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Meredith d'Ambrosio
She branched out into NYC in 1981, and since that time has been touring extensively throughout North America and Europe performing with such musicians as Harold Danko, Bob Dorough, Dave Frishberg, Fred Hersch, Eddie Higgins, Dick Hyman, Hank Jones, Lee Musiker, Mike Renzi, Richard Wyands, Milt Hinton, Major Holley, Jay Leonhart, Michael Moore, George Mraz, Rufus Reid, Leroy Vinnegar, Buddy DeFranco, Harry Allen, Lee Konitz, Ken Peplowski, Phil Woods, Jack Sheldon, Don Sickler, Al Grey, Johnny Frigo, Gene Bertoncini, Kevin Eubanks, Joe Ascione, Terry Clarke, Keither Copeland, Jake Hanna, Butch Miles and Ben Riley to name a few.
Meredith d'Ambrosio continues to delight those who have come to expect a high degree of proficiency in her artistic offerings and has shown herself to be, if not an iconoclast, one who is comfortable enough with her own sense of self to challenge the mainstream concept of popularity without sacrificing considerable talents and originality.
"To listen to d'Ambrosio is to abandon oneself to her charm. She leaves you spellbound with her impeccable diction, great sense of phrasing, intonation, and gentle swing, showing an unaffected simplicity and inner lyricism that expresses more than all the high-soaring excesses of scat singers." (Serge Baudot, Jazz Hot, France) "Her secret, one shared by very few singers, is her ability to deliver the meaning of a lyric in her understated and hip-as-can-be way."
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Meredith d'Ambrosio: Sometime Ago
by Angelo Leonardi
Dopo dieci anni di silenzio discografico è un gran piacere ascoltare un nuovo album della cantante di Boston, il diciassettesimo per la Sunnyside, con cui pubblica dalla metà degli anni ottanta, qualche anno dopo il suo debutto. Più che cantante Meredith preferisce definirsi “song stylist" e tale resta all'età di 81 anni, senza perdere un grammo di classe interpretativa e pregevole essenzialità. Con l'età il timbro s'è irrobustito, conferendo nuove ombreggiature al suo eloquio ma intonazione e ...
Continue ReadingMeredith d'Ambrosio: By Myself
by Raul d'Gama Rose
The deliciously husky contralto of Meredith d'Ambrosio is unlike any other today, but that's obvious. What is not immediately evident is the effect it has, the body's temperature rising slowly--not after listening to a few charts on By Myself, for that would take too long; but after hearing but a few short choruses. By the time the song in question is over, the mind is delirious and ready to surrender body and soul to d'Ambrosio. Of course it helps that ...
Continue ReadingMeredith D'Ambrosio: Love Is for the Birds
by Dave Nathan
If the course of time is a major factor in determining the success and long term popularity of an entertainer, then vocalist Meredith D'Ambrosio has graduated Summa Cum Laude. Love Is For the Birds is the singer's 14th album for the Sunnyside label. Yet her first recording was for an outfit called Spring, cut in 1978, more than 24 years ago. She is at a point of her career when she can be exceedingly discerning in picking the contents of ...
Continue ReadingMeredith d'Ambrosio on Horace Silver
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Meredith d’Ambrosio is one of the finest and most distinctive jazz singer-songwriters around today. And she’s a terrific pianist and a superb traditionalist painter. Her artwork is on the covers of all but one of her 17 albums. Most of all, Meredith’s playing and singing style are all her own and deeply intimate. She never mirrored anyone, choosing instead to create a completely new approach to songwriting and singing that emanates from her heart. I first heard her on It’s ...
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Meredith d'Ambrosio: Sometime Ago
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
What a joy to hear Meredith d'Ambrosio sing again. She just released a new album, Sometime Ago (Sunnyside), her first since 2012. And in keeping with all of her other albums, Meredith's artwork graces the cover. She's backed once again by an extraordinary group of musicians—Randy Halberstadt on piano, Daryl Johns on bass and his father Steve Johns on drums. Don Sickler's flugelhorn appears on Halberstadt's title track and he adds his muted trumpet on Oh Well, What the Hell, ...
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Meredith d'Ambrosio in 10 Tracks
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
What I love most about vocalist Meredith D'Ambrosio is her ability to exude innocence and sophistication at the same time. Her first album, Lost in His Arms, was recorded in 1978 and from then on, Meredith has amazed me with her talent and artistry. She's a composer, an arranger, a painter (her paintings grace virtually all of her album covers), a mosaicist and a pianist. She's also a wonderful soul. Happy birthday, Meredith! Here are 10 favorite tracks by Meredith ...
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Meredith D'Ambrosio in 1981
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
One of my regrets about my college years in Boston during the 1970s is not going to see Meredith D'Ambrosio perform around town. Back then, I was either at the Harvard “Coop" buying jazz LPs, at Paul's Mall and the Jazz Workshop at night during the week and at discos on the weekends. Soon after I started JazzWax in 2007, I made up for lost time, and Meredith and I have been close pals ever since. Yesterday, I spent much ...
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Interview: Meredith d'Ambrosio
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Yesterday I was listening to Meredith d'Ambrosio accompany herself on piano while singing Love Is a Simple Thing. The song appears on her sterling album Another Time (1981), which is one of my favorites of hers. Meredith and I have emailed for years, since she loves JazzWax and I love her voice and piano. As I listened, I thought I'd give you a treat by uniting five parts of my 2009 interview with Meredith in a single post. As I'm ...
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Meredith D'Ambrosio on Jackie Cain
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
When Jackie Cain died last week, I immediately thought of jazz singer-pianist Meredith d'Ambrosio. Meredith also has an intimate, conversational vocal style and, like Jackie, has an ear for great little-known songs that match her personality perfectly. Meredith and I chat often, so I asked her for a few recollections on Jackie (and Roy). Here's what Meredith said... “From the moment I heard Jackie and Roy's Euphoria on Symphony Sid's amazing jazz show on Boston radio in the early 1950s, ...
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Interview: Meredith D'Ambrosio (PT 5)
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
On her most recent album, Wishing on the Moon (Sunnyside), singer Meredith d'Ambrosio decided to record all originals-- words and music. Here, you get to experience the full effect of Meredith's poetic talents as a lyricist and writer of hip melodies. By the second song you realize how underrated she is as a composer and wordsmith. [Photo: Meredith and her late husband and pianist Eddie Higgins in 2001]For example, here are the words to Have You Noticed:
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Interview: Meredith D'Ambrosio (PT 4)
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JazzWax by Marc Myers
Meredith d'Ambrosio's voice comes closest to Bill Evans' sound on the piano of any vocalists I know. Both artists' recorded works are deeply poetic and worship space. Unfortunately, Evans and Meredith never recorded together, though the union would have been a near-perfect marriage of styles. By the time Meredith was recording in earnest in the 1980s, Evans, of course, had already died. You can hear what I mean about the closeness of the approach in the Evans-favored songs that Meredith ...
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Interview: Meredith D'Ambrosio (PT 3)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
When you first speak with vocalist Meredith d'Ambrosio, you hear a shyness that comes when artists devote most of the their waking hours to their work and little time interacting with others. But Meredith is no mouse. Spend time with her and you hear a distinct take-charge sensibility, a gentle get-it-done mindset that has served her well as a jazz singer, pianist, composer, lyricist and visual artist. [Photo: Meredith playing and singing at Boston's Camelot Lounge in 1966]
During the ...
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Interview: Meredith D'Ambrosio (PT 2)
Source:
JazzWax by Marc Myers
Meredith d'Ambrosio's life reads like an Edith Wharton novel. For years, the Boston vocalist struggled with a mother and father who rarely spoke to each other, leaving her somewhat unprepared to deal with an early love and then a marriage that quickly fizzled. Through it all, Meredith managed to remain focused on studying visual arts, a safe harbor of sorts from the tension and strife in her personal life. Part of the difficulty at home was that Meredith's mother had ...
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