Wednesday, May 15, 2013

The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal Rave about Sharón Clark

“You can’t underestimate the transformation of what seems like an ordinary song when an interpreter like Sharón Clark, a Washington-based jazz and soul diva, tears it apart and peers inside . . . Ms. Clark’s sound evokes not [Billie] Holiday but rather a less operatic Sarah Vaughan fused with the more animated side of Shirley Horn, a singer who also liked to take her time. Ms. Clark’s voice is rich, her phrasing unfussy, her jazz embellishments minimal.” -- Stephen Holden, New York Times

"The brilliant Sharón Clark . . . knows how to personalize the songs of Motown or the Beatles, no less than if they were by Gershwin or Rodgers, and offers an object lesson in how to revitalize someone else's vintage hit in a such a way that the original artist suddenly becomes the furthest thing from the listener's mind.  . . . her show at the Metro of songs from her AM radio youth is an absolute triumph."...

Like [Sarah Vaughan], her natural sound is almost operatic in its richness, but pure jazz in its improvisational sassiness.  But when she brings her remarkable instrument to bear on those pop hits of the post-nuclear age, which she clearly loves, she creates something new and amazing ...

All of which begs an additional question:  Why has Sharón Clark been so overlooked, particularly in New York, for all this time?  That is surely going to change." – Will Friedwald, Wall Street Journal

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