Melissa Stylianou,Gene Bertoncini,Ike Sturm - Dream Dancing

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2022
Time: 47:15
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Size: 110,0 MB
Art: Front

(3:57) 1. Sweet And Lovely
(4:50) 2. If You Never Come To Me
(5:17) 3. My Ideal
(3:20) 4. It Could Happen To You
(4:29) 5. For Chet
(3:30) 6. Perdido
(4:58) 7. Corcovado
(5:24) 8. Time's A-wastin'
(5:45) 9. My One And Only Love
(5:41) 10. It Might As Well Be Spring

Vocalist Melissa Stylianou, guitarist Gene Bertoncini, and bassist Ike Sturm make for a canorous combination. A working trio elevated by keen conversational rapport and an embrace of spur-of-the-moment suggestions, theirs is quite simply a perfect partnership.

With supreme skill and creative charm(s), these three turn old favorites into new treasures. Stylianou shines across opener “Sweet and Lovely,” the first of several pieces benefiting from bantering string dialogue and interplay. Voice and guitar glide together at the outset of “My Ideal,” which later surprises with the insertion of the bridge from “The Man I Love.” A perky “Perdido” makes a swinging case for this outfit’s lighthearted genius. The leader captivates with some pure-voiced Portuguese on “Corcovado.” And everybody operates with apt anticipation during “It Might as Well Be Spring.”

Though standards for trio are the obvious order of the day, there are notable exceptions in programming and performance that focus on the bonds behind and within the music. Bertoncini’s affecting “For Chet,” a composition paying tribute to Chet Baker, offers a glimpse into the guitarist’s rich past, which saw work with that storied trumpeter as well as many other legends of the music.

A pair of voice-and-bass beauties “It Could Happen to You” and a rightly bluesy “Time’s A-Wastin’” (a.k.a. “Things Ain’t What They Used to Be”) speak to a chemistry developed over the course of many years and shared experiences. Stylianou’s rendezvous with Bertoncini on “My One and Only Love” nods to that pair’s first musical encounter some 14 years ago, when mutual connection Sturm made the introduction. The music, of course, took care of the rest, as it does to this very day.
By Dan Bilawsky https://jazztimes.com/reviews/albums/melissa-stylianou-featuring-gene-bertoncini-ike-sturm-dream-dancing-anzic/

Dream Dancing

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Brenda Earle Stokes - Motherhood

Styles: Vocal And Piano Jazz
Year: 2024
Time: 55:14
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Size: 127,9 MB
Art: Front

(5:00) 1. The Endless Wait
(4:25) 2. This Is Your Childhood
(4:54) 3. Who Am I Now?
(5:05) 4. Where Are the Mothers?
(6:35) 5. Kathleen
(6:51) 6. Loose Tooth Blues
(4:57) 7. Saying Goodbye
(8:11) 8. Sharp Edges
(5:24) 9. The Strength of a Woman
(3:48) 10. Happy Mother's Day

Motherhood is a salient subject if ever there was one. Yet few jazz musicians ever touch on it in their work, never mind dedicating an entire record to the topic. The real or keenly felt need to keep up with the Joneses in a musical atmosphere that typically applauds and promotes standard bearers, hyper-masculine happenings, politically charged firebrands, and cutting-edge quests doesn't leave much room for an honest and open-hearted look at the scope of selflessness and self-discovery involved with maternal matters. The truth is that it takes serious bravery and being real two things that are in surprisingly short supply nowadays to show yourself and share a good deal about this journey, and Brenda Earle Stokes is one of the seemingly few willing to go here.

Consciously or not, this Canadian-born, New York City-based pianist-vocalist-composer began to contemplate exploring motherhood through song as she captured thoughts, fragments and lyrics in a notebook while pushing her young son's stroller around her neighborhood. Eight years later, during a residency at the Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity, Stokes armed with her written musings, voice memos, perspective and experience(s) wrote eight compositions in nine days, essentially birthing this project.

Few stones are left unturned here as Stokes gives a candid look at motherhood in her own inimitable voice. "The Endless Wait" the opener, with some of the leader's most moving singing, plus ace trumpet work from Ingrid Jensen offers outward expression for the mind in pregnancy, contemplating possibilities, time and ties to the generations. In doing so it introduces confessional qualities in Stokes' songcraft that carry across the entire program.

Whether taking us through wonderful yet trying years of growth during "This is Your Childhood," processing identity at once lost, subsumed and discovered through parenting on the questioning "Who Am I Now?," exploring beauty and body issues (and society's role in aggravating and propagating both) in the gently flowing "Where Are The Mothers?," or the increased responsibilities and stresses that squeeze a woman with school-aged children on singer-songwriter gem "Kathleen," Stokes has a knack for removing blinders that a significant portion of the civilized world intentionally or willingly wears when it comes to matters of motherhood. And her bandmates Jensen, bassist Evan Gregor, drummer Ross Pederson, backing vocalists Melissa Stylianou and Nicole Zuraitis use their expertise to help flesh out her clear and communicative vision at every turn.

Weighty matters logically dominate this discourse, but Stokes has a real way of softening some of the blows and/or adding humor in her delivery. She uses "Loose Tooth Blues" as a hip trip into a second-grader's shoes, presents Mr. Potato Head as prime fodder in a talk of letting go and moving on during the emotion-raising "Saying Goodbye," and offers a rundown of modern society's ever-present dangers with humor-streaked, beat poet brilliance in "Sharp Edges." And when all of that is played, sung and done, there are the celebrations a supremely soulful "The Strength of a Woman" and laudatory "Happy Mother's Day" which elevate those who deserve to be on a pedestal ever so high in the sky. May this be the start of a jazz trend to recognize motherhood in all its truths, difficulties, joys and wonders.By Dan Bilawsky
https://www.allaboutjazz.com/motherhood-brenda-earle-stokes-self-produced

Personnel: Brenda Earle Stokes - voice and piano; Evan Gregor - bass; Ross Pederson - drums; Ingrid Jensen - trumpet; & Nicole Zuraitis - backing vocals

Motherhood

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Melissa Stylianou - No Regrets

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2014
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 56:23
Size: 131,1 MB
Art: Front

(4:34) 1. Nice Work If You Can Get It
(3:29) 2. Remind Me
(7:10) 3. I Got It Bad (Feat. Billy Drewes)
(5:07) 4. Humming To Myself
(5:14) 5. I Wish I Knew
(3:40) 6. Somebody's On My Mind (Feat. Anat Cohen and Linda Oh)
(3:31) 7. Down by the Salley Gardens (Feat. Matt Wilson)
(5:31) 8. A Nightingale Can Sing The Blues (Feat. Billy Drewes)
(8:06) 9. I'll Never Be The Same (Feat. Anat Cohen)
(6:30) 10. Polkadots and Moonbeams
(3:26) 11. I Mean You (Feat. Bruce Barth)

Canadian by birth and training, the singer Melissa Stylianou has been living in New York for a decade now, where she has made herself known and appreciated for her valuable collaborations ( Ben Monder , Chris Lightcap , Matt Wilson , Rodney Green ) and concerts in prestigious clubs like Blue Note, Iridium, Jazz Standard or Birdland. If in the previous four discs he faced a varied repertoire, alternating well-known standards with themes by Tom Waits , Biörk or Johnny Cash, in this No Regrets he chooses to immerse himself in tradition accompanied by a first-rate trio, including pianist Bruce Barth , the double bass playerLinda May Han Oh and drummer Matt Wilson . In some pieces the clarinetist Anat Cohen and the saxophonist Billy Drewes participate as guests. The record was also recorded in the most traditional way: live in a single session, with a double track recorder.

Stylianou is a singer with a clear and sensual timbre, who manifests her jazz identity with a brilliant technique and an intense interpretative taste. His singing favors atmospheres of intimate colloquiality but knows how to soar in moments of whimsical rhythmic tension. The disc is a nice roundup of well-known standards and a few songs that are not very popular but with a valuable "historical curriculum." Among them we have "Somebody's on My Mind,"Billie Holiday is linked to her magical interpretation, the archaic "Humming to Myself" sung by Connee Boswell , or "A Nightingale Can Sing the Blues," linked to the languid versions of Peggy Lee and Julie London .

Melissa offers us successful versions of it, for elegance and sobriety, accompanied from time to time by Anat Cohen, Linda Oh and Billy Drewes. Another happy choice, which goes beyond the jazz tradition, is the traditional "Down by the Salley Gardens" sung with poetic intensity with only the accompaniment of the drums. Among the best known themes, we particularly appreciated the dynamic version of the Monkian "I Mean You," in duo with Bruce Barth. Translate By Google.... https://www.allaboutjazz.com/no-regrets-melissa-stylianou-anzic-records-review-by-angelo-leonardi.php

Personnel: Melissa Stylianou: vocals; Bruce Barth: piano; Linda Oh: double bass; Matt Wilson: drums. Guests: Anat Cohen: clarinet; Billy Drewes: alto sax.

No Regrets

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Duchess - Live at Jazz Standard

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2020
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 55:46
Size: 129,1 MB
Art: Front

(0:46) 1. Introductions
(4:15) 2. (We) Love Being Here with You
(0:33) 3. Dialogue
(3:21) 4. Swing Brother Swing
(1:13) 5. Dialogue
(3:48) 6. Heebie Jeebies
(4:11) 7. Band Introductions
(2:35) 8. It’s a Man
(3:10) 9. Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen
(3:45) 10. On the Sunny Side of the Street
(0:22) 11. Dialogue
(2:52) 12. Joseph, Joseph
(0:42) 13. Dialogue
(3:31) 14. Three Little Sisters
(0:24) 15. Dialogue
(3:53) 16. A Little Jive is Good for You
(6:04) 17. Creole Love Call
(1:18) 18. Dialogue
(3:57) 19. Chattanooga Choo Choo
(0:51) 20. Dialogue
(4:02) 21. Everybody Loves My Baby

There are a fair number of vocal groups blending harmoniously and swinging through the jazz set today, but none are as charmingly sassy as DUCHESS. With two studio albums already under a collective belt actually three, if you include an under-the-radar Christmas set it only made sense for vocalists Amy Cervini, Hilary Gardner and Melissa Stylianou to finally show the greater listening community what Duchess does on the stage. Joining up with its regular rhythm section pianist Michael Cabe, guitarist Jesse Lewis, bassist Matt Aronoff and drummer Jared Schonig DUCHESS delivers a collection that's equally concerned with gaiety and focus. As on the trio's 2015 eponymous debut and the follow-up, Laughing At Life (Anzic, 2016) the music is tight and the performances are compact. But three or four minutes is all this crew really needs to sell a song, so there's no need to belabor the point(s). "Heebie Jeebies," for example, doles out tight, caffeinated lines, bluesy aplomb and some primo piano work from Cabe in short order. And "It's A Man," poking due fun at the not-so-fair sex while also beautifully hamming up the relationship dynamic, gets its wonderfully cheeky point across in the blink of an eye.

While Cervini, Gardner and Stylianou continue to nod to forebearers of the format notably their primary influence, The Boswell Sisters, and, to a somewhat lesser extent, The Andrews Sisters this program leaves little doubt as to their ability to stand on their own six feet. In tackling material from earlier dates, adding to their recorded catalog with familiar fare like "Bei Mir Bist Du Schoen" and "Chattanooga Choo Choo," and dusting off lesser-known delights such as "Joseph, Joseph" and the appropriately-adopted "Three Little Sisters" (complete with horn kazoo adornments), DUCHESS stands in no group's shadow. These whip-smart women see to it that all of the musical details in chief arranger Oded Lev-Ari's charts are on point, and they also seriously deliver with some marvelous banter. Some tend to sanitize live recordings with the removal of repartee, but this crew does no such thing. Instead, with asides giving background on a song's journey, opportunities to witness some gal-palling around, and even a playful turn of the gender tables offering some good-natured male objectification, DUCHESS adds volumes to the album and outlines the full experience of a live show. Those of us who missed out on these gigs at New York's Jazz Standard in May of 2019 clearly should have been there. It's doubtful that there was as much positive energy going on anywhere else in those moments.~ Dan Bilawsky https://www.allaboutjazz.com/live-at-jazz-standard-duchess-anzic-records

Personnel: Duchess: band/orchestra; Amy Cervini: voice / vocals; Hilary Gardner: voice / vocals; Melissa Stylianou: voice / vocals; Michael Cabe: piano; Jesse Lewis: guitar; Matt Aronoff: bass; Jared Schonig: drums.

Live at Jazz Standard

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Duchess - Laughing At Life

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2017
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 55:26
Size: 128,8 MB
Art: Front

(3:11)  1. Swing Brother Swing
(3:49)  2. On the Sunny Side of the Street
(6:08)  3. Laughing at Life
(3:14)  4. Everybody Loves My Baby
(4:27)  5. Stars Fell on Alabama
(3:43)  6. Give Him the Ooh La La
(3:07)  7. Where Would You Be Without Me
(5:59)  8. Creole Love Call
(3:30)  9. Hallelujah I Love Her (Him) So
(5:02) 10. Ev’ry Time We Say Goodbye
(3:07) 11. Strip Polka
(4:57) 12. Here’s to the Losers
(2:58) 13. We’ll Meet Again
(2:07) 14. Dawn (Bonus Track)

Jollity seems to be at a premium these days, so thank God for DUCHESS. This fizzy vocal trio is the antidote to all things grim, bringing joy to the masses one smile and song at a time. Amy Cervini, Hilary Gardner, and Melissa Stylianou three of the most captivating vocalists around today clearly appreciate great music laced with good humor. With their trio debut DUCHESS (Anzic Records, 2015) they delved into a brand of Boswell Sisters-inspired music that you just don't hear much in the here and now. That overwhelmingly positive presentation smart and sassy in conception, polished and pert in execution put DUCHESS in a different category from all of the other vocal jazz groups out there in the mix. Oded Lev-Ari laid the groundwork with his arrangements, tapping into an appealing retro sound; the stylishly swinging trio of pianist Michael Cabe, bassist Paul Sikivie, and drummer Matt Wilson brightened the picture around and beneath the vocalists; guitarist Jesse Lewis and saxophonist Jeff Lederer added their inimitable instrumental voices to a number of tracks; and the three frontwomen put merriment front and center in their music. That turned out to be a formula for success, so DUCHESS saw no need to rock the boat here. 

While there are tweaks to the cast on this sophomore date Jared Schonig picks up where Wilson left off on drums, bassist Matt Aronoff takes the baton from Sikivie, clarinetist Anat Cohen and trombonist-vocalist Wycliffe Gordon join in as special guests on two songs apiece everything basically works off of the same template used for the group's debut. The result? More high times, womanly wit, tight harmonies, unadulterated swing, and welcome surprises. Laughing At Life starts in a pure jazz vein that's heightened by Lederer's horn ("Swing Brother Swing") and ends with a breezy tone that's established through Lewis' guitar work ("We'll Meet Again," "Dawn"). A bevy of musical gems rest between those points. Some, more or less, stay on the straight and narrow ("On The Sunny Side Of The Street"); many, however, do not. The ladies of DUCHESS let their hair down from time to time, capitalizing on bawdy themes with a nudge and a wink (Johnny Mercer's "Strip Polka") and impressing with rapid fire lyrics and turn-on-a-dime movements ("Everybody Loves My Baby"). And when they're not riding high over a cooking band or engaging in musical high jinks, they melt the heart ("Stars Fell On Alabama"). Simply put, this is a class act. DUCHESS' blend of the silly and sophisticated adds up to one satisfying musical sum. ~ Dan Bilawsky https://www.allaboutjazz.com/laughing-at-life-duchess-anzic-records-review-by-dan-bilawsky.php

Personnel: Amy Cervini: vocals; Hilary Gardner: vocals; Melissa Stylianou: vocals; Michael Cabe: piano; Matt Aronoff: bass; Jared Schonig: drums; Jesse Lewis: guitar (1, 3, 6, 7, 9-11, 13, 14); Jeff Lederer: (1, 3, 11, 12); Anat Cohen: clarinet (4, 13); Wycliffe Gordon: trombone (5, 8), vocals (5, 8).

Laughing At Life

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Duchess - Duchess

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2015
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 48:27
Size: 112,3 MB
Art: Front

(4:19)  1. Love Being Here With You
(3:00)  2. There Ain't No Sweet Man That's Worth the Salt of My Tears
(4:12)  3. Que Sera, Sera
(3:42)  4. My Brooklyn Love Song (Feat. Hilary Gardner)
(2:51)  5. A Doodlin' Song (Feat. Amy Cervini)
(3:47)  6. A Little Jive Is Good for You
(5:46)  7. P.S. I Love You
(3:09)  8. Hummin' To Myself (Feat. Melissa Stylianou)
(2:50)  9. It's a Man
(3:21) 10. I'll Be Seeing You
(3:11) 11. Lollipop
(4:51) 12. Blah, Blah, Blah
(3:22) 13. Heebie Jeebies

Sure-footed swing, sweet-toned harmony and ever insouciant charm are embodied in the new Jazz vocal trio Duchess, featuring notable New York singers Amy Cervini, Hilary Gardner and Melissa Stylianou. The group's debut album - DUCHESS, channels the 1930's inspiration of the virtuosic Boswell Sisters into a wonderfully entertaining and contemporary package. Duchess pairs the vocal trio with an ace New York band: pianist Michael Cabe, bassist Paul Sikivie and drummer Matt Wilson, plus saxophonist Jeff Lederer and guitarist Jessie Lewis. The songs of Duchess range from the Peggy Lee number "I Love Being Here with You" and Johnny Mercer's "P.S. I Love You" to new twists on "Que Sera, Sera" and the indelible standard "I'll Be Seeing You." There's a playful Gershwin rarity with "Blah, Blah, Blah" and a direct Boswell Sisters homage with their arrangement of "Heebie Jeebies." And there are solo spots for each of the Duchess ladies with "My Brooklyn Love Song" (Gardner), "A Doodlin' Song" (Cervini) and "Humming to Myself" (Stylianou). a blend of the vintage and the fresh, Duchess is a fizzing cocktail of an album. ~ Editorial Reviews https://www.amazon.com/Duchess-DUCHESS/dp/B00RXPTU7O

Vocalists Amy Cervini, Hilary Gardner and Melissa Stylianou

Duchess

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Melissa Stylianou - Sliding Down

Styles: Jazz, Vocal
Year: 2006
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 51:00
Size: 117,3 MB
Art: Front

(3:08)  1. Them There Eyes
(4:10)  2. L'Amitie
(6:37)  3. Sliding Down
(4:10)  4. Mary's In The Tub
(3:52)  5. Blackbird
(4:56)  6. That Ole Devil Called Love
(4:42)  7. Two Across
(5:56)  8. Three Little Girls
(3:41)  9. East Of The Sun
(4:44) 10. Lohengrin
(4:59) 11. All Of You

Melissa Stylianou has long established herself as one of the hottest singers in Canada. She took off from Toronto, soaring into the imagination of listeners, and with good reason: she interprets a song with articulate assurance and a fine sense of phrasing. Stylainou has paid her dues. She formed her first band, a trio, in 1997. Four years later she augmented the lineup, turning the group into a sextet. Her tours of Canada cemented her reputation, as well as her performances in Toronto, where she has played most often at the Rex Hotel Jazz and Blues Bar. Stylianou's astute choice of tunes on this recording encompasses standards that would test the mettle of any singer, a Lennon/McCartney song and her own compositions. She pares her backup to a trio for the percolating "Them There Eyes. Her voice is peppy and sparkling as she dances into the percussion of Alan Hetherington. She captures the mood perfectly, wistfulness moving into fulfillment and joy. 

The mood is quieter on "All of You. Stylianou again imparts heartfelt depth, aided by an empathic trio with some tasteful electric guitar playing by Rob Piltch. "L'Amite is a standout track. It's in French, and Stylianou is right at home in the language, imbuing the song with a captivating allure. Kevin Breit adds to the dynamics on the tenor guitar. Any of the original compositions is worth dwelling on, but the story of a relationship on "Two Across has its own particular appeal. It's about love that beats and palpitates and resides in the heart, carrying its own special meaning. Stylianou now resides in New York. Hopefully, she will gain the wider recognition she deserves. If any proof is required, it comes up trumps on this recording. ~ Jerry D’Souza  http://www.allaboutjazz.com/sliding-down-melissa-stylianou-sleepin-bee-review-by-jerry-dsouza.php

Personnel: Melissa Stylianou: vocals; Kim Ratcliffe: acoustic guitar; Artie Roth: bass; Ted Warren: drums; Alan Hetherington: drums and percussion; Kevin Breit: mandolin, acoustic, tenor, electric slide and national steel guitars; Kevin Fox: cello; Jamie Reynolds: piano; Rob Piltch: electric guitar; Davide Direnzo: drums; Jon Maharaj: bass.

Sliding Down

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Melissa Stylianou - It Never Entered My Mind...

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 1999
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 34:15
Size: 78,8 MB
Art: Front

(2:57)  1. It Might as Well Be Spring
(4:05)  2. Tea for Two
(5:39)  3. It Never Entered My Mind
(3:59)  4. You're Blase
(3:37)  5. Never Will I Marry
(5:14)  6. Triste
(4:20)  7. Stormy Weather
(4:20)  8. But Not for Me

Melissa Stylianou appeared on the Toronto jazz scene eight years ago and quickly earned the esteem of the Canadian jazz community. In both 2002 and 2003, she was nominated Jazz Vocalist of the Year at the National Jazz Awards. She has headlined at major jazz festivals all over Ontario, at the Festival International de Jazz de Montreal, the Atlantic Jazz Festival in Halifax, Nova Scotia and The Brandon Jazz Festival in Manitoba. Melissa performs regularly at the country's best jazz clubs and has developed a loyal home-base audience, while her skills as a composer/lyricist have been receiving attention across Canada. In 2004, she was the recipient of a Toronto Arts Council Music Creators Grant and in 2005, Melissa was honoured to receive a Canada Council for the Arts Grant for Professional Musicians. With this grant, Melissa is currently living in New York studying composition, theory and vocal technique with Garry Dial, Theo Bleckmann and Tom Schilling. In the coming year, Melissa plans to increase national and international performance opportunities and share her work as a Canadian artist. Melissa graduated from the acting program at Ryerson Theatre School in Toronto and it was during those years that she discovered her love of jazz.

In 1997, after private studies with the renowned vocalist Carol Welsman, Melissa became the leader of her first trio featuring Richard Whiteman on piano and Artie Roth on bass. In 2001, the Trio gave way to the Melissa Stylianou Sextet (2001 – 2004) with John MacLeod, Nancy Walker, Ted Warren, Kim Ratcliffe and Artie Roth. A new trio formed out of the Sextet (with Ratcliffe and Roth) and this group held the coveted Friday evening performance slot at The Rex Hotel in Toronto from 2000 – 2005. Melissa’s current group features Rob Piltch, Andrew Downing and Davide Direnzo. The Melissa Stylianou Quartet will travel across Canada this summer to support Melissa’s third album, which features many original compositions and arrangements and is due for release in Canada in the spring of 2006 (Sleepin’ Bee Music, Festival Dist.). With funding from both the Ontario Arts Council and FACTOR, this new record introduces Melissa as a talented songwriter/lyricist as well as builds on her reputation as one of Canada’s finest interepreters of the jazz repertoire. Melissa’s debut album, it never entered my mind (SBM), was released in 1999 and features Richard Whiteman on piano and Artie Roth on bass. In 2001, Melissa released her second album, bachelorette* (SBM), to rave reviews. Both albums are available nation-wide as well as online (jazzpromo.com & cdbaby.com) and they continue to receive airplay both locally (JazzFM, CLKN, CIUT) and nationally (CBC).

National recognition has created many new opportunities for Melissa. In 2002, her original compositions were recorded for broadcast by the CBC’s JazzBeat Series and in 2004, CBC Radio invited Melissa to participate in their On Stage series at The Glenn Gould Studio. Later the same year she headlined a concert as part of The Art of Time Ensemble’s concert series, which led to another great opportunity - performing at Roy Thomspon Hall as part of the opening act for k.d. lang. This Art of Time Ensemble project has continued to expand and in November 2005, Melissa was featured in their performance at the Harbourfront Centre Theatre, recorded for broadcast by CBC Radio. In May of 2006, this group will perform in Moscow. Touring nationally and internationally continues to be a part of Melissa’s artistic vision. In February 2005, Melissa performed six concerts in Quebec. She performed both jazz standards and original material, communicating with her audiences and the media entirely in French, proving herself to be a versatile and quintessentially Canadian artist. Melissa is also a dedicated educator, and will utilize these skills as she tours across Canada. 

She has been on faculty at the National Music Camp since 2002 and teaches privately in Toronto. She has taught at Mohawk College, Humber College and the University of Toronto, and led workshops at the 2005 Brandon Jazz Festival. As her career progresses, Melissa has begun to gain profile in the United States. She traveled to Chicago in 2004 to record and perform with American violinist Zach Brock at the renowned jazz club The Green Mill. In August 2005, She made her New York City debut with the same band at The Rockwood Music Hall. While living in New York, Melissa plans to secure management and record distribution in the States, thus increasing her performance opportunities and developing her profile as a Canadian musician. http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/stylianou99

The Jazz Report was there when two taxis halted in front of The Rex Hotel delivering Harry Connick Jr. and his band. Vocalist Melissa Stylianou was performing on stage when Connick and company eased themselves in place. The crowd went wild as Stylianou called tunes with her "piano player." The wit and charm Stylianou exuded that night comes across in this collection of timeless standards."
~ Bill King, editor

"She's the sort of warm, open and secure singer for whom "style" is a means not an end...The keys here are clarity and respect, the same qualities that allow her to rev up Them There Eyes, a song irrevocably associated with Billie Holiday, and come off as quite fresh rather than simply irreverant.
~ Mark Miller, The Globe and Mail

"Melissa Stylianou is one of Toronto's more convincing jazz singers, boasting a relaxed extroversion and surprisingly subtle mood shifts."
~ Stuart Broomer, TorontoLife

It Never Entered My Mind...

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