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 Recent Press and Reviews:
Reviews from Japan:
REVIEW: Vivante Productions Limited November 2005
Valerie Joyce- New York Blue (Chesky)
A new name but a great talent all the same. Time after time my trusty CD player has been subjected to great sounding but musically dubious recordings from assorted audiophile labels, which given their experience should know better. Well not this time. Valerie Joyce is a young Japanese - American jazz singer and pianist who has the talent and inherent musicial breath of vision, and plain good taste to make it big. She has a smoky intimate voice that works extremely well with the after hours feel of her sophisticated jazz-cabaret- style. Expect to hear more of this Lady. Valerie is joined by arranger and pianist Andy Ezrin. His arrangements and playing provide an uncluttered and entirely sympathetic setting for the singer's voice. The band, Lawrence Feldman- with his lovely warm sax tones that compare with the likes of Stan Getz and Benny..is a standout, Jon Hebert on acoustic bass plays with an understated but sure hand, while Eugene Jackson is the very model of discreet rhythm provider on drums, are simply superb. Tracks include 'Blue In Green', 'Fever', 'Little Wing' and a lovely cover of 'Baby Can I Hold You'. Recommended. Fans of Jacintha, Peggy Lee and Cassandra Wilson will find a lot to enjoy here.
Vivante Productions Limited
www.vivante.co.uk
ARTICLE: INTERNATIONAL EXAMINER, Fall 2004
It is only once in a blue moon when a singer’s vocals reach the depths of your soul, reverberating through your body for an unforgettable musical experience. The rich, smooth voice of jazz artist Valerie Joyce will do just that to her listeners. Joyce performs at the International Examiner’s “Arts, Etc.” event on Saturday, Oct. 23 at Pier 69, Port of Seattle. continue reading...
REVIEW: JAZZ IMPROV MAGAZINE, Fall 2004
Valerie Joyce is a talented composer and musician for whom much opportunity exists. Her debut album, Reverie, is a competent step into jazz recording. The brightest light for the Seattle resident is her voice, a resonant wisp of serenity that can be massaged for power and effect. continue reading...
REVIEW: EARSHOT JAZZ, January 2002
There are some impressive moments, then, on a surprising, winning compilation, Strictly Serafina, available at the Eastlake nightspot [buy cd online]. Sue Nixon, accompanied by the Leo Raymundo Trio, presents a quavering, calming "Summertime, " right after Valerie Joyce kicks the disc off with so wonderfully idiosyncratic a voice that one cannot help but stop and marvel. Her voice is paradoxically both frighteningly vulnerable and arrestingly deeply hued on Bonfa's "The Gentle Rain," accompanied with gentle attention by Milo Petersen on guitar, and then towards the end of the disc on "Moon and Sand" with Petersen, Paul Gabrielson (bass) and Joshua Wolff (piano). In a world of so many slavishly stylized jazz vocalists, the individualist, no matter whether fully arrived or just, as here, well on the way, revives the soul.
- Peter Monaghan
REVIEW: ALL ABOUT JAZZ SEATTLE, July-August 2003
Reverie
Valerie Joyce
(VJI Music)
Valerie Joyce is a newcomer to the local music scene and with her debut release, Reverie, she has succeeded in making a lasting first impression. Haunting and breathy, earthy, and ethereal- such oxymoronic descriptors come to mind when attempting to characterize her voice. Certainly, some listeners will dismiss her vocal style as alien and unattractive. But some will no doubt find that Ms. Joyce's unorthodox tone and curious delivery tempt their imagination, like would-be faces in the shadows, and ultimately challenge their concept of what a "good" voice should sound like. In this way Reverie cuts, rather refreshingly, to the heart of the art form.
It contains 11 songs taken at slow to moderate tempo, roughly half of which are standards. Of the latter, Jobim's "Once I Loved" is an ideal vehicle for Ms. Joyce's dark, whispery vocal. Yet, she is most beguiling when singing her original lyrics on "Oasis," "Silent Sky" (an adaptation of a Brahms intermezzi) and "Orchid"-mystical words suited to her mystical voice.
A local cast of sidemen, including Milo Petersen, Joshua Wolff, Paul Gabrielson, Jay Thomas and Phil Sparks provide a strong foundation for Ms. Joyce's admirable first recording. Big-time record execs searching for the next Norah Jones-are you listening?
- Jason West
REVIEW: The Musicians' Ombudsman
Valerie Joyce
"Reverie"
(VJI Music)
I apologize for the tidy review regarding vocalist Valerie Joyce. However, the symbiosis between her choice of sidemen & her disciplined vocalise, suggests a succinct commentary. Her project is simply dazzling. The group deserves accolades as well for creating a solid musical base for Valerie to intone her songs to the masses. This is subtle & restrained vocalism. This is a singer with a new delicateness & grace.....Offering us a whole realm of vocal possibilities to reckon with.
- George W. Carroll
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