Reviews

The New York City Jazz Record — Fred Bouchard

“In A Kiss for Brazil, five-time Grammy nominee Karrin Allyson catches this wave with the grace and gusto of a Rio surfer.”

The New York City Jazz Record — Suzanne Lorge

“Allyson pulls out Brazilian standards … her textured voice and breezy scatting perfectly suited to this hopefully romantic material.”

JazzWax — Marc Myers

“Her new album, A Kiss for Brazil, is a breezy swing through bossa nova and samba with a sterling group of musicians.”

The Mercury News — Andrew Gilbert

“One of jazz's great polyglot vocalists, she's honed an extensive repertoire of songs in French and Portuguese.”

All About Jazz — Katchie Cartwright

“With her refreshingly lucid lyric to Month of March in Salvador, Allyson situates herself among the exceptional few.”

Marlbank (UK) — Stephen Graham

“There are few singers on the planet who can take a note for a walk like US singer Karrin Allyson.”

Jazz Weekly — George W. Harris

“Allyson has that rare quality of making you think she's singing right to you, and maybe she is!”

Wild Mercury Rhythm — C. Michael Bailey

“Karrin Allyson is a beautiful creation, and her talent reminds us that there are many fine singers but few exceptional ones.”

L.A. Jazz Scene — Scott Yanow

“Karrin Allyson showed that she remains one of jazz's top scat-singers, utilizing scatting to uplift and add excitement to some of the songs.”

LA Jazz Scene — Scott Yanow

“She has always had a real feeling for Brazilian music, making A Kiss For Brazil easily recommended for fans of that idiom.”

The Best of Brazil — Randy Morse

“My favorite Brazilian singer, Rosa Passos, would join you — my favorite American jazz singer — as a special guest.”

Música Brasileira — Egídio Leitão

“Karrin Allyson does not shy away from singing in Portuguese or choosing a less obvious repertoire from the Brazilian songbook.”

Amazon — Dr. Debra Jan Bibel

“Karrin Allyson has a clear, precise, pixie-like voice, akin to Blossom Dearie, and she has a particular fondness for Brazilian jazz ballads.”

Talkin’ Broadway — Rob Lester

“Karrin Allyson's distinctive voice, without calling attention to itself, stands out among high voltage company.”

Jazz Weekly — George W. Harris

“The thriving Columbia's Daughters finds Allyson in rich tone and delivery.”

Independent Ear (Open Sky Jazz) — Willard Jenkins

“Vocalist Karrin Allyson clearly has a good ear for thematic recordings, a perception I don't make casually.”

JazzTimes — Christopher Loudon (Editor’s Pick, 2018)

“Allyson unleashes her equally impressive dexterity as a songwriter, filling the album with 13 finely crafted originals that variously suggest the spiritedness of Carole King, the perspicacity of Paul Simon, the warmth of Irving Berlin, and the bite of Bob Dorough or Dave Frishberg.”

The New York Times — Music Critic

“She aces the tightrope walk of songbook reverence and jazz-vocal breeziness that often proves elusive on such an album.”

DownBeat — Album Review

“A brilliant album that bridges the worlds of jazz and musical theater — Allyson may be the perfect singer to reinterpret Rodgers & Hammerstein for a modern, jazz-aware audience.”

JazzTimes — Album Review

“An exquisitely thoughtful trio album, it's also an important one.”

Jazz Journal (UK) — Album Review

“Allyson's gorgeous singing voice is true, mature, and a delight from start to finish. An absolute must.”

The Sunday Times (UK) — Record of the Year Pick

MOJO (UK) — Four Stars (Feb issue)

Associated Press — Album Review

“Masterful.”

USA Today — Album Review

“Beautifully nuanced.”

International Review of Music — CD review

Rifftides (ArtsJournal) — Monday Recommendation

Talkin’ Broadway — Sound Advice

Omaha World-Herald — UNO Concert Review

The New York Times — Caramanica, Chinen, Ratliff & Pareles (Holiday Cheer for the Ears)

“Karrin Allyson is a jazz singer of sure interpretive ability, and she puts it to good use on a mellow holiday assortment.”

DownBeat — Four Stars (Dec 2013)

“She has delivered a sterling holiday album that fans will turn to year after year when the time comes to hang the mistletoe.”

The Wall Street Journal — Album Review

“Ms. Allyson's notes fly in the air like reindeer and land like snow flakes or baubles upon the tree.”

Kansas City JAM Magazine — Roger Atkinson

“Let's put it out there, quickly: Karrin Allyson's Christmas record Yuletide Hideaway is superb.”

City Pages (Minneapolis) — Album Review

“A superb song interpreter who can freshen up the most familiar material, as she does on standards like The Christmas Song and Winter Wonderland.”

SomethingElseReviews — Album Review

“It's perfect.”

USA Today — Elysa Gardner

“A new platter of warm, honeyed jazz from Allyson is reason to celebrate the holidays early.”

International Review of Music — Brian Arsenault

“Warm as Nana's quilt.”

DownBeat — Kirk Silsbee (Five Stars, Oct 2011)

“Allyson's many shades of emotion and implication bring the mood up — like changing keys in the middle of a line on Spring Can Really Hang You Up The Most or the dissolute piano underneath Smile.”

DownBeat — Top CDs of 2011 — Five-Star Masterpiece

“Her ability to shape songs to conform to an overall vision more than justifies her production credit.”

The New York Times — Stephen Holden (June 2011)

“Ms. Allyson is one of the most grounded singers working today.”

The Wall Street Journal — Will Friedwald (June 2011)

“Karrin Allyson has chops, but more important, she has taste and restraint — she sings with amazing subtlety, employing just enough technique to put her songs over.”

The New York Times — Stephen Holden (April 2008) — Love Songs Without Sighs

“She approaches a romantic song from a perspective that is wised up and well defended but not quite tough. I couldn't imagine her falling for a line of sweet talk.”

Billboard — 2024 retrospective review (PDF)

“Her vocals are a revelation: She brings a distinctive approach to this material; her interpretations are incredibly simpatico.”