Reviews & Articles   page 1 2 3 4

LA Jazz Scene

Denise Donatelli celebrated the release of her recent CD In the Company of Friends by performing before a particularly large crowd at Catalina's. She utilized the same octet as on her CD except that trombonist Bob Payne filled in for Andy Martin. Donatelli's beautiful and flexible voice was featured on very inventive and creative arrangements by pianist Tom Garvin. The musicians, which included trumpeter Clay Jenkins and the reeds of Bob Sheppard and Tom Peterson, were utilized in different combinations behind the singer who was in prime form. The arrangements and Donatelli's subtle improvising made such songs as "The Thrill Is Gone," "A Sleeping Bee" and Kurt Weill's "This Is New" sound fresh and new, and she essayed the difficult interval jumps of "When Summer Turns To Snow: effortlessly..

Although a few of the tunes were real warhorses (including "On Green Dolphin Street: which was played in 5/4 time, "'Round Midnight" and "Send In the Clowns"), the singing and arrangements were not predictable and the music always held one’s interest. All in all, it was a memorable night by a very talented singer.

 - Scott Yanow

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

All Music Guide

Jazz vocalist Denise Donatelli is a breath of fresh air in a market seemingly saturated with female singers. Her debut recording is a stunning effort. Donatelli has a warm, sensuous voice and doesn't resort to histrionics to get her message across. She is a natural, not a trained musician, who effortlessly responds to anything that arranger/pianist Tom Garvin threw at her during the making of the CD. She coasts throughout Garvin's 5/4 arrangement of "On Green Dolphin Street" (a great standard too often subjected to hackneyed renditions) as if she had always sung it in that setting. "'Round Midnight" is full of traps for young singers, yet Donatelli proves herself by avoiding them and also serving as an effective storyteller, backed by Clay Jenkins' tasty muted trumpet. Neither is she fazed by Garvin's unusually brisk, dissonant Latin treatment of the ballad "You Don't Know What Love Is," never missing a beat. She also responds rather well to Garvin's reharmonization of "Send in the Clowns," recast as a light samba with many musical twists. Donatelli shows off her chops by scatting in unison with Jenkins and tenor saxophonist Bob Sheppard in a rapid fire arrangement of "This is New." Wrapping this brilliant debut CD is Donatelli's effective interpretation of "When Summer Turns to Snow," beautifully scored by Garvin. Phil Woods, never one to couch his opinion, states, "This is too good a record to win anything, but if there is any justice it should." In my mind, this is one of the most striking debuts by a jazz vocalist in recent memory.
full article...

- Ken Dryden

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

All About Jazz

in the current market glut of beautiful female singers, it takes a good deal to stand out in the vocal crowd. What makes Denise Donatelli's release of mainstream jazz (featuring the best Los Angeles studio musicians) rise above the crop is her ability to enunciate and pronounce lyrics with a stunning sensuality. Her delicate tapping of the "T" at the end of "heart" and "impart" ("Green Dolphin Street") is like a tender kiss at the end of each chorus. She sounds fed up as she holds onto the end of "linger on" until it is wrung dry ("The Thrill is Gone"). On the exotic percussive treatment of "You Don't Know What Love Is," Donatelli's wringing of the title phrase is intoxicating. Her flutter of Tom Garvin's piano on the clever samba treatment of "Send In the Clowns" is invigorating. As always, Andy Martin (trombone), Clay Jenkins (trumpet) and Bob Sheppard (tenor sax) provide excellent solos throughout this delicious recording. Hear a voice that will remain in your mind hours after the CD is done and do yourself a favor and get a copy of In the Company of Friends.

  - George Harris, March, 2006

- - - - - - - - - - - - -

Jazzradio247.com

I know I’ve gone on and on about previous vocalist submissions at radiojazz247, but please check out Denise Donatelli’s disc, In The Company of Friends! I’ve just recently been exposed to her work, and her musical interpretations really move me. In the Company of Friends is a disc for the most serious and novest of Jazz fans. It has great arrangements, great improvisations and hip vocal interpretations that makes the hair on the back of your neck stand.

Those of you who know the scene in LA will recognize all of the names of the brilliant instrumentalists she has hired for this session. Accompanied with great studio mastering, she has a product that will gain her both national and international acclaim.

Some of the musical highlights (and there are too many to mention in a review) are Garvin’s arranging for small horns. Check out Donatelli’s line w/ensemble in This is New. Other nice gems include You Don’t Know What Love Is? I love the metric additions and rich horn lines! Bob Shepard and Clay play interesting solo’s and explorative harmonies spurred on by Tom Garvin’s hip pokes at interesting harmonic suggestions! Very hip! I love the dissonance on Roarin’ Borin’ Alice, and Denise sings with precision on the 1/2 steps with horns. She also show’s a grittier side on this cut. She really shines on things that contain beauty. Check out When Summer Turns To Shadow, Round Midnight, A Sleepin’ Bee and Send in The Clowns. She displays very accurate pitch control with a lovely vibrato. Many singers do not have the musicianship carry tunes like these.

Maybe the pleasant surprise of the disc is Denise’s possession of a rare quality of creative awareness, accompanied with a great vocal instrument. She sings with amazing pitch control, combined with an amazing collection of Jazz professionals to produce one of the best releases in 2005!! I agree with Tom Scott, Denise is truly an awesome Jazz vocalist. Check her out!!

 - Rick Holland , July, 2006

Reviews & Articles   page 1 2 3 4

- Scott Yanow, LA Jazz Scene