& REVIEWS
"Describing vocalist Sari Kessler's debut album as "simply beautiful" is a literal evaluation. Unlike too many eager-to-dazzle neophytes, Kessler maintains a welcome less-is-more approach that emphasizes the purity of her tone, with its enticing hint of duskiness, and the immaculate quality of her phrasing. "
- CHRISTOPHER LOUDON, JAZZTIMES
"Kessler proves to be a first-rate interpreter and dissector of songs...(able) to tap into the marrow of a lyric and bring its essence to the foreground...and her phrasing is oh-so-natural and flexible. In short, she's the real deal.”
- DAN BILAWSKY, ALL ABOUT JAZZ
“She made the audience feel like kin from note one, turning ballads into sultry anthems of experience and upbeat tunes into affirmations of her love for the craft. She treated standards like precious family heirlooms, each imbued with years of careful handling even as she added the polish of her own, while her self-penned songs confirmed her compositional gifts."
- TYRAN GRILLO, ALL ABOUT JAZZ
“It is nearly impossible to say enough about Sari Kessler’s talent for and dedication to Jazz vocals. She moves from sultry to funny to bright to warm and all are believable deliveries...The Gal from Joe’s is a lesser-known Duke Ellington/Irving Mills tune that has waited for Sari Kessler to come along and sing it the way it was meant to be sung. John Di Martino’s piano provides the anguished backdrop and Sari offers the melancholy narrative. “My Empty Bed Blues is a Sari Kessler original piece. And Blues, it is. Sari calls to mind some of the sexy blues of Bessie Smith.”
- ROGER TRAVIS JR., JAZZTIMES ONLINE
“By the time you reach the final track, the listener has been removed from the everyday and treated like a confidant, let in on the secrets of what life is, the trials as well as the joys. There's a self-assured quality in the voice of Sari Kessler, a singer who one can tell is an avid observer and certainly a storyteller. Pull up a chair and enjoy this musical journey.”
- RICHARD KAMINS, STEP TEMPEST
“Kessler is enjoyably far-reaching in her choice of material...She is an expressive, charming vocalist who does take her share of chances."
- ALEX HENDERSON, NEW YORK CITY JAZZ RECORD
“Kessler doesn't rush the listener through the lyrics but etches vocal nuances that prove to bring out the potency of the words…sophistication reminiscent of the bluesy iridescence of Sarah Vaughan.”
- SUSAN FRANCES, AXS
“Kessler has a slow burn approach, she digs in deep, and tells it like it is.”
- CONSTANCE TUCKER, ALL ABOUT VOCALS
“This album is a true vocal jazz treasure you must have in your collection…I guarantee you’ll fall in love when you hear Sari do ‘Walk on By’…this is truly the best performance I’ve heard of this great song!”
- ROTCOD ZZAJ, IMPROVIJAZZATION
