Joan Watson-Jones Jazz  Ensemble
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Joan Watson-Jones Jazz Ensemble

Derry, NH | Established. Jan 01, 1998 | SELF | AFTRA

Derry, NH | SELF | AFTRA
Established on Jan, 1998
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"Joan Watson-Jones"Quiet Conversations-A Duet" Review"

CD Review: http://www.acousticmusic.com/fame/p08370.htm
The piano/voice duet is probably the most perilous form in all of music. It's so unadorned that a single flaw can stand out glaringly and the ambiance is so spare that both instruments—keyboard and larynx…must shimmer in order to make the atmosphere breathe. Any musician worth his or her salt has to quail when contemplating the medium, a cold sweat following soon after, a sense of doom hovering in the wings. Therefore, just the release of such an effort is an act of daring, but Joan Watson-Jones wasn't daunted for a minute, welcoming a challenge that brought her a sonic tabula rasa upon which to inscribe her artistry. Thank goodness, then, that she recruited a pianist with equal poise, Berklee alumnus and Hank Jones 'Jazz Master' award winner Frank Wilkins.
Though I was eager to dive into the take on Wild is the Wind, a song David Bowie dramatically captured long years ago, I was even more curious how Watson-Jones would tackle Van Morrison's Have I Told You Lately and thus surprised to hear a very Paul Williamsy cover taking the song down country lanes with faint touches of Doris Day. This made the eros of the following You Talk Too Much rather surprising, fresh-faced and bright but seductive nonetheless, Wilkins be-bopping behind and beside her. Thus the return of a slow quiet melancholy in the singer's arrangement of Wild is the Wind brought the entire affair back to the baseline wistful milieu that Quiet Conversations commenced with.
The most interesting selection is Watson-Jones' own Yes Dear, a modern-love ditty that will have both sexes grinning in wry understanding within a format straddling novelty and jazz adventurousness deftly handled (think of Ben Sidran, Mose Allison, and Michael Franks). And the tempering of Rod Stewart's Forever Young from an anthemic rocker to a folksy paean-wish of good fortune was the perfect choice as closer. Quiet, then, is just that, but it doesn't at all lack for vivacity. Watson-Jones finds many ways to wring subtle essences from the dominantly bluesy, laconic, restrained oeuvre, and Wilkins provides innumerable harmonies, side colorations, and contrasts, never blustery, never ham-fisted, always balanced. - Acoustic Music


"EYE OF SAMANTHA JOAN WATSON-JONES with Frank Wilkins/Quiet Conversations-A Duet"

EYE OF SAMANTHA
JOAN WATSON-JONES with Frank Wilkins/Quiet Conversations-A Duet Ok jazzbos, check this out, Jones’ father was one of the founders of UMMG, and as such, when she says she was exposed to loads of killer jazz right at the source, she’s not talking trash. In a vocal/piano set, Jones stakes out the cabaret side of jazz vocals on a set of well chosen chestnuts. As adept with getting in touch with her inner Blossom Dearie as she is reaching for her inner Van Morrison, this is more of a treat than a record-record. In a setting as intimate as your living room, this duo fuses their experience and chops to sell a song like few others have the knack to do. Reveling in being off the beaten path, this is one of those connoisseur dates you don’t have to have your nose in the air to enjoy.
CHRIS SPECTOR, Editor and Publisher
Midwest Record
www.midwestrecord.com - Midwest Record


""Quiet Conversations-A Duet with Frank Wilkins-Piano""

Mood Music" or perhaps "Chill." Old school or new school Joan Watson Jones takes care of business on her soon to be January 2 released Quiet Conversations - A Duet.

Christmas and New Year's not withstanding sometimes getting intimate with your jazz allows one to get back to basics, clean the sonic pallet and simply enjoy the beauty of a good melody and that sums up Quiet Conversations - A Duet with Frank Wilkins on piano.

An eclectic mix of tunes makes for a stellar release as a new breath of life is breathed into forgotten classics such as "Here's To Life." Originally made famous by the great Shirley Horn, Jones and Wilkins do their own riff that is more than satisfying. To knock out a cover with just the right reharm where the original melody line is left in tact is a thing of beauty and is done to perfection here. "You Don't Know What Love Is" comes straight from the heart with once again Wilkins proving himself as the perfect accompanist in this setting. Watson-Jones has perfect phrasing, for budding singers this is a master class in how to do what you do! An absolute delight is Van Morrison's "Have I Told You" where the riff here is inventive yet true to the original lyrical purpose of the Morrison classic.

Quiet Conversations - A Duet is the perfect end to a perfect day and hopefully perfect Christmas season for one and all!

Tracks: Here's To Life; You Don't Know What Love Is; May I Come In; You and I; Have I Told You; You Talk Too Much; Wild Is The Wind; One More Year; Yes Dear; Forever Young - Green Mountain Messenger


Discography

CD's
"One More Year" Release Date 1996
" I Thought About You"  Release Date 2006
" Quiet Conversations-A Duet with Frank Wilkins-Piano" Release Date January 2013


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Bio

An equally passionate jazz vocalist and advocate for the music, Joan Watson-Jones
is well known throughout Northern New England as both a swinging
singer and the hostess of her own popular jazz shows, the cable
television program The Jazz Room Live and the internet based radio program The Jazz Room-her 1/2 hour show on www.cyberstationusa.com  



Click here to learn more about The Jazz Room Internet Radio Program.



Click here to see video clips from The Jazz Room Live TV program.


Joan Watson-Jones is a
very expressive vocalist who burns quietly with inner intensity when
she sings. She has deep understanding of the words she interprets, is
not shy to be autobiographical in her singing, and has a natural sense
of swing.


Joan’s parents both had fascinating careers. Her mother Aurelia Wheeldin was a dancer who spent 1924-26 performing at the Moulin Rouge
in Paris. Not only did she dance but she worked up an act with another
dancer in which they regularly boxed three rounds on stage, causing a
sensation. Back in the United States she was a pioneering female boxer,
performed in Eubie Blake’s Shufflin’ Along, and appeared at the Apollo
Theatre in a production called Harlem before retiring in 1940 to marry
Joan’s father.

Click here to see Joan's self-produced video about her mother.


www.youtube.com/user//momworeboxingtrunks/video


Joan’s Dad was a physician who became one of the 12 doctors to co-found the Upper Manhattan Medical Group,
the first clinic in Harlem that was run entirely by African-Americans.
Among his patients through the years were Billie Holiday and Mercer
Ellington. The hospital was immortalized by Billy Strayhorn when he
wrote “U.M.M.G,” a piece recorded by Duke Ellington.


.On Quiet Conversations- A Duet , the followup to her earlier well received efforts One More Year and I Thought About You, the singer steps boldly into the spotlight on a program of intimate duets with pianist Frank Wilkins.


Click Here to hear audio clips from " Quiet Conversations - A Duet with Frank Wilkins-Piano"



Click here to hear audio clips from "I Thought About You" .


Click here to hear audio clips from " One More Year".


.".....Absolutly gorgious voice that caresses each melody like satin.. Thank you for being a Singer's Singer"

John Segars Jazz and More WUCF Orlando Fl.



"..very lovely, introspective,nuanced and so is the music
"

Dan Seybold WBBA Purdue University


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