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My
new album of Jazz Standards continuing the repertoire presented by Called "Give Me That Jazz" With: Reviews CADENCE JAZZ MAGAZINE, New York - August 2004 Imagine a singer halfway between bobby short and jon hendricks. That's michael danso. He performs most of the c.d "Give Me That Jazz" in the warm, friendly tones of a cabaret singer, but once in a while he stretches out into jazz. The likes of "Our Love Is Here To Stay" and "Someone To Watch Over Me" are done straight but "Blues In The Night" brings out a bit of soul and on "Stompin' At The Savoy" danso breaks into an explosive scat solo. Regardless of the mood Danso's backing group keeps the rythmn strong, especially the easy-riding pianist Joe Sealy. He and the entire combo give Danso good backdrops to work against. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ L.A. JAZZSCENE MAGAZINE - August 2004 Reviewer Jim Santella An album of jazz standards is always a welcome treat. Singer Michael Danso interprets such chestnuts as "Stompin At The Savoy", "The Very Thought Of You" and "Someone To Watch Over Me" with a piano trio and a guest saxophonist by his side. His gritty voice speaks from experience and a lifetime of absorbing the jazz idiom. Through his natural ease these familiar phrases appear well-worn and comfortable. Like that old pair of jeans or that pair of shoes you just can't throw out, Danso fits the jazz scenelike a glove; fine and mellow. The session works well when Danso moves at a fast pace and inserts scat singing into the formula. A tenor saxophone solo herea mellow bass solo there, a strong partner in pianist Joe Sealy: these elements create great art. The session wavers, however through several unfortunate trials. Arangements of "Born To Be Blue" "Someone To Watch Over Me" "The Very Thought Of You" and "Scarborough Fair" place the singer in situations where his voice tapers off between phrases, and his vocal quality dissolves into the spoken word. "Blues In The Night" works much better, as the artist gets into his groove. Danso's venture wears well, in spite of its rough moments. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ BEACH
METRO NEWS Beacher Michael Danso is a wonderfully complete entertainer. If you don’t believe me ask Ella Fitzgerald (if you could). She saw him perform in his native Scotland when he was just 10 years old, and wanted to bring him with her to the United States. Who knows whether he would have become one of those precocious child stars burnt out at 20, but his grandmother kept him at home. His obvious talent was not to be denied however and soon Michael was performing in Great Britain and Europe. He came to Canada at the age of 19 performing in those iconic 60’s musicals HAIR and JESUS CHRIST SUPERSTAR. After spending a couple of years in Los Angeles, Danso eventually decided to settle in Toronto. Some of his credits include stage work in THE THREEPENNY OPERA, THE BOYFRIEND, and THE MIKADO; film acting in SUGAR SHACK and WINNING STREAK; and television appearances with SHARON, LOUIS AND BRAM; and hosting his own show JUST JAZZ on CHCHTV. Most recently Danso toured with the latest production of RIVERDANCE in which he both danced and sang. As well as all the live appearances, Danso has found the time to record. His latest CD called GIVE ME THAT JAZZ is a collection of Jazz Standards by such time-honored composers as Mel Torme, The Gershwins, Harold Arlen and Ray Noble. Backed by long time friend Joe Sealy on piano, Danso croons his way beautifully through such songs as ‘STOMPIN’ AT THE SAVOY’ ‘SOMEONE TO WATCH OVER ME’ and an interesting medley of ‘FASCINATING RHYTHM’ and ‘I’VE GOT RHYTHM.’ The bare-bones standard Piano (Sealy) Bass (Paul Novotny) and Drum (Daniel Barnes) accompaniments – padded every now and then with Sax solos by (Chris Mitchell) – help recreate a live club feel to the CD (minus of course the background clinking of glasses you often hear). A couple of interesting tunes which step out of the “standards” category are ‘SCARBOROUGH FAIR’, that traditional ballad which, under Michael and Joe’s hand, is turned into a driving rhythmic jazz showpiece with a soaring sax solo over which Danso’s vocals softly carry the melody in perfect juxtaposition. ‘YOKOHAMA TASSONGARE’ is a traditional Japanese ‘ENKA’ song,
which Danso learned from a friend of his, Sen Masao, whom Danso described
as the Sinatra of Japan. Danso sings it in the original Japanese, but he
was kind enough to drop off a translation. The lyrics are written in Haiku
style; short, distinct images: “ a kiss; floating in the air/ The
smell of tobacco smoke/ Blues; blown kisses/ The sound of a woman crying.” It’s
a beautiful tune. Since 1990 HARLEM TO HOLLYWOOD has been performed across Canada as well as in selected U.S cities. Danso uses this concert production to fundraise for The Variety Club charity. Two performances of HARLEM TO HOLLYWOOD are upcoming in the GTA. The first will be at the George Weston Hall at The Centre for Performing Arts, Feb. 21st, when Michael will be performing with The Canada Pops Orchestra under the direction of Charles T. Cozens. The second will take place April 2nd in THE great Hall in Hamilton Place with The Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra, again under the direction of Charles T. Cozens. For more information on these events, or to order a copy of GIVE ME THAT JAZZ, visit Michael Danso’s website at www.michaeldanso.com ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ O'S PLACE JAZZ NEWSLETTER - O'S MALE VOCAL SELECTIONS GIVE ME THAT JAZZ CD - D.OSCAR GROOMES REVIEW: Michael has Jazz in his genes, born to Vocalist Pinkie
MacKenzie and Saxophonist Benjamin Danso in Scotland; he grew up behind
numerous European stages. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ KTXK FM - TEXAS / THE ENJOYMENT OF JAZZ Michael Danso - Give Me That Jazz - He knows how to
interprete these great lyrics from some of the choice things of The Great
American Songbook. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ DOLLY BAKER - TOKYO
JAPAN / BOSTON MASS. Danso's command of the material shines through. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ WUMR fm 91.7 - MEMPHIS TENN - JAZZ MEMORIES GIVE ME THAT JAZZ CD - ROGER BURNS REVIEW Man-O-Man, what can I say about this Artist?
ALL
ABOUT JAZZ MAGAZINE This album is a mixture of Original
as well as well-established Jazz "Evergreens" delivered in
the inimitably elegant energetic and classic style of the International
Award Winning Jazz Vocalist Michael Danso,with Juno Award Winners Pianist
Joe Sealy, Paul Novotny, Chris Mitchell and Daniel Barnes. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ANIMAJAZZ - ITALY It is now the time of the warm
and gradevole (soulful ) Canadian singer MICHAEL DANSO. He gives us
an intense interpretation of "Someone to Watch will cheer with one over me", (Someone
to Watch Over Me ) written from ( by ) George & Ira Gershwin, an
excerpt from the beautiful CD "Give me that Jazz". ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SOME AMAZON.COM CUSTOMER REVIEWS: Danso Dazzles Again ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Danso Dazzles ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Wow! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ |
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