obliqsound records, 2009
10 azure (ellington, mills)
No 1 Vocal Jazz Album of the Year - 2009 Jazz Critics' Poll
Top 5 CD Picks, A Blog Supreme / NPR JAZZ
Critics Top 10 List, Steve Greenlee, The Boston Globe
Top 10 Jazz Albums of 2009, M. West, Washington City Paper
Gretchen Parlato . voice/percussion
Lionel Loueke . guitar/voice
Aaron Parks . piano
Derrick Hodge . bass
Kendrick Scott . drums
"Parlato's time has arrived...
the most alluring jazz vocal album of 2009."
— Billboard Magazine
"Parlato has all the makings of jazz ascendancy. She has held her own with Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter, and her rapport with the acoustic guitarist Lionel Loueke is very nearly profound."
— Nate Chinen, Jazz Times
"The first truly original vocal jazz cd in many years."
— Jazz Radio Berlin
"Leagues ahead of the year’s other vocal jazz recordings. Her near-whispers, a sort of seduction through vulnerability... a careful listen reveals her extraordinary confidence. Audible gasps are devices for suspense and rhythm and reveal Parlato’s mastery of rhythm, emotional depth, subtlety, and the kind of precise technical craft where even the breathing sounds matter. — Michael J. West, Washington City Paper