Sony Holland - Soft Power

Size: 105,0 MB
Time: 44:43
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2017
Styles: Jazz/Folk Vocals
Art: Front

01. Best Defense (3:52)
02. All I Really Want To Do (3:30)
03. Streets Of Philadelphia (4:04)
04. I Only Have Eyes For You (4:13)
05. Time After Time (3:29)
06. A Case Of You (4:31)
07. All Rolled Into One (3:22)
08. Like It Never Happened (2:56)
09. Song Of The Year (3:07)
10. L.A. Of My Dreams (3:51)
11. Take A Deep Breath (4:13)
12. Moon River (3:30)

Soft Power is the new CD release from San Francisco based vocalist, Sony Holland. The title evokes Sony’s smooth and confident style, a voice that walks a tightrope between vulnerability and strength. These 12 tracks showcase an artist who inhabits her material whether it’s the smokey jazz standard, TIME AFTER TIME, the glistening pop gem, STREETS OF PHILADELPHIA, or the enchanting original, L.A. OF MY DREAMS.

Sony started out busking at Ghirardelli Square and has worked her way through lengthy Asian tours and jazz venues all across the United States. She has opened for George Benson, fronted big bands, performed the National Anthem for the Giants and Dodgers and has been a featured artist at events of all kinds.

Soft Power

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Sony Holland - Kitchen Sessions

Size: 126,8 MB
Time: 53:52
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2018
Styles: Jazz/Folk Vocals
Art: Front

01. How Am I Gonna (2:36)
02. Soft Power (4:23)
03. Sunset (3:15)
04. Suzanne (4:56)
05. Be Thoughtful (2:51)
06. Not Ready To Say Goodbye (3:29)
07. Now (3:42)
08. Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow (3:07)
09. In My Life (3:00)
10. My Funny Valentine (4:11)
11. I Will Wait For You (4:22)
12. Besame Mucho (3:25)
13. Evergreen (3:19)
14. I Have Dreamed (3:16)
15. Meditation (3:58)

Sony Holland is a warm, inviting performer who has traveled the world making music. In concert Sony presents material from the most beloved composers of our time. Along with timeless jazz standards and classic bossa novas you will be treated to some unique covers and originals, artfully blended into a captivating mix of emotions, melodies and rhythms. Sony's elegant voice and unassuming style has been polished through hundreds of performances in every imaginable setting... from her early days busking at Pier 39 to starring on the Venetian Room stage. Sony and her band play in top jazz venues from the Blue Note in New York City to Herb Alpert's Vibrato in the hills of Los Angeles and the stunning new SF Jazz Center.

For this new collection Sony and her guitarist/husband, Jerry Holland, set out to capture the intimate sound of their rehearsals in a friends magnificent kitchen. Built into a steep hillside in San Francisco, the kitchen sits on the ground floor of a spacious atrium. A spiral staircase leads up several flights to the starry skylights above. With microphones and cameras strategically placed the duo ran through a soothing set of classics and originals. The result is this beautiful collection, Kitchen Sessions.

Kitchen Sessions

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Sony Holland - Swing, Bossas, Ballads & Blues

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2008
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 67:50
Size: 156,6 MB
Art: Front

(3:12)  1. You're The Best
(3:44)  2. I Can't Blame Them For Trying
(4:17)  3. As You Are
(4:59)  4. The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
(5:30)  5. Fifty Ways To Leave Your Lover
(3:33)  6. Speak Low
(4:47)  7. Meditation
(3:49)  8. I Was No Angel Myself
(4:26)  9. I'll Remember Paris
(3:34) 10. Midnight Sun
(3:44) 11. Saving My Life Everyday
(4:26) 12. Million Dollar Dreams
(4:03) 13. Act Like You're In Love With Me
(4:22) 14. The Shadow Of Your Smile
(4:34) 15. Here's That Rainy Day
(4:42) 16. My Funny Valentine

Sony Holland sings in a style that is both sophisticated and emotionally direct. Her interpretations of the great American songbook show a deep respect and love for the material while adding an unmistakable spark of personality. Originally from northern Minnesota, Sony fell in love with jazz while spending a year in Paris and has earned a devoted following worldwide with her renditions of standards, contemporary classics, and original songs. She has made San Francisco her home since 2003 although she now performs internationally, including extensive concert tours and residencies in Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Bangkok. Her CD Swing, Bossas, Ballads & Blues is an intimate set of 16 songs which she brings together with impeccable musicianship. Despite her sunny good looks Sony is a performer who knows what it is to pay her dues. She started her career on the streets of Fisherman’s Wharf and sang there in the wind, cold and rain, through good times and bad. “None of the other street musicians thought I would last, but I was determined to make a living out there.” That means spending hours singing when few tourists are about, simply to guard one’s turf. She explains, “I never minded the hostile elements or the slow nights because I understood that you need to put the time in to get your voice strong.” “People would constantly ask me what I was doing out there. They don’t understand how few well-paying jazz venues there are and how expensive it is for an independent musician to travel with a band.”

To keep herself working Ms. Holland often goes from playing a club like NYC’s Blue Note one night, to performing at a black-tie event the next… and then she’ll go out the following morning to sing for tips at a Nor-Cal Farmer’s Market! It keeps things interesting. “I always think of what my first bass player said. He was an old-timer who had toured with some of the biggest names in jazz and he’d tell me, “Whether you’re playing Carnegie Hall or a neighborhood dive, remember they’re all just joints.” Partially to deal with the expense of traveling she encouraged her songwriting husband to beef up his jazz chops on the guitar. Now they often perform together in concert venues and cafes as a duo. “Jerry has a rhythmic approach to playing jazz tunes that audiences really enjoy even if they’re not huge jazz fans.” His compositions have also added freshness to her repertoire. Swing, Bossas, Ballads & Blues includes several of his compositions such as: You're The Best, As You Are and Act Like You're In Love With Me. The rest of the 16 track disc is filled with jazz/pop and bossa nova classics such as Speak Low and Midnight Sun. Sony puts a jazzy spin on Paul Simon's Fifty Ways and Roberta Flack's The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face. The disc closes with three bonus tracks which showcase Sony's sensitive readings of the most iconic songs of our time: The Shadow Of Your Smile, Here's That Rainy Day and My Funny Valentine. Sony Holland and her band recorded Swing, Bossas, Ballads and Blues at Skywalker Ranch with Grammy winning engineer Leslie Ann Jones in 2007. This disc is a "new edition" of a previously released CD. http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/sonyholland7

Swing, Bossas, Ballads & Blues

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Sony Holland - Out Of This World

Styles: Vocal Jazz
Year: 2006
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 53:59
Size: 125,1 MB
Art: Front

(3:57)  1. Old Devil Moon
(3:07)  2. It's an Understatement
(5:22)  3. The Nearness of You
(3:59)  4. Summer Night
(5:35)  5. I've Got You Under My Skin
(4:49)  6. I'll Lead The Way
(3:21)  7. Come Fly With Me
(4:38)  8. In A Sentimental Mood
(4:11)  9. At Last
(4:13) 10. Out Of This World
(4:14) 11. Skylark
(3:25) 12. The Thrill Is Gone
(3:02) 13. By The Sea

Sony Holland sings in a style that is both sophisticated and emotionally direct. Her interpretations of the great American songbook show a deep respect and love for the material while adding an unmistakable spark of personality. Originally from northern Minnesota, Sony fell in love with jazz while spending a year in Paris and has earned a devoted following worldwide with her renditions of standards, contemporary classics, and original songs. She has made California her home since 2003 although she now performs internationally, including extensive concert tours and residencies in Tokyo, Hong Kong, and Bangkok. Her CD Out Of This World 2009 is an intimate set of 13 songs which she brings together with impeccable musicianship. Despite her sunny good looks Sony is a performer who knows what it is to pay her dues. 

She started her career on the streets of Fisherman’s Wharf and sang there in the wind, cold and rain, through good times and bad. “None of the other street musicians thought I would last, but I was determined to make a living out there.” That means spending hours singing when few tourists are about, simply to guard one’s turf. She explains, “I never minded the hostile elements or the slow nights because I understood that you need to put the time in to get your voice strong.” “People would constantly ask me what I was doing out there. They don’t understand how few well-paying jazz venues there are and how expensive it is for an independent musician to travel with a band.”  

To keep herself working Ms. Holland often goes from playing a club like NYC’s Blue Note one night, to performing at a black-tie event the next… and then she’ll go out the following morning to sing for tips at a Nor-Cal Farmer’s Market! It keeps things interesting. “I always think of what my first bass player said. He was an old-timer who had toured with some of the biggest names in jazz and he’d tell me, “Whether you’re playing Carnegie Hall or a neighborhood dive, remember they’re all just joints.”” Partially to deal with the expense of traveling she encouraged her songwriting husband to beef up his jazz chops on the guitar. Now they often perform together in concert venues and cafes as a duo. “Jerry has a simple rhythmic approach to playing jazz tunes that audiences really enjoy even if they’re not huge jazz fans.” His compositions have also added freshness to her repertoire. 

On the current CD they include a wonderful Bossa Nova It’s An Understatement, a tribute to Carmel called By The Sea and the sultry swing number I’ll Lead The Way. The core of the disc is made up of treasured jazz standards from the swinging Old Devil Moon to the dreamy Nearness Of You and from the sexy Summer Night to a powerhouse version of At Last.  Sony originally recorded Out Of This World several years ago for the sole purpose of selling to the tourists at Fisherman’s Wharf. Although the CD surprised her by getting excellent reviews and selling well through iTunes she has redone all of the vocals, remixed and repackaged it in preparation for its national release. “My singing has matured and so I jumped at this chance to improve on the original CD.” The results are impressive and prove that talent, time and dedication are what make an artist truly special.  http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/sonyholland6

Out Of This World

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Sony Holland - Sanssouci

Styles: Vocal
Year: 2010
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 53:45
Size: 127,0 MB
Art: Front

(4:46)  1. My Foolish Heart
(3:54)  2. Curiosity
(2:59)  3. Those Dancing Days Are Gone
(5:12)  4. Sanssouci
(3:33)  5. What A Difference A Day Made
(3:03)  6. Little Tune
(4:34)  7. When I Find You
(5:02)  8. Les Feuilles Mortes
(4:53)  9. You Don't Know What Love Is
(3:24) 10. You're Always With Somebody New
(3:38) 11. Too Many Beautiful Girls
(4:18) 12. The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face
(4:24) 13. My Romance

Twin-Cities-spawned ace chanteuse Sony Holland is back at it, keeping the airwaves safe for smooth, cool jazz ballads with her new album Sanssouci (Van Ness Records), following the brilliant Out of This World (Van Ness Records) from 2009.  Holland is the quintessential artist, honoring an ageless genre while marking her mark on it. Her calling cards are flawless phrasing, sultry tonality, and bright energy. Her music allures. With the same, rich textures, for instance, Lani Hall used to infuse Sergio Mendez & Brazil '66 with subtle grace and hypnotic sensuality. Holland has that kind of commanding presence, that kind of irresistible artistry. That kind of heat.  

She's joined on Sanssouci by Jerry Holland (guitar), David Hughes (bass), Kendall Kay (percussion), Robbie Kondor (keys), and Wolf Sebastian (cello), a combo that fits the velvet vocalist like a proverbial glove. The boys provide excellent, flowing accompaniment that showcases Holland to best possible effect. She is seamless. Together, Sony Holland and her band make it all seem effortless, make magic like it's nothing, bring some pretty marvelous stuff.  Holland's take on the old standard "My Foolish Heart" is a fine opener for Sanssouci, signing in with her trademark style. She holds down a breezy, lilting groove. Gleaming highs. Rich low tones. In between she fairly dances on air. It's a recurring quality throughout the album. "Too Many Beautiful Girls," by Jerry Holland, is innovative, a doo-wop melody that swerves into samba and winds up a very smoky affair. 

The Rodgers and Hart chestnut "My Romance" gets a refreshing going over, soft and laid back. Holland's singing is superb. Fluid. In fact, enchanting. "Those Dancing Days Are Gone" blends reggae and jazz to a tantalizing T.  Out of This World, aptly titled, captures cool jazz at its finest. On standards like "Old Devil Moon" and "I've Got You Under My Skin," and on Jerry Holland originals "It's An Understatement," "I'll Lead The Way," and "By The Sea." On everything, the band swings, and Sony Holland sings like a dream. This album is a splendid follow-up improving, as it were, on perfection. Holland broadens her textures, gets a little more sinewy and, in general, intrigues beyond belief. All said, with Sanssouci, Sony Holland continues establishing herself as a siren of the first order.   

http://www.tcdailyplanet.net/news/2011/03/24/music-sony-hollands-sanssouci-improves-upon-perfection

Sanssouci

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Sony Holland - I'll Remember Paris

Bitrate: 320K/s
Time: 44:22
Size: 101.6 MB
Styles: Vocal jazz
Year: 2003
Art: Front

[2:29] 1. Barcelona
[4:13] 2. Million Dollar Dreams
[2:50] 3. Your Style And Charm
[3:08] 4. You're Always With Somebody New
[2:47] 5. Savin' My Life Everyday
[3:23] 6. A Man In Manhattan
[3:42] 7. This City Is Mine
[4:31] 8. I'll Lead The Way
[2:42] 9. I'll Remember Paris
[2:46] 10. Tokyo Too
[4:27] 11. Carnival
[3:30] 12. Is It Jazz
[3:47] 13. Curiosity

Singer Sony Holland has created some buzz around Nashville. Her debut CD with the Dennis Burnside Trio aims to spread to word beyond Tennessee. Holland has a warm, appealing voice. While her style has been likened to Diana Krall, Holland’s voice is higher and is buoyed by a good dose of cabaret showmanship. On one song, "Is It Cabaret," she even pokes a little fun at her repertoire. "So is it jazz or cabaret? I don’t know," she sings.

The CD, "I’ll Remember Paris," is made up of 13 songs written by Holland’s husband, Jerry Holland. The music is said to be inspired by the energetic streets of Paris and New York. A pair of New York numbers highlight the album. "A Man in Manhattan" is a swinging affair, one woman’s odyssey of looking for Mr. Right. It’s followed by "This City is Mine," a soaring, cinematic love song to New York.

Dennis Burnside is on piano; Dave Pomeroy, bass; Mickey Grimm, drums. Jim Hoke plays flute, sax and harp. The CD, however, is Holland’s show. She handles the mix of ballads and up tempo numbers with grace. Listeners can practically see her smiling through their speakers. If you are looking for something off the beaten path, consider "I’ll Remember Paris."

I'll Remember Paris

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Sony Holland - On a San Francisco High

Styles: Jazz Vocals
Year: 2009
File: MP3@320K/s
Time: 34:30
Size: 79,0 MB
Art: Front

(3:03)  1. On a San Francisco High
(3:23)  2. The Trouble Is
(3:07)  3. The Liberal Ladies of San Mateo
(3:22)  4. That's New
(2:24)  5. In Marin
(2:43)  6. Chestnut Street
(3:28)  7. To Better Days
(3:04)  8. Lovely to Be Lonely
(2:52)  9. Whirlwind Romance
(3:35) 10. My Man and I
(3:23) 11. Somewhere Near St. Louis

Although this listener has left his heart in San Francisco more than once or twice, Sony Holland's newest release On A San Francisco High certainly provides the romantic impetus to again return. Songs on her CD offer a virtual musical and poetic tour of the City by the Bay. There are also, among Holland's poetry and music, reflections upon various dimensions of personal relationships. All eleven songs recorded on On A San Francisco High are originals by Holland, a very refreshing departure in the jazz vocal/traditional pop vocal realm, where for a number of years now the focus of both newer and veteran singers has been on revisiting and remaking tunes from The Great American Songbook. Holland's instrument is very fluid, light and bell-like in its brightness, however she also retains a hint of sultriness in her sound and delivery that brings to mind the voice of Peggy Lee. The quintet backing Holland does so in a very effective manner. 

Although not featured regularly as soloists, this group of fine musicians very tastefully enhances Holland's sense of swing and style of delivery and at no time is overbearing or detracting from Holland's performance. Special note should be given to pianist Dennis Burnside who also wrote all of the arrangements of Holland's songs and multi-woodwind instrumentalist Jim Hoke whose very tasteful saxophone interplay among Holland's lyrics serve as appropriate musical commentary. A great example is Hoke's clarinet work and musical paraphrase at the end of "Somewhere Near St. Louis." All of the above aside, what primarily captured this listener's interest in Sony Holland's On A San Francisco High is her melodic writing and especially her lyrics. The CD opens with "On Chestnut Street," describing what might be typically seen while strolling down this San Francisco venue. "The Liberal Ladies of San Mateo" is an anthem to forty-something women who still know how to enjoy a youthful girlish approach to life and living. The song "In Marin" describes a place where "They say the grape is a vitamin" and "Being sober is a terrible sin." The culminating song in this vein is the title track "On A San Francisco High," where Holland describes San Francisco as " . . .no other city that can take my breath away." Holland's other songs deal with the excruciating ecstasy of a new lover, the depth of an ongoing relationship or reflection over a romance gone sour. 

"Lovely To Be Lonely" summarizes perfectly the idea of "It's lovely to be lonely missing you," and the almost giddy "Whirlwind Romance" captures the intoxicating excitement of a new-found lover. On the emotional downside are songs like "The Trouble Is" which details love for a man who is forever unfaithful, and "Somewhere Near St. Louis," where Holland laments she is " . . . still stuck in New York City singin' the old St. Louis Blues." Sony Holland's On A San Francisco High is a very enjoyable CD. Her lyrics are smart and descriptive and definitely will capture the listener's imagination. The musicianship and Holland's voice are also excellent. The only downside to the CD is that it is only forty-six minutes long, and this listener wanted more. On A San Francisco High would be a most welcome addition to anyone's CD collection, and certainly Sony Holland's next project will be eagerly awaited.

~ Craig W. Hurst http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=14548#.UizVGj-wVw8

Personnel: Sony Holland (vocals), Dennis Burnside (piano), Charlie Chadwick (bass), Pat Burgeson (guitar), Jim Hoke (woodwinds), Harry Wilkinson (drums) .

On a San Francisco High

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