Music
Press
By DAVID MALACHOWSKI
Reviewer
ARTIST: Missoni Lanza
ALBUM: “Amore” (no label listed)
Just when you think genres have all been meshed and melded and nothing is left unturned, something comes along and throws you of balance.
Enter Missoni Lanza.
From Los Angeles via New Orleans (and she plays often in New York City) this 20-something chanteuse uses jazz as starting point, but with equal measure blues and ethereal pop.
Her compelling new CD, “Amore,” is produced by Remington Rafael and Lanza, and among the musicians involved is one Andy Timmons (Danger Danger).
This long-winding road begins with the dark, brooding “Come Back To Me,” which Lanza delivers somewhere between softly singing, almost speaking and a gentle whisper, though she finally lets loose near the end with an emotional plea that leaves you spent. With “I’ll Always Be a Stranger,” Lanza courts a more traditional jazz vibe with piano, trumpet and drums played with brushes, as she simply smolders with this sensual reading loaded with back phrasing.
The mysterious “Lost In You” and majestic “Calm & In Mellow” are other highlights in this intriquing outing.
Lanza loves to keep everyone guessing what she’ll do next, and we can’t wait, but for now, “Amore” is totally satisfying.
Seriously. - Daily Freeman
Discography
Within A Claustrophobic Imagination EP (2006)
AMORE EP (2010)
Photos
Bio
“I have seen the future of new jazz, and it’s name is Missoni Lanza”
-David Malachowski
Woodstock, NY 2011
“fucking brilliant”
-David Malachowski
Woodstock, NY 2011
"Norah Jones on acid"
- Johnny Marshall
Dallas, TX 2010
"Missoni sees the world as none other of her peers do, as a multi-layered source of inspiration, as a terrible beauty, as a beautiful terror. Her creative writing shows depth of thought. Her guitar performances have proven moving, and she has a singing voice good for both light verse and for more thought-provoking ballads."
-Matthew Buchanan
Palm Desert, CA 2005
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Missoni Lanza sings of love- lost, unrequited, enchanted and cursed. Her new five-song EP, Amore, evokes memories of a bygone era entwined with the present. For most of her life, Missoni connected to the music, culture, literature, art, and fashion of days gone by more than she did with that of her own generation. When she was a baby, upon meeting her, a friend of her mother’s described her as ‘an old soul.’
As a child, Missoni knew she wanted to be a singer. Her first public appearance, at age 6, was when she asked a local restaurant pianist if she could sing along. Her early musical influences came from her music loving family. From her father- the classic oldies; from her mother- smooth jazz. Her brother loved the blues and classic rock while her sister loved anything current and cutting edge. If her surname sounds familiar, that is because the famous classical singer Mario Lanza is a distant relative.
Missoni studied piano, guitar, and classical vocal techniques. In her early teens, she formed an all girl group and later, joined the high school jazz band. An intensely creative person, Missoni loved poetry, drawing, and acting. She began writing her own songs, inspired by the “gorgeous heartbreaking stories” of Elliott Smith. Both students and teachers recognized her talents and soon she was performing her songs at school assemblies.
Towards the end of high school, Missoni was introduced to Remington who would later produce her EP, AMORE. He put together a team of musicians that included Johnny Marshall (ZZ Top, Stevie Ray Vaughan), John Adams (Mel Torme, Rosemary Clooney), Brian Piper (Eartha Kitt), Andy Timmons (Danger Mouse), Jonathan Dexter, Jim Foster.
Although she has an impressive four-octave range, Missoni’s vocals are intimate, smoky and sultry. There are echoes of Norah Jones, Billie Holiday, Sarah Mclachlan, Fiona Apple, and Margo Timmins throughout.
Missoni has performed solo at the Bitter End in New York City (2006) and at the Red River Revel in Shreveport Lousiana (2008, 2009). The band she put together for the Revel included Billy Masters, Doug Yowell, and Mike Visceglia (all who had played with Suzanne Vega) and Daniel Weiss (Hair). Earlier this year, Missoni performed on the Daisy Rock Stage at Winter NAMM in Anaheim (2011.)
Artists she has opened for include Nicole Atkins & the Sea, Kim Carnes, Erin Bode, Quiet Company, The New Frontiers, The Rocket Boys, Dylan Leblanc, Linnzi Zaorski, The Stolen Sweets, Angie Mattson, Rob Wasserman (Grateful Dead) and Marc Broussard.
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AMORE EP is now available!!
You can find my new EP on iTunes, Amazon, CDBaby & Digstation!
Links
