Press – Two Kites

by Paul Youngman, latinjazznet.com

Canadian CD’s:

1. Fern Lindzon – Two Kites
2. Dave Young – Aspects of Oscar
3. François Bourassa Quartet – Idiosyncrasie
4. Oliver Jones – Live In Baden
5. Gordon Grdina’s Haram – Her Eyes Illuminate
6. Peter Appleyard – The Lost Sessions 1974
7. François Houle 5 + 1 – Genera
8. Ranee Lee – Deep Song – A Tribute To Billie Holiday
9. Gordon Sheard – All Saints Bay

by Paul J. Youngman, jazzreview.com

Pianist and vocalist Fern Lindzon is based in Toronto, her second CD release Two Kites was recently nominated for a 2012 Juno award in the vocal jazz category. Her previous CD Moments Like These (2008) opened my ears to a delightful vocalist with a distinct style and a thoroughly polished command of her instruments, both vocal and piano.

On this outing Lindzon has surrounded herself with some of the best people on the Toronto jazz scene. Mike Murley, playing tenor and soprano saxophone, George Koller, playing bass and taking on the roll of producer and Nick Fraser drumming.

The opening for “Distance” by Norma Winstone, a laid back groove by bassist Koller and the song falls into place as imagination is set free to roam through miles of melodic space. Lindzon sings beautifully, blending registers from mid range to high end and phrasing that perfectly flows as she incorporates sustain and vibrato in flawless grace. Murley in accompaniment with the vocalist adds subtle, deep statements. During his lead statement, a sensual, romantic tenor tone takes flight and soars. The vocalist glides back in to gently fade.

The title track “Two Kites” by Antonio Carlos Jobim is played in an upbeat manner. A bouncy rhythm that has vocalist Lindzon leading a joyous take in a playful manner. Murley lets the tenor loose on this track and plays as if he is ready to plunge into the sea to cool it off. The lyrics for this song are priceless and Fern Lindzon has done a wonderful job interpreting them. Lindzon sings in Portuguese on “Ate Quem Sabe” and does an admirable job of it.

Lindzon continues with her superb interpretations as she flows through “Moon In The Sky/My Romance” Rodgers & Hart, “Basin Street Blues” by Spencer Williams and “If He’s Ever Near” by Karla Bonoff. Ballads and the blues are given classical treatment, the Bonoff song is played as a folk ballad with jazz sensibilities and Broadway leanings. The blues of Basin Street is treated to a burlesque feel that is smothered with classic vocal charm. “My Romance” simply puts it all out there in a swinging ballad format that has everything a great song must have, even a delightful bass solo.

Two Kites includes two original Lindzon compositions “Grey Green” and “All Fall Down” two very different songs. One a haunting ballad with vocals and the other a fast paced swinging instrumental number. Lindzon’s piano playing is the highlight of both of these songs.

The album also has a taste of Klezmer music in “Yam Lid/Lustige Chasidm/ Balkan Bellabusta” and Yiddish in “Donna Donna”. Lindzon is a wonderful artist, she creates vocal magic for me and her piano playing – striking comes to mind, as does Monk and Evans. Two Kites is a thoroughly enjoyable listen that I look forward to playing – over and over.

by Alain Londes, La Scena Musicale, November 2011
Fern Lindzon: Two Kites
Iatros 2011 (fernlindzon.com)

Vocalist Fern Lindzon’s album exudes a feeling of lyrical relaxation as she canvasses a well-rounded collection of songs. The mood is conveyed from the first chord of the opening piece “Distance”. Lindzon is perfectly in tune with her band, especially Mike Murley’s tenor sax. Of the many numbers penned by Antonio Carlos Jobim, “Two Kites” is a hidden gem with English lyrics. It is a fitting title track that evokes space, air, and freedom, an uncluttered zone suffused with the’ sense that “we can fly.” Lindzon takes care of the lyrics while a background chorus soars with the rest of the band, undulating on the wind along a melody line not unlike Miles Davis’s “Four”. The bossa nova surfaces again with an original composition “All Fall Down” and João Donato’s “At Quem Sabe”, sung in Portuguese. Lindzon’s delicate pianisms backed by George Koller’s bass lead the way for the vocalist to add her own lyrics to “Moon In the Sky”, which segues smoothly into an easy 4/4 swing of Rodgers & Hart’s “My Romance”. An extended 11/4 meter underpins the Yiddish art song “Dona Dona”, supported by some beautifully lyrical soprano sax from Murley. Bill Evans is a big inspiration for Lindzon, as we hear in her piano work on “Grey Green”. Even if it conjures up “Blue and Green”, she fingers it with a personal touch. Next is an infectious musical blend of old Klezmer and contemporary jazz in the “Yam Lid” medley, a prelude to the closing bonus track, the 70s pop tune “If He’s Ever Near”. Overall this disc achieves a fine balance between Lindzon’s lyrical voice and the backing of her talented band. Its upbeat feel is like a fresh message of love very much needed for the times we live in.

Dianne Donovan, Voices in Jazz, CD of the Week, CKUA

Jazz vocalist and pianist, Fern Lindzon’s career should take off to new heights with the release of her second CD, Two Kites. She’s already been the recipient of both popular and critical acclaim.

In this outing, she delves into introspective jazz (think, Norma Winstone, Bill Evans). The mood is key throughout. Lindzon steers away from vocal acrobatics, and uses her voice like a painter’s brush. Her voice is airy but it is delivered in a focused stream with the control of a yogini.

As for the material, Lindzon breezes through tunes written by other artists and displays a real flair in her own compositions and arrangements.

Of particular interest are the tunes, Two Kites (by Jobim), and Grey Green (by Lindzon, with a nod to Bill Evans). One of the most arresting songs on the CD is Basin Street Blues. As a listener who still likes to do things the old-fashioned way, by playing the entire recording (even before reading any of the liner notes), that long-standing standard stood out; it was, of course, familiar, yet distant in its sauntering, swaggering way.

With a fine band including, bassist (and producer) George Koller, drummer-Nick Fraser, saxman,-Mike Murley and Lindzon herself (pianist), the foundation is set for Lindzon’s flights o’ fancy. I’ve mentioned some of my fave tunes but please, take my advice and put the CD on, sit back, relax and enjoy the ride.

by Dianne Donovan, Voices in Jazz, CKUA

Jazz vocalist and pianist, Fern Lindzon’s career should take off to new heights with the release of her second CD, Two Kites. She’s already been the recipient of both popular and critical acclaim. 

In this outing, she delves into introspective jazz (think, Norma Winstone, Bill Evans). The mood is key throughout. Lindzon steers away from vocal acrobatics, and uses her voice like a painter’s brush. Her voice is airy but it is delivered in a focused stream with the control of a yogini.

As for the material, Lindzon breezes through tunes written by other artists and displays a real flair in her own compositions and arrangements.

Of particular interest are the tunes, Two Kites (by Jobim), and Grey Green (by Lindzon, with a nod to Bill Evans). One of the most arresting songs on the CD is Basin Street Blues. As a listener who still likes to do things the old-fashioned way, by playing the entire recording (even before reading any of the liner notes), that long-standing standard stood out; it was, of course, familiar, yet distant in its sauntering, swaggering way.

With a fine band including, bassist (and producer) George Koller, drummer-Nick Fraser, saxman,-Mike Murley and Lindzon herself (pianist), the foundation is set for Lindzon’s flights o’ fancy. I’ve mentioned some of my fave tunes but please, take my advice and put the CD on, sit back, relax and enjoy the ride.

By Irwin Block, The Senior Times

An artful, adventurous approach to music

A funny thing happened to Fern Lindzon on the way to a university degree in musicology at the University of Toronto: After stumbling on a jazz club in Yorkville and hearing guitarist Lorne Lofsky, pianist Ted Moses and flutist/vocalist Kathryn Moses perform, Lindzon saw the light.

“This is what jazz is? This is what I want to be doing!” Lindzon said, explaining her conversion from the classical stream.
After further study with several masters—pianists Fred Hersch in New York City, Marilyn Lerner in Toronto and Alan Bern in Germany—Lindzon has emerged as a rare and fascinating talent, combining an artful and adventurous approach to her piano and vocals, writing and arranging, and leading various groups in a variety of genres, from post-bop jazz to klezmer and Yiddish.

We discovered Lindzon via her latest CD, Two Kites (Iatros). This collection of 12 songs features Lindzon’s clear and delectable voice and her artful extensions of the thematic material on piano, enhanced by clearly inspired playing from saxophonist Mike Murley, with rhythmic variety from drummer Nick Fraser and bassist George Koller. With their support, Lindzon soars with musical delight on Antonio Carlos Jobim’s Two Kites, and gets to the core of My Romance, with her own Moon in the Sky vocalese prelude, never sounding maudlin. She renders the classic Dona Dona, in Yiddish and English, dramatically, as it should be, using an odd time signature to create tension with “the winds laughing.”

I loved her longest piece, a three-part medley of Yiddish songs with a delightfully modern treatment.

At Upstairs Jazz Bar & Grill, she played in a trio: complex, challenging pieces rendered with precision and purpose, her improvisations adding colour and depth to each piece. Lindzon was kind enough to give us her debut CD, Moments Like These (Iatros), which features exquisite duets with vibraphonist Don Thompson, guitarist Reg Schwager and bassist George Koller.

We next met Lindzon with her Yiddish swing klez band, Sisters of Sheynville, in mid-June, having fun in three-part harmony à la Barry Sisters, with fellow vocalists Lenka Lichtenberg and Isabel Fryzsberg. They were dancing in the park opposite the YM-YWHA in Snowdon as the shvesters frolicked on stage, having fun and rebranding such classics as Yid’l mit’n Fid’l, Shayn vi di Levoneh and Di Grine Kozineh.

by Scott Yanow, Los Angeles Jazz Scene

A talented jazz singer-pianist from Toronto, Fern Lindzon has a warm and haunting voice that displays the influence of both classical and folk music along with excellent technique on the piano and an adventurous spirit.
On Two Kites she is joined by Mike Murley on tenor and soprano, bassist George Koller and drummer Nick Fraser.

The wide ranging program includes an exuberant version of Jobim’s “Two Kites,” “My Romance” (which includes an original “prelude” by Fern called “Moon In The Sky”), an atmospheric version of “Basin Street Blues,” an instrumental “All Fall Down” which is based on “Autumn Leaves,” and an Eastern European medley (“Yam Lid/Lustige Chasidm/Balkan Bellabusta”). Despite the diversity, this is a unified set with one piece logically leading to the next one. Murley’s solos and his knack at blending with Fern’s voice are major assets as are the
leader’s piano playing and the support of Koller and Fraser.

Hopefully Fern Lindzon will play in the United States someday. But for now, Two Kites (available from www.fernlindzon.com) serves as a particularly strong overview of her talents and it makes for a very enjoyable listen.

by Lesley Mitchell-Clarke, The WholeNote

On pianist/vocalist/composer Fern Lindzon’s sophomore recording, she explores themes of spiritual and emotional transcendence as well as the kinaesthetic experience of soaring through, around and above the natural elements of wind, sea and sky. The musical journey is an eclectic one, featuring original material, Brazilian and Yiddish compositions as well as blues and a medley of Broadway standards – even so, there is a unifying creative intent on this breathtakingly beautiful album. For “Two Kites” she has enlisted gifted collaborators bassist George Koller (who also wears the producer hat), Mike Murley on saxophones and Nick Fraser on drums.

The jaunty title track comes from Antonio Carlos Jobim (who wrote the music as well as the English lyrics) and deliciously coalesces all of the thematic elements of the album.

Lindzon has a consummate ability to sing in Yiddish. On Dona Dona and Yam Lid/Lustige Chasidm/Balkan Bella-Busta, she effortlessly combines an ethnic sensibility with decidedly contemporary elements – all the while wrapping her tongue around the unforgiving German dialect. George Koller`s rich and extensive background in world music can be felt throughout.

Memorable tracks include the original instrumental All Fall Down where Lindzon’s intricate, yet commanding piano technique is a
perfect fit for Murley’s lithe soprano work, which weaves in and out of Koller and Fraser’s pulsing lines. Also noteworthy are the
haunting Distance by consummate vocalist Norma Winstone and Lindzon’s original, Grey Green, on which her evocative vocal,
harmonically complex arrangement and Bill Evans-ish piano solo coupled with the inspired work of her ensemble, make this an
undeniable stand-out.