlands
November 15, 2006
"I just reviewed this CD today. I love it. The band plays in a classic style, yet Thorne has a unique voice and style. Her tone reminds me of Aretha Franklin as much as any jazz vocalist."
~ Lester French - Jazz Director - WMEB 91.9 FM - Orono, ME
www.umaine.edu/wmeb
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To Purchase: http://www.cdbaby.com for more information.
Recorded at:
SmithLee Productions - St. Louis, MO
Ware House Productions - Omaha, NE
Mix/Mastered - Dennis Moody Studios - Los Angeles, CA