Valerie Joyce - New York Blue

Numbered, Limited Edition Half-Speed Mastered 180g Vinyl LP!

The national recording debut of vocalist Valerie Joyce, 2006's New York Blue (Chesky) is a collection of classic jazz, standard and pop tunes that showcase the singer's distinctively smoky vocal sound and nuanced performance.

Her first New York recording experience, Valerie describes the sessions for New York Blue as "...incredible. I am fascinated by the great classic songwriters. Being able to record these songs with amazing musicians, and also being able to record one of my originals was a magical, unforgettable experience." Fans of 'magical, unforgettable' jazz vocal performances are also in for a special treat with Valerie Joyce's New York Blue debut.

Without settling into jazz-vocalist convention, Valerie Joyce has developed a voice that is wonderfully idiosyncratic, lush, and richly expressive. In an emotionally arresting and disarmingly vulnerable style, she delivers standards, modern songs destined to become standards, and originals, all with great emotional nuance. With a knowing and considered expression of music and lyrics, she conveys a sense of discovering lyrics and the resonance of songs as if for the first time. All this is documented on Joyce's fine discs on the influential audiophile label, Chesky Records. Those albums mark the maturation of this stellar Seattle-based singer, who grew up in Japan, the daughter of a Japanese mother and American father. Joyce's musical education began with early solfege and classical piano lessons, and then music studies while pursuing her college degree in the United States, where she has lived since 1991. She has been making recordings since 2002 (Reverie), followed in 2003 by a yet-to-be-released world-jazz project with pianist Michael Wolff and others, and then two acclaimed CDs with Chesky since 2004. New York Blue featuring pianist Andy Ezrin and The Look of Love: The Music of Burt Bacharach, featuring pianist David Hazeltine. (by Peter Monaghan)

Not since Cassandra Wilson's Blue Light 'Til Dawn has a vocalist cast such an entrancing spell as Valerie Joyce does on New York Blue. -Bill Milkowski

Features

• Numbered, Limited Edition - 500 Copies
• HQ-180g Premium Vinyl LP
• Half-Speed Mastered by Miles Showell (Abbey Road Studios)
• Direct from original master
• Previously unreleased on vinyl
• Recorded at St. Peter's Church, Chelsea, NYC, June 28-29, 2005
• Gatefold jacket
• Compared with the original sequence of the recording, some tracks were necessarily moved to fit at best the time of each LP side & preserve the dynamic content

Musicians

Selections

Side A:

1. It Never Entered My Mind
2. Darn That Dream
3. Fever
4. Moon And Sand
5. Golden Slumbers
6. Oasis

Side B:

1. Baby Can I Hold You
2. Little Wing
3. Weaver Of Dreams
4. I Fall In Love Too Easily
5. Blue In Green
6. Every Time We Say Goodbye