by dynamite | Aug 7, 2017 | Uncategorized
Vocalist Sylvia Brooks has been well versed in music for most of her life. Her father was Don Ippolito, who worked with some of the best in the business. A pianist/arranger he was working with such luminaries as Stan Getz, Peggy Lee, Sarah Vaughn, Dizzy Gillespie and Buddy Rich. Brooks’ mom was a trained opera singer who was also adept with pop and standard tunes in clubs. Brooks began to study acting though she was always attracted to singing jazz specifically. She worked with Tom Garvin and eventually recorded CD’s with Kim Richmond, Otmaro Ruiz, Chris Colangelo, Kendall Kay, Larry Koonse, Bob Sheppard, Jeff Colella, Christian Jacob, Quinn Johnson and other tops musicians. We have to state that she has great judgement in the musicians she works with. The Arrangement is her third CD. Some gems in the recording include “Body and Soul”, “Eleanor Rigby”, “Guess Who I Saw Today”, “Night and Day”, “Angel Eyes” and three of her own tunes, “Sweet Surrender”, “Maybe I’m A Fool” and “What Was I Thinking (The Mirage)”. We think she’s well on her way to a great career as a jazz stylist. Catch her when she is in your area.
by dynamite | Aug 1, 2017 | Uncategorized
Sylvia Brooks has the look of a classic Hollywood femme fatale, suggesting an auburn-haired variation on Veronica Lake with a hint of Rita Hayworth. And Brooks sings precisely the way she looks – a dark, smoky sound with impressive firepower that seems tailor-made for the sort of plush, palm-treed nightclubs that dotted L.A. in the 1940s and ’50s. Those intimate boîtes – spots like Ciro’s, The Tally-Ho, The Encore and the richly historied Cocoanut Grove – are gone now, but Brooks is rapidly emerging as an SRO favorite at the chic venues that have replaced them, including Catalina’s, the Jazz Bakery and Vitello’s Jazz and Supper Club.
Now, with the release of Brooks’ debut CD, the aptly titled Dangerous Liaisons, the wider world can share Los Angelinos’ discovery of her alluring sultriness. Brooks can swing hot and hard, as illustrated by a blistering “Never Dance” and an equally scorching “Sway.” She can also swing brightly, taking “Come Rain or Come Shine” at mid-tempo to ably capture the depth of the Arlen/Mercer gem’s ardor, and holding her torch high on a sweltering “When the Sun Comes Out.”
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by dynamite | Jun 5, 2017 | Uncategorized
Sylvia Brooks, who has been singing and acting in Southern California during the past decade. Her voice is attractive and alluring, her phrasing is swinging, and she always sings in-tune. Ms. Brooks has had some success with her first two CDs, Dangerous Liaisons and Restless, which often found her singing in dramatic fashion while looking back towards the film noir era of the 1940s and ‘50s.
The Arrangement is her most jazz-oriented set to date. Performing 11 familiar standards and three originals, Sylvia Brooks performs with top artists (mostly from Southern California) on arrangements contributed by Otmaro Ruiz, Quinn Johnson, Jeff Colella, Christian Jacob and Kim Richmond. Her singing is always appealing while her improvising is subtle. It is obvious that Ms. Brooks is a top-notch singer.
While some of the arrangements modernize and reharmonize the standards, the best performances are the ones that have charts that let the music breathe and include some space. The most rewarding renditions include “Eleanor Rigby,” a swinging “The Tender Trap,” “Angel Eyes” and the three originals. It is particularly rewarding hearing the singer perform her “Sweet Surrender” as a duet with pianist Christian Jacob. There are also occasional statements from sidemen with the solos of Ron Stout on flugelhorn and tenors Bruce Babad and Bob Sheppard being standouts.
The Arrangement (available from www.sylviabrooks.net) is Sylvia Brooks’ finest recording to date. It makes one look forward to her Catalina performance of Wednesday June 7.
Scott Yanow
by dynamite | May 23, 2017 | Uncategorized
The arrangers on the new CD by vocalist SYLVIA BROOKS, The Arrangement had a dream assignment. Brooks selected 14 songs for the disc, and she asked each of the five gents doing the charts, Otmaro Ruiz, Quinn Johnson, Jeff Colella, Kim Richmond and Christian Jacob to write the arrangements using both brass and reeds. They were free to select the musicians for the sessions from the wealth of possibilities on the Los Angeles scene.
Well this arrangement worked out extremely well. After concentrating on noirish material on her first two albums, Brooks has expanded her horizons to opt for more eclectic programming. She chose a mix of standards like “Body and Soul” “Night and Day” and “Never let Me Go”; a couple of Latin numbers, “Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps” and Besame Mucho;” a country tune, “Cold, Cold Heart;” one Beatles song, “Eleanor Rigby;” and three songs with her own lyrics.
Brooks is a strong stylist who took naturally to the charts written for her. She is a confident singer with a pleasing voice who has absorbed the rich treasure of influences from the pop/jazz field, and it is evident throughout the album that she has learned her lessons well. This is a solid outing that feels comfortable from the opening selection, “Perhaps, Perhaps, Perhaps,” to the last, “Angel Eyes.”
– Joe Lang- JERSEY JAZZ
by dynamite | May 23, 2017 | Uncategorized
The queen of jazz noir changes her look and sound a bit but the cover shot still smacks of a femme fatale slinking down a hotel hallway. Corralling the crème of LA’s jazzbo community to assist at all levels of the game, she writes a little more, digs some different sounds, but never loses sight of her laser focus as being a top jazz singer that understands her lyrics and knows how to make them new. Chops like this are practically one of a kind and are not to be missed. The reigning queen reigns on.
– Chris Spector- Midwest Record
by dynamite | May 22, 2017 | Uncategorized
SYLVIA BROOKS/Restless: Utterly smoking jazz noir, Brooks takes smoky after hours jazz into realms only hinted at in movies like “Body Heat”. I don’t know where she’s pulling this from but Brooks is one dame that understands what it is to be a femme fatale. Hitting under used classics and mixing them in with some recent vintage, equally off beat stuff, this is a mickey served by a dangerous broad with something up her sleeveless sleeve. Finding cores in songs like “Round Midnight”, “I’m a Fool to Want You” and “Blues in the Night” that the writers didn’t put there even in their darkest moments, this just ain’t kid stuff. This is one mind blowingly, killer adult jazz vocal date that would make other vocalists call it a day if they could come half as close. Check it out.
Chris Spector – Midwest Record Review –
