Can't Stop Listening: Gretchen Parlato

I was very lucky to discover Gretchen Parlato a few years ago when I was working for the Halifax Jazz Festival. One of the most wonderful things about that job was the continuous influx of new music being added to the eclectic  music library of old jazz records to contemporary Canadian jazz.

I was very lucky one day to be introduced to Gretchen Parlato by our fantastic artistic director who presented her in a "you gotta hear this!" kind of way.

The facts: Gretchen Parlato is a young, LA-based singer who got her big break when she won the  2004 Thelonious Monk Institute International Vocal Competition and has since been praised by jazz greats such as Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter and has sung with the likes of Kenny Barron and Esperanza Spalding.

The Songbird's verdict: Parlato is filling a void in contemporary jazz singing. She has started to find the thin line between creating music that can appeal to a non-jazz audience while managing to still play homage to her great jazz predecessors. Her arrangements are thoughtful and inventive and her vocal style, while not virtuosic, is definitely ear-catching and her vocal percussion abilities make me green with envy.

Check it out!