photo: lauren desberg
"Gretchen Parlato is a singer-arranger of consummate control and slow-burning intensity... lives at the crossroads of sensuous and spiritual, singing from deep within hypnotic grooves with enormous rhythmic sophistication."
— Allen Morrison, Downbeat Magazine
news
Flor: #3 Album of the Year, Jazzwise Critics Poll '21
20 Best Albums of the Year: Critics Poll '21
Downbeat Magazine: SFJAZZ Collective’s New Lineup, Paradigm
... "Twenty years ago Parlato was accepted into the Thelonious Monk Institute and was the only dedicated vocalist among a group of instrumentalists. “Now here I am at 45, and I’m given this similar opportunity, So, I’m using the same tools that I did back then to find my way as part of an ensemble, in a traditional way as a vocalist with lyrics, or lines that I can sing in unison or harmony.”
In addition to developing her distinct brand of wordless singing, Parlato also doubles on percussion — as does Charles and Sánchez. McCoy plays guitar, Simon and Wolf also play electronic keyboards, and Brewer doubles on contrabass and electric bass. “There’s so much that this band can do right now,” Parlato observed."»» read article
FLOR — #1 iTunes jazz upon release!
DOWNBEAT MAGAZINE - march 2021
Gretchen Parlato — Renaissance in Bloom
» READ FULL ARTICLE
JAZZWISE MAGAZINE - april 2021
"It's an awakening, a blossoming"
Gretchen Parlato—
Back in Full Bloom
...you hear the voice.
But that voice — one of the most dreamily mellifluous timbres in jazz —
is instantly recognizable.
Gretchen Parlato, the Grammy-nominated composer and vocalist,
and one of the most imaginative and inspiring artists on the scene, is back.
And oh, how we’ve missed her.
...her brilliant new Brazilian-flavoured album on Edition is her best yet.
—Peter Quinn, Jazzwise Magazine
FLOR reviews
Gretchen Parlato Flor
— ALL MUSIC
"Flor is a masterpiece...
a welcome and profound return.
Parlato and her collaborators dig under and through stylistic and genre conventions, then emerge with a jazz language of their own that embraces the world's sounds and emotions, and translates them flawlessly with warmth, intimacy, poetry, and humor."
Gretchen Parlato Flor
— ALL ABOUT JAZZ
5 STARS *****
"One of the best vocal jazz albums of recent years —
Gretchen Parlato returns with a masterful album in which she expresses the balance between refinement, lyricism and intact drive...”