Music
Press
"As "These Days" proceeds the soul of Ellen Johnson emerges, and she leaves no doubt about the wide range of her talents. In addition, the album reminds us of the fresh ideas, impressive technique and passion for the music that Ellen Johnson offers listeners. "These Days" is a true delight. " - Bill Donaldson
"The blue-eyed blonde is gorgeous and so is her voice. She has very firm intonation, unique jazz phrasing and can scat well." - (Harry Siders -about These Days)
“...an ambitious young singer with impressive sass and class.” (about Too Good To Title)
- Harry Siders
This album will please those who can appreciate this unique format for the lady can definitely sing".
-Edward Blanco - -Edward Blanco
Lovely singing, poised, elegant jazz phrasing, articulate and eloquent interpretations of lyrics, imaginative variations on composers’ themes all add up to an excellent whole. This is superior jazz singing by an artist of the highest quality who deserves to be heard much more often and more widely than has been the case thus far. Good as Ellen's first two CDs are, and they are good indeed, this new set is really exceptional and should not be missed by anyone who admires good music sung and played with skill, integrity, and emotional intensity. - Bruce Crowther
"Jazz singer Ellen Johnson unfortunately is not the household word she should be.... duets with (bassist) Darek Oles will remind jazz vocal aficionados of the Sheila Jordan-Harvie Swartz collaborations over the ruins."
- -Michael P. Gladstone
“Chosen as one of the top three jazz vocalists with Diana Krall and Dianne Reeves for 2006”
- Arnaldo DeSouteiro
“Johnson has released a challenging. sophisticated and successful album that raises the standard of modern jazz singing by at least one notch. While other singers are rehashing the great American songbook, Johnson is putting it through the meat grinder amd creating a whole new menu.”
- George Harris
“Ellen Johnson’s new release “These Days” is a complete breath of fresh air. Johnson who is not afraid to go where no vocalist has gone before presents a CD of taking chances. A standing ovation for Ellen Johnson. Thank you for showing the world of Jazz vocals that there is so much to explore”.
- -James Rosen
“Ellen Johnson's These Days is one of the best albums to be heard from a no-nonsense jazz singer in the past year; she and her recording are worthy of serious consideration for placement in the 2007 DownBeat Critics Poll”.
- Frank-John Hadley, Longtime DownBeat writer, etc.
Ellen Johnson's Straightforward Crossing
The singer keeps it plainly powerful in a talent-filled show at The Vic
Ellen Johnson approaches jazz singing the old fashioned way. Through the music. She doesn’t try to simulate contemporized versions of Billie Holiday or Ella Fitzgerald. She doesn’t add a rapper or a turntableist to her back up group. And she doesn’t look for illusory connections with country music or electronica.<
What Johnson does do is work hard to find (or write) songs that are suited for her voice, her style and her creativity. She assembles musicians who are fully in sync with her artistic goals. And she brings it all together in a manner that connects her listeners with the intrinsic honesty of her interpretations.<
All these characteristics were on display Thursday night at The Vic in Santa Monica. The performance, which announced the release of her new CD, “These Days,” was both a celebration and a showcase for the full breadth of Johnson’s music, with plenty of space allocated to the other artists who are present on the album – guitarist Larry Koonse((cq)), bassist Darek Oles((cq)), drummer Roy McCurdy))cq)), percussionist/singer Ana Gazzola.((cq)). And – perhaps most significantly -- veteran jazz singer Sheila Jordan.<
Parts of the CD, in fact, were stimulated by Jordan’s long history of dueting with string bassists. And Johnson opened the set with some sterling interaction with Oles on “No Moon At All.” Singing as a soloist with only bass accompaniment is a daunting task, potentially exposing strengths as well as weaknesses. But her interpretations were right on target, finding the heart of the song, sharing its pulse and flow with Oles’ surging bass lines.<
She displayed her stylistic versatility in other material: a jaunty rendering of Charles Mingus’ “Nostalgia in Time Square” with lyrics by Johnson; a sardonic take on Chris Smither’s “I Feel the Same”; a lovely ride through the wordless melody of Ole’s “Inspiration,” recalling the soprano melody of Villa-Lobos’ “Bachianas Brasileiras((cq)) No. 5.”<
The program climaxed with Jordan’s arrival. She sang Oscar Brown, Jr.’s whimsical lyrics for Bobby Timmons’ “Dat Dere”((cq)) with appropriately child-like inflection, then switched to the dark subtleties of maturity with “You Must Believe In Spring.” Finally, concluding this engaging evening, there was a stunning duet between the two singers in Jordan’s “The Crossing,” a deeply personal revelation, from one who’s made the journey, of what it really means to be a jazz singer.<
- Don Heckman
Discography
CDs:
•These Days
-features Sheila Jordan, Darek Oles, Larry Koonse,
Roy McCurdy, and Ana Gazzola
•Chinchilla Serenade
-features Peter Sprague, Rick Helzer, Gunnar Biggs,
Bob Magnusson, Tommy Aros, Duncan Moore,
John Leftwich, John Reckivics
•Too Good To Title
-features Charles McPherson, Rick Helzer, Rob
Thorsen, Tim McMahon
•Compilations:
- 2008 "From A Mother's Heart" featuring Sheila Jordan, Don Braden, Judi Silvano, John Stowell, etc.
-2007 "Illuminations" featuring Don Braden, Rick Helzer, Brasil Brazil, etc.
-2005 "Jazz Vocal Coalition CD"
•The Vocal Warm Up CD
CDs and downloads available at:
www.vocalvisions.net
Photos
Bio
-FEATURED IN MARCH 2007 DOWNBEAT MAGAZINE
The buzz about Ellen Johnson keeps getting stronger with her latest release, "These Days". Ellen, featured in DownBeat Magazine March issue, has already received recognition from the LA Times, Jazz Improv Magazine, Jazz Journal International, JazzTimes, All About Jazz, Music Connection and many other publications with such comments as “one of the best albums to be heard by a no nonsense jazz singer in the past year”, “an album that raises the level of jazz singing by one notch”, “superior jazz singing by an artist of the highest quality who deserves to he heard much more often” and the 2006 top jazz vocalist (Tribuna Bis, Brazil) along with Dianne Reeves and Diana Krall.
It’s clear that Ellen Johnson is bringing a new dimension to the plethora of jazz vocalists.
Ellen Johnson began her performing career in Chicago singing everything from folk, pop, blues, jazz, musical theater, and classical repertoire. She has sung and studied with many exceptional musicians including Louie Bellson, Bobby McFerrin, Sheila Jordan, Charles McPherson, Roy McCurdy, Pete Christlieb, John Clayton, Don Braden, Kim Richmond, Willie Pickens, Gene Aitken and many more. Her two jazz CD's, “Too Good To Title” and “Chinchilla Serenade”, have received critical acclaim and international airplay even receiving Editors Choice in Cadence Magazine.
Her current CD, "These Days", focuses on her love of bass and voice duets and features bassist extraordinaire, Darek Oles. It also features Sheila Jordan singing a duet with Ellen on her original composition, “The Crossing”, in special tribute to Ellen’s mentor and special friend. It is this kind of creativity, spontaneity and depth that inspires Ms. Johnson to stray from the pack and find inventive new ways to express herself as an artist. She writes lyrics and poetry, contributing to already published compositions from Charles Mingus, Sonny Rollins, Rick Helzer, and others. Her poetry can be heard on "These Days" with a tribute to Sheila Jordan and a new project on the way. As an accomplished songwriter she received an award from Just Plain Folks at their 2002 music awards out of 100,000 songs for her original wordless composition “Chinchilla Serenade”.
After initiating her own media and record label, Vocal Visions, (in 1990), Ellen has expanded her company to include Vocal Visions Media Group. The media group is re-imagining the way record companies operate using the technology of the future. Her roster of artists along with an innovative way to market and encourage music sales and visibility is what makes this boutique indie label unique and trend setting. As a producer she has made 8 CD’s including publishing an instructional warm up and ear training CD for voice (with a new one on the way), and an original poetry and music CD. Bruce Crowther mentions her in the 1997 published book "Singing Jazz" for her jazz artistry and he includes her company in a group of independent record labels for which he gives recognition.
Her other professional ventures include recording for jingles, film scores, and other projects not to mention collaborating with the great songwriter, Hugh Martin, who wrote about her singing abilities: “I’m at a loss for words to praise your voice. It deserves adjectives that haven’t been invented yet regarding its beauty of tone, range, and perfect intonation.” She has been a featured soloist for many performances of Duke Ellington’s Sacred Concerts filling the shoes of soloist Alice Babs so well that even the late Stanley Dance commented how good her renditions were in comparison. Ellen’s versatility for many styles of music contributed to her winning a finalist slot in the American Traditions Vocal Competition where she performed jazz, musical theater and classical renditions of songs for a prestigious panel of judges that included Della Reese, Charles Strouse, William Warfield, George Shirley and others.
Ms. Johnson, who has a Masters degree from San Diego State University in Vocal Performance has been on the voice faculties of the University of San Diego, the Old Globe Theatre’s Masters of Fine Arts program and has given master classes in vocal jazz at the University of Southern California. She was in the “Who’s Who of Americas Teachers 2002” and was a keynote speaker on the “Art Song of Duke Ellington” for the National Association of Teachers of Singing (NATS) international conference. She served as President and founder of the Jazz Vocal Coalition (JZVOC, www.jzvoc.org), past Jazz Editor for Singer&Musician Magazine, past president of the San Diego Chapter of NATS, and was the California vocal jazz representative for the International Association of Jazz Educators (IAJE). She has been a panelist for several music industry and vocal conferences that included a variety of industry professionals and artists such as Alan Paul (Manhattan Transfer), Derek Sivers (CD Baby), Barbara Morrison, Jeff We
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