Cheryl Hodge

Downbeat Magazine - Indie Spotlight
INDIGO - Smooth; yet edgy

This new cutting-edge album features Cheryl, along with Juno-winning trumpet player Brad Turner, guitarist John Stowell and a host of greats!

“In the seemingly endless debate about who or what is or isn't a jazz singer, anybody with ears would without hesitation and with great enthusiasm cite Cheryl Hodge as the real thing.” —Bob Protzman, host, “Everything Jazz,” NPR affiliate - Downbeat Magazine

Lynn Darroch for The Oregonian gave the album an A- rating on December 16, 2005 stating:

Live recordings are great, especially for capturing the excitement and spontaneity of jazz performance. But they may disappoint, too, because the visually compelling richness onstage can cast a spell over our ears.

Some get closer than others, though, and British Columbia resident Cheryl Hodge's "Live and Alive" reproduces many of the singer-pianist's most striking gifts, especially her full and powerful voice, which shines most prominently on the album's bluesier tunes. Rare on a live disc, Hodge also achieves the vocal clarity and definition one might expect in a studio album.

Recorded in two locations (Nelson, B.C., and Gleneden Beach, Oregon) with two sets of accompanists, the album presents a singer who is both melodic and acrobatic. Her octave leaps and pitch-perfect landings evoke Portland great Nancy King, while her bluesy side is reminiscent of Ernestine Anderson. Hodge can really open it up -- after all, this vocal teacher did write "A Singer's Guide to the Well-Trained and Powerful Voice" -- and she rarely overblows or distorts. Hodge's tune "Before Sunset" also reveals her ability to write and execute advanced harmonies.
On the album's opening cut, "All Blues," Hodge does a nice job making Oscar Brown Jr.'s lyrics as supple and sinuous as the horn lines in the original recording. And her lyrics are often interesting in themselves, as in "If It's Real," where she sings, "It doesn't have to be love to have a meaning/ There doesn't have to be a plan to come to life/ There doesn't have to be a history," finishing out the 12-bar blues with the line, "if it's real." And though sometimes her lyrics slide into melodrama ("Dark and brooding cowboy, what's inside that strange mind?") she always makes them musically interesting.
Part of the album's musicality is due to her great accompanists, including Portland-based musicians John Stowell, Dave Captein and William Thomas. - The Oregonian - Lynn Darroch

(What is a jazz singer?)... Hodge certainly is well qualified to tackle the topic...She has recorded several albums, the most recent being "Live and Alive" (JazzBoulevard Records) on which she delivers a breathtaking nine-and-a-half minute performance of
Miles Davis classic "All Blues" that is an excellent example of her definition of a true or "pure" jazz vocalist.

"To me," said Hodge in an interview by phone and e-mail, "a jazz singer is defined by her ability to get into the harmony and rhythmic implications of a song."

Hodge cites examples of singers who excel at both. (She mentions Fitzgerald's 25 chorus scat solo of "How High the Moon"; along with jazz greats Nina Simone and Shirley Horn.)

She simply loves performing - and recording live.

"All of my favorite albums are live," she said. "I love hearing the waitresses clinking glasses as they get tripped by the crowd, and even that one guy in the corner can sweeten the experience. I'm there for the night - and it feels good." - Erie Times-News/Bob Protzman

(Cheryl Hodge is..) a sultry singer with sensitive lyrics... interpretation, writing and scatting abilities... Hodge has a voice with a bright center softened by a breathy halo. It's a young, essentially optimistic voice... it brings out the best in the standards and jazz originals. - Boston Globe

"An unorthodox singer, Hodge mixes standards & originals, using her voice to explore the parameters of any chosen tune. Judgin from her...C.D., Strings, Necks & Chords, Hodge has a wide range and a lot of ideas. She will follow a melody, break into a scat improv, experiment with phrasing, intonation, even breathing." - Queue Magazine Review

"Imagine Cassandra Wilson weaving in and out of a Lyle Lovett songbook." - Listen.com