gretchen parlato

"The artistic accord between Gretchen Parlato and Lionel Loueke can be compared to one Billie Holiday shared with Lester Young — because it's so winning and absorbing — and it manifests with such unforced, imaginative grace. 
Because of their respective idiosyncratic musicality — the dynamic duo often create rainforests of sonic wonder."
— John Murph, Downbeat

 "Flor is a masterpiece... a welcome and profound return. 
Parlato and her collaborators dig under and through stylistic and genre conventions, then emerge with a jazz language of their own that embraces the world's sounds and emotions, and translates them flawlessly with warmth, intimacy, poetry, and humor."
— Thom Jurek, All Music

"Superb jazz vocalists are rare. But rarer still are artists that transform the music itself. The great transformers—Holiday, Fitzgerald, Vaughan, Carter and others left the stage long ago. When you see and hear Gretchen Parlato you will recall the magic of those jazz mistresses of yore and instantly realize, as have jazz cognoscenti everywhere, that that level of magic is with us once again."  
— Nick Catalano, All That Jazz   

"She is spiritual to the extent that she sings from the bottom of her very soul; indeed from the bottom of her very being. She bends and twists notes, phrases and as a result her lines are like the proverbial double helix and which dances almost head over heels.  
— Raul da Gama, Latin Jazz Network  

"Gretchen Parlato is a singer-arranger of consummate control and slow-burning intensity... lives at the crossroads of sensuous and spiritual, singing from deep within hypnotic grooves with enormous rhythmic sophistication."    
— Allen Morrison, Downbeat Magazine    

"Parlato is arguably the emblematic jazz vocalist of her generation, and perhaps the most visionary to come along in a generation”   
— Michael J. West, Washington City Paper    

"Parlato is utterly beguiling…she has a singular ear for rhythm and phrasing, texture and subtlety."    
— Spinner.com    

"—leagues ahead of the year’s other vocal jazz recordings... her near-whispers—a sort of seduction through vulnerability, but a more 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   

"Gretchen Parlato is emerging as the most important jazz singer since Cassandra Wilson. Her vocal approach is so unique and her repertoire so eclectic that she stands to create a jazz vocal genre unto herself."    
— Michael Bailey, All About Jazz    

"Rather than floating atop the instrumentation of her collaborators, Parlato operates from inside the arrangement, employing her light, occasionally breathy voice in the same type of improvisatory, push-and-pull dynamic that characterizes any great rhythm section."  
— Bobby Reed, Downbeat Magazine  

"a superstar in the making, standing on stage... the evening will be remembered as one you want to talk about in the future and say:  I was there."    
— Henrik Palle, Politiken, Copenhagen    

“You never rate genius, you celebrate it. 
This is a most organic self portrait of the evolution of perhaps the most gifted vocalist to burst onto the scene in the last twenty five years. A jazz singer, a vocal artist, a lyrical poet all seem to be futile attempts at labeling a talent that truly transcends genre. A stunning recording. A sublime experience."  
— Brent Black, bop-n-jazz.com  

"A good singer, we tend to think, seeks out the subtleties to work with in a song. Parlato seeks out the blatancies in a song and makes them subtle, seemingly effortlessly. It takes courage to maintain such gentleness, and brilliance, maybe even genius…"  
— Michael J. West, Washington City Paper  

"Her voice is a conflux where hope, sensuality and tragedy all merge... the most original jazz singer in a generation.    
— Steve Greenlee, Boston Globe    

"Gretchen is a singer with a deep, almost magical connection to the music. She takes a lot of chances with her understated style, and it works. Every note is expressive, powerful, and pretty. And most important, her heart is in the right place."    
— Herbie Hancock    

"I think in an inconspicuous way, Gretchen Parlato knows how to play the same instrument that Frank Sinatra played. There's no one out there like Gretchen. She's true blue."    
— Wayne Shorter