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Like Minds
"Overall this is a delightful and impressive performance"
Brian Priestly, Jazz UK
"This beautifully-judged collaboration finds Trudy Kerr sharing the limelight with pianist and composer Michael Garrick to splendid effect."
Andrew Vine, Yorkshire Post
"Kerr is a fine singer, with good phrasing, spot-on intonation and an ability to serve the lyrics with sensitivity and taste. The nine Ellington-associated songs she chose for this eloquent recital with Michael Garrick (piano) were a labour of love for both, particularly Garrick, whose backing is beautiful."
Ray Comiskey, Irish Times
"Trudy Kerr, a singer of wit, intelligence and versatility"
Reg Brace, Yorkshire Evening Post
"Although most of Like Minds features introspective ballads, there's an individual craftsmanship in each phrase that makes this a surprisingly satisfying listen."
Katherine Shackleton, BBC reviews site
"London-based jazz singer Trudy Kerr gives the classic Ellington songbook a contemporary twist on this sophisticated CD."
Alison Kerr, Scotland on Sunday
Trudy and Michael's sensitive approach pays dividends and brings a freshness to the form which deserves both credit and a wider audience. A superb example of British-based, vocal-led jazz.
Keith Ames, The Musician Magazine.
"...Presenting a five minute study in desolation, the beautifully crafted opener 'Don't get around much anymore' exudes a communicative power which shapes the entire collection. 'I'm beginning to see the light' showcases the duo's feel for space and texture, while an enchanting intimate "Mood Indigo" illustrates Kerr's great control of the melodic line."
Peter Quinn, Jazzwise Magazine.
The like minds here are Trudy and pianist Michael Garrick (with a little assist from bass player Paul Moylan on five tracks). Together they explore with remarkable sensitivity some of Duke Ellington’s finest songs such as Prelude to a kiss, Mood Indigo and Sophisticated Lady, interspersed with some of Michael’s lovely compositions. There is a quite remarkable empathy between singer and accompanist and I think its Trudy’s finest achievement to date and also reveals Michael’s outstanding talent as an accompanist.”
Peter Bevan, Northern Echo
“Like Minds is a sophisticated album that quickly establishes a mood and gives a fresh look at the Ellington repertoire. Kerr and Garrick’s approach focuses on the words and brings out the true meaning of the lyrics. The interplay between voice and piano is excellent, Moylan’s contributions judicious and the Jazzizit production values typically high. “
Ian Mann, The Jazzman
"There are countless hundreds of competent female jazz singers, then there are the scant few that evidence the self-possession, depth, fire, and sense of risk necessary to finding the emotional layers in exceptional songs. Trudy Kerr, in England, belongs to the latter special group, and her recordings aren't to be missed."
Frank-John Hadley, longtime DownBeat critic
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Deja Vu
Jazzizit Records JITCD0746
Following her terrific vocalese album Cloudburst released in 2005, Trudy Kerr’s latest Déjà vu offers something extremely tasty for every discerning musical palate. From Jan Lundgren’s opening piano riff on ‘Out of this World’ to the beautiful closing track ‘You go to my head’ the collection of songs associated with the singer’s past provides a feast for the ear. The title track is the perfect showcase for the singer’s fluid phrasing and mellifluous tone and coupled with Gascoyne’s imaginative and colourful arrangement, is an absolute standout. The singer’s newly penned lyrics to Dave Holland’s ‘Dream of the Elders’ will doubtless get many singers excited about the new addition to the vocal jazz repertoire. Special guest Bob Dorough also joins the singer for a joyously playful duet on his tricky original ‘Up Jumped a Bird’
PETER QUINN – JAZZWISE MAGAZINE
Trudy Kerr, is a fine Australian jazz singer, she has an excellent range, admirable vocal control and she swings easily. She enunciates lyrics clearly and means what she sings. Surprises abound, including a scintillating uptempo The Nearness of You which sounds better presto than at ballad pace. Trudy handles the different moods with considerable aplomb. The merging of Witchcraft and You fascinate me so is beautifully done. Trudy accords Jan Lundgren to shine in solo segments, and it is admirable the way that singer and pianist dovetail their lines in unison, sounding as if they had worked together for years. Overall, the relaxed quality of the music says much about the poise and professionalism of all involved. Don’t miss out on this delicious CD! MARK GARDNER – JAZZ JOURNAL Trudy Kerr is the genuine article, well able to approach standards like Out of this World or You go to my head in a way that ignites interest. … She is a joy!
FRED DELLAR – MOJO
Called Déjà vu because it contains songs with a significant link to singer Trudy Kerr’s past. Kerr herself is a natural sounding, unfussy vocalist with a deceptively easy delivery, and the standout tracks on the album play to these strengths, her singing, backed just by Lundgren on the closing You Go To My Head, in particular, is a perfect example of the art that conceals art, and provides a pleasing contract with the pianist’s surprising adventurous accompaniment, her visit to the typically lush, romantic Michel Legrand song The Summer Knows is a small gem of carefully pitched sentiment set to the strings of the Juno String Quartet. Joined by Bob Dorough himself on the US composer’s Up Jumped a Bird, Kerr will please her many admirers with this informal-sounding but clearly carefully chosen set.
CHRIS PARKER, THE VORTEX SITE
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Jazz For Juniors
Jazzizit Records JITCD2001
If it’s true that the audience for jazz is getting older, singer Kerr has an ingenious solution – a sing-along jazz album for kids, creating a new hip generation. The music – cute standards like The Doodlin’ Song, Swingin’on a Star and Happy Talk – is utterly joyful. There are kids singing too,but they swing.
MOJO MAGAZINE FEB 2007
….the warmth, pure enjoyment and sparkle of Trudy Kerr’s voice reachesbeyond the target audience of babies and mums.
MANCHESTER EVENING POST FEB 2007
.. I tried it out on my grandchildren and they just loved it!
NOTTINGHAM EVENING POST
You can’t introduce youthful ears to jazz too early, is the message of this fun album.
VORTEX SITE
….She sings like an angel throughout and is joined by a world-class band.
Iann Mann – DASH 24
At last a CD especially for young children, which everyone can enjoy…
NORTHERN ECHO
….Though the sense of fun it conjures is so infectious that adults are sure to be smitten by its bountiful charms. Every home should have a copy
RECORD COLLECTOR FEB 2007
…the feeling of rhythm and swing is well to the fore, and the band and Trudy do a splendid job. The children do very well in their whole hearted singing, I hope that the record is successful, as is should be as it is a praiseworthy idea very well accomplished.
CRESCENDO MAGAZINE JAN 07
For information call Trudy 0208 650 9951
To order Trudy's CD's go to www.jazzizit.co.uk
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CLOUDBURST CD REVIEWS
Something of a miniature epiphany this. A vocal album sufficiently musicianly, substantial and in the instrumental tradition that it could equally well be filed under mainstream. Think vocal jazz automatically equals jazz-lite? Think again.
Cloudburst is London-based Australian Kerr's fifth album and follows her fine '02 homage to Chet Baker, My Old Flame. This time she puts the Great American Songbook aside and offers fourteen hardcore jazz instrumentals, to which lyrics and/or vocalese have later been added, either by her or by earlier writers. The original composers are Coltrane, Mingus, Monk, Clifford Brown, Gerry Mulligan, Horace Silver, Mal Waldron, Tadd Dameron, Bill Evans, Lerov Kirkland & Jimmy Harris, Duke Pearson, Antonio Jobim, Ennio Morricone, and Freddie Hubbard. To say Kerr does justice to these guys—which she does—is really to say something. The arrangements are unfussy, and wholly unsweetened, and Kerr's warm and sensuous voice, particularly effective in the midrange, delivers straightforward and engaging readings.
Key to the album's success is Kerr's band, a half dozen of London's finest, who're given plenty of space in which to stretch out and improvise. So, a vocal album for people who don't usually like vocal albums. Kerr is 100% real jazz musician, and Cloudburst is 100% real jazz. Things are looking up.
Chris May www.allaboutjazz.com
What's this, a vocal jazz album and not a whiff of the Great American Songbook? I'm intrigued. Trudy Kerr's fifth solo release, CLOUDBURST, is a striking homage to the instrumental jazz repertoire of Coltrane, Mingus, Monk and others. Moved to pen a lyric to Coltrane's Moment's Notice, the singer subsequently took a brave decision of devoting an entire album to the art of vocalese. The title track draws out a stunning, virtuoso performance from Kerr, a machine-gun fire melodic line with lyrics penned by the vocalese meister himself, Jon Hendricks. Kerr's own lyrical excursions are no less impressive. The Rabbit (a.k.a. Gerry Mulligan's Bunny') and 'Funk Evans' (Bill Evans' Funkallero) proving to be two of the strongest tracks of the collection. Kerr has a world-class troupe of players at her disposal. Boldly conceived and brilliantly executed.
Peter Quinn Jazzwise Magazine Nov 2005 issue.
Vocalese, the singing of lyrics to establish jazz melodies and solos, is a tremendously demanding exercise, requiring faultless diction, vocal flexibility and - perhaps most important - a persuasive manner from the practitioners. Lyrics often have to be fitted into the most inhospitable nooks and crannies of convolute tunes, so only the most agile and dexterous of singers - Annie Ross, Jon Hendricks, Eddie Jefferson, Georgie Fame to take four obvious examples - even make the attempt. To this illustrious list, Trudy Kerr's name can now be added; Cloudburst takes it material from the post-war jazz of the likes of Bill Evans, Charles Mingus, Horace Silver, Thelonious Monk, Clifford Brown et al., and succeeds in casting fresh light - courtesy of Kerr's intelligent lyrics - on such classics as Coltrane's Moments Notice and Gerry Mulligan's Hodges tribute Bunny. With classy guest spots from Alan Skidmore, producer Derek Nash and Dick Pearce ornamenting a superbly cohesive and sparky core trio - drummer Steve Brown, bassist Sam Burgess, pianist Tom Cawley - and with Kerr's irresistibly breezy informality concealing considerable artistry, this is an attractive, deeply felt yet surprisingly subtle album that richly rewards repeated listening.
Chris Parker, Jazz at Ronnie Scott's no 156
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MY OLD FLAME REVIEWS
But the effort pays off, if its' an artistic result you're looking for. Kerr's fourth album, My Old Flame, based around songs and music associated with Chet Baker, is as 'musicianly' as any purely instrumental set. She's taken enormous trouble over the material, recasting Gerry Mulligan arrangements, turning a solo into superb vocalese in 'Bernie's Tune' duetting with an avuncular Georgie Fame on two numbers, and generally standing tall on what would be a demanding project for the most experienced of singers. If it's taken a dozen years of British work to get to this point, you have to feel it's time well spent.
Richard Cook (Extract from interview) Jazz Journal June 2002
Just when I was running out of patience with the current surfeit of tribute albums, along comes the singer Trudy Kerr's homage to that angelic-looking reprobate Chet Baker. Drawing inspiration from the insouciant Gerry Mulligan Quartet-with Derek Nash taking care of the baritone solos-Kerr and her co-arranger Geoff Gascoyne give the songs a genuinely individual aura. Kerr succeeds in echioing the trumpeter's little-boy-lost vocals without reproducing his dodgy pitch. Dick Pearce stands in for Baker, and the guest singer Georgie Fame adds deft vocalese on You Make Me Feel So Young and But Not for Me. Love for Sale comes over all sassy and funky. Along with her other expat Aussie singers Karen Lane and Anita Wardell, Kerr has made a big impression on British audiences. She gets better with each album.
Clive Davis The Sunday Times, July 2002
Another late jazz legend, trumpeter Chet Baker, is commemorated on Australian singer Trudy Kerr's latest recording, My Old Flame. Kerr's previous albums have been sparky, wide-ranging affairs showcasing a warmly intimate yet pleasingly informal vocal style as at home with soulful popular music as with straightahead jazz, but on this one she concentrates her considerable talents on material associated with the great West Coast jazzman. Baker was a singing trumpeter with a touching, apparently effortless, laid-back style on both vocals and instrument, and Kerr's ease and assurance stand her in good stead on an intelligently varied set embracing Baker's sung favourites, tunes associated with his most enduring band (the one co-led with baritone player Gerry Mulligan), and the odd piece of vocalese (sung solos with lyrics instead of instrumental improvisations). To aid her in this last category, Kerr has enlisted the British master of the form, Georgie Fame, who duets with her on some familiar Baker fare, but a superb band including Dick Pearce (trumpet and flugelhorn), Derek Nash (Baritone) and husband Geoff Gascoyne (bass) enables her not only to pay tribute to, but also shed new and revealing light on, Chet Baker's recording legacy, and the result is a thoroughly musicianly infectious joyous recording.
Chris Parker BBC Music Magazine, August 2002
Kerr is an Australian who has been slowly and surely building a reputation on the British scene. This CD is sub-titled 'Remembering Chet Baker' and is a collection of songs associated with the late trumpeter-and-sometime-vocalist, particularly from his halcyon days with the Gerry Mulligan Quartet. Which explains one of the records most attractive features: the largely pianoless backing, featuring trumpet and baritone sax (a la Mulligan group). Its's a format which allows oodles of space for the warmtoned Ms Kerr to roam around the excellent selection of mostly late Tin Pan Alley songs. She gets so typically good-natured help from Georgie Fame on a couple of numbers, as well as a crack team of first-call UK jazz musicians (including trumpeter Dick Pearce and drummer Sebastiaan de Krom, not to mention his husband Geoff Gascoyne). It can be hard to get past the famous versions of songs like You Make Me Feel So Young or Makin Whoopee, but Kerr is healthily unawestruck in a typically Antipodean kind of way, and makes the lyrics her own.
Brian Glasser HMV Choice July/August 2002
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DAYDREAM REVIEWS
This is the third album by Australian vocalist Trudy Kerr, and it offers conclusive proof that she's one of the best of the younger crop of jazz singers. She's blessed with a big powerful voice, she swings hard and she's constantly inventive, reshaping her material for maximum effect. Here, she takes on a collection of superior standards and finds something new to say on all of them. Highlights abound, but the standout track is a terrific reading of The Masquerade is Over that is filled with passion. Kerr is hardly less good on Mad About the Boy, in which she breaks up the melodic line to produce a jagged, unsettling effect.The session gets a considerable boost from the presence of the great American pianist, Mulgrew Miller, who offers the sort of support about which singers dream about. An excellent album.
Andrew Vine, Yorkshire Post, 22 November 2000
Jazz standards from fast-improving expatriate Australian singer Trudy Kerr. Kerr is an open, personable and breezily mellifluous performer who shows her appreciation of some of the great songs of the Broadway tradition.
John Fordham Pick of UK releases Jazz UK Jan/Feb 2001
Day Dream is an excellent production, with this album Trudy has moved to the front rank of Uk-based singers.
Brian Blain Musician Magazine March 2001
PICK OF THE MONTH
Trudy Kerr also seems to go from strength to strength, and for Day Dream her excellent trio includes the fine American pianist Mulgrew Miller, with trumpeter Guy Barker appearing on one of the 12 tracks. Kerr's sureness of touch enables her to relax and she performs a mixture of familiar and not so well-known standards with great aplomb. Sometimes her delivery has an engaging, almost conversational style. This is at its best in the opening 'Polka Dots and Moonbeams' (played in a lilting 5/4 - it works beautifully) which also has the first of several superb piano solos Miller plays throughout the session. Bob Dorough's 'Small Day Tomorrow', with its broad blues feel and Barker's growling trumpet, has Kerr in declamatory mode, and the Ellington\Strayhorn title track is an exquisitely lyrical performance. This is a poetic and superbly achieved album.
Ian Carr BBC Music Magazine, Sept 2001
A young, British-based Australian singer and a regular in Ronnie Scott's, Kerr is good; on this well-crafted, thoughtful release she shows she can swing, and is not afraid to challenge accepted ways of doing standards - with a conversational manner, a full voice and impeccable intonation. She's also backed masterfully by no less than Mulgrew Miller, with Geoff Gascoyne (bass), who did the arranging, and Sebastiaan de Krom (drums). The standard material is spiced by a couple of wry songs by singer Bob Dorough, but the piece de resistance is an adventurous, inventive take on Noel Coward's Mad About the Boy that's a cut above everything else.
Irish Independent March 2001
Another nice middle-of-the-road set from this young singer whose stature grows with each release. Her vocal sound is very attractive, liquid and mellow, and her lyrical interpretation is excellent. The accompanists are first rate and Kerr's obvious delight at working with the always excellent Miller gleams throughout. Gascoyne is a fine bassist and de Krom is a listening drummer, and all three rhythm men mesh seamlessly to form a lithely swinging cushion.
Recommended to fans of good jazz singing and to lovers of the Great American Song Book alike. I am mildly tempted to wonder if Kerr should soon seek to explore other areas in order to expand her repertoire. However, there are not too many singers of this calibre working with songs like these in the UK so I guess she knows better than I what she should do next.
Recommended
Bruce Crowther, Jazz Journal International, Aug 2001
Sassy, wistful and sincere. The Aussie's new album is a pleasant collection of great American classics.
TNT Mag Nov 2000
American ace pianist Mulgrew Miller, who Trudy has been a fan of for many years, told The Queensland Independent, "I am impressed with her skill, which is obviously the result of much experience, the sensuousness of her voice, and her admirable range. Above all, her personal warmth is reflected in the warmth of her style. I am delighted that she chose me to accompany her in this project. She will win many fans in the years to come."
Quote from Mulgrew Miller The Queensland Independent, June 2001
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TRUDY REVIEWS
Trudy Kerr's warm voice and wide range come over on this brilliantly programmed set. From smouldering Julie London style Ballads to wild swingers, she handles the constantly changing moods with impressive ease.
DAVE GELLY THE OBSERVER APRIL 99
….As a singer she's a Nancy Wilson whisper to something short of an Aretha Franklin shout. Her diction is crystal clear and her time impeccable. She pears to have the intelligence to realise and use the dramatic possibilities of the material at hand. MY FOOLISH HEART …..Kerr's vocal is breathy, sexy, ordering on erotic. STARS IN YOUR EYES ….the conviction poured into Kerr's immaculate vocal. …The proof of just how good a singer Trudy Kerr is, if you must have proof, come on A TOUCH OF PARADISE, Her voice seems to extrapolate itself into the instrumentally vacated regions of the song and fill every crease and crevice with rich lovely sound.
CADENCE MAGAZINE USA JUNE 99
On this her second album, TRUDY KERR has applied her pleasingly informal vocals, with their admirable clear diction and intelligent approach to lyrics. GET OUT OF TOWN …provide Kerr with suitably emotive material for her directly appealing yet unfussy vocal style.
CHRIS PARKER JAZZWISE MAGAZINE JANUARY 99
…Trudy Kerr stays in a reflective mood for much of this beautifully programmed collection. ….she sees know need to confine herself to the Great American Songbook. James Taylor and Carole King are as much a part of this landscape as her particular favourite, Cole Porter. Kerr's light airy voice is flexible, she surrounds herself with sympathetic musicians. …even Acker Bilk pops up on a charming duet. JUST ONE OF THOSE THINGS dances through some subtle tempo changes, and THE SONG IS YOU gleams with pop-tinged colours in an arrangement supplied by Phil Peskett. Kerr sums up genuine passion on a reworking of SINCE I FELL FOR YOU.
CLIVE DAVIS THE TIMES APRIL 99
…Trudy offers warmth, felling and passion on varied tracks. In SINCE I FELL FOR YOU she's the down-hearted frail, intense and hurting. Contrastingly, in GET OUT OF TOWN an MY FOOLISH HEART, she is beautifuuly restrained. There's a warm and spontaneous sounding vocal duet with Acker Bilk and her rendition of MUSIC sways along delightfully.
KEN RUDGE MUSICIANS UNION MAGAZINE SEPTMEBER 99
…In all respects this CD lives up to Kerr's debut album, Sweet Surprise, and finds her in good swinging form. She handles her material in a pleasingly understated manner that mingles respect and understanding with an ability to find her own voice on familiar territory. The singer's vocal style, already maturing on the earlier session is seasoning very well indeed…. A brief note by Kerr accompanies this very well recorded set and it is something I can safely recommend to the Friends of Good Songs.
JAZZ JOURNAL BRUCE CROWTHER NOVEMBER 99
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SWEET SURPRISE REVIEWS
….TRUDY KERR is outstanding - imaginative but respectful to the original song, with excellent phrasing and diction and a smile in her voice.
DAVE GELLY THE OBSERVER DECEMBER 97
…. Her voice is strong, persuasive and peppy, particularly on the bluesier material. Those who have enjoyed her sparky performances at Ronnie Scott's and elsewhere will find much to enjoy here.
CHRIS PARKER JAZZWISE MAGAZINE OCTOBER 97
A very good debut album by a young, London-based Australian singer. … she has a mature sound and a knowing way with a lyric. Her choice of material is always interesting blending standards with good quality contemporary songs and bringing to them all originality of thought and interpretation. She has a fine, understated sense of swing and where she does take a few liberties with melodic lines it is always with taste and flair. I have no hesitation in recommending this album and also urge readers to keep an eye and ear out for this young singer whose future must be extremely promising.
BRUCE CROWTHER JAZZ JOURNAL DECEMBER 97
Sweet Surprise is just one of a number of fine vocal collections. This is a collection of superior songs which really suit Trudy's warm, soft-edged voice, and an excellent Band too.
PETER MARTIN JAZZ UK DECEMBER 97
... the result is an album of a dozen superb performances of very varied material. She seems to handle any kind of song with conviction, even at the two extremes of jazz singing - the subtle, tender self-communing of Billie Holiday, or the earthy declamatory style of soul or gospel singers such as Aretha Franklin. The title track by Blossum Dearie and Jim Council, Kerr delivers with sweet intimacy and urgency, breathing life into the tricky lyrics. Yet the very next piece, I'VE GOT TO BE ME, is a witty soul song given a raunchy, passionate treatment with all the vocal inflections of that tradition. Kerr's diction is excellent and cleverly varied to suit her material, and her trio are superlative accompanists…
IAN CARR BBC MUSIC MAGAZINE JANUARY 98
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