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Sienna Dahlen

JUNO award-winning jazz vocalist, Sienna Dahlen was born in the pristine Kootenay region of southern British Columbia and raised in the northern gusty dusty Peace River region of the same province. Her upbringing and influences whir like vintage jukebox singles spanning a diversity of styles from Joni Mitchell to Ella Fitzgerald to kd lang. Always paving her own path, Sienna is hard to pin down. Her music and sound scale the outskirts of folk, jazz and the spatial avant-garde and the effect is a showering of sonic love. Sienna's latest release, a duo album entitled "Balladextrous", was recorded with Bill Coon on guitar and released on Cellar Music Records in June of 2023.

Awards

JUNO Award- Best Jazz Vocal Album, "Notes on Montreal" (Composer: Mike Rud, Vocalist: Sienna Dahlen)

East Coast Music Award, "Dream Cassette" (Composer: Joel Miller, Lyricist and Vocalist: Sienna Dahlen)

Opus Award, "Under the Influence Suite" (Composer: Christine Jensen, Lyricist and Vocalist: Sienna Dahlen)

David and Marcia Beach Award (private studies with David Binney)

Canada Council, Ontario Arts Council and Quebec Arts Council awards

Gear

Vocal mic, stand, monitors, pedals

Sienna Dahlen & Bill Coon: Balladextrous

Read "Balladextrous" reviewed by Pierre Giroux

by Pierre Giroux
August 29, 2023

Balladextrous, a collaborative jazz album featuring vocalist Sienna Dahlen and guitarist Bill Coon, is a delightful exploration of the ballad form which allows the artists to make moment-to-moment choices about how they are feeling the rhythm or letting it breathe. This session invites the listener on a soothing and introspective musical journey which showcases the artists' chemistry and individual virtuosity. Over the course of the nine tracks, Dahlen's warm and resonant voice, combined with Coon's delicate ...

“My first thought when hearing her enigmatic swooping vocals was of Jeff Buckley… The whole album has an enchanted feel; the songs are personal but not confessional, and the orchestration develops them perfectly. There’s unflinching clarity and also beauty in these songs of love and loss.“
Alison Bentley, London Jazz News, UK

"Ice Age Paradise is richly expansive and deeply searching." (It has) "the ability to sweep you away to some lunary world and Dahlen's voice is the only thing that keeps you tethered until it too drifts away...exquisite."Shelley Gummeson, CFBX Radio

“Dahlen has an extremely alluring voice, one that could sell rainwater in a snowstorm.”
Pascal-Denis Lussier (All About Jazz)

"Sienna Dahlen has made a beautifully compelling record that is soulful and unique." Ron Sexsmith, Canadian Singer-Songwriter

"...Verglas goes from the good to the great with “Carrie,” the last of its seven cuts and a stunningly memorable, rage-filled anthem against an impending death."
Peter Goddard (Toronto Star) 4/4 stars

"Good artists find a way to tackle difficult emotions with sincerity and clarity of vision. Sienna Dahlen has crafted a record that simultaneously expresses grief and grapples with how to transcend it; that tries to find peace and understanding in the coldest of states...Dahlen’s performance is a revelation."
Geoff Parent, (Dominionated)

“..I love her poetry. A voice filled with Molten Light!”
Katie Malloch CBC radio 2

"...(N)ous avons eu droit à cette matière riche, fruit d'une auteure-compositrice-interprète folkie, pianiste et guitariste dont la connaissance du travail harmonique propre au jazz, aussi aux musiques classique ou contemporaine, s'avère nettement supérieure à la moyenne chansonnière."
Alain Brunet, La Presse, Montreal, CA

“Jazz trained, pop-savvy and musically accomplished, West Coast transplant Sienna Dahlen negotiates many influences, melding them into her own distinct sound…As full and rich an indie recording as you’ll hear this year.”
Mary Lamey, The Gazette, Montreal, QC

“One of the best albums I’ve heard all year..Sienna Dahlen's voice can put you in a trance..and more importantly, remind you why you love music so much.”
Tonya Zelinski, Fast Forward Weekly, Calgary, AB

"What an incredible direction for jazz. Excellent singer..and beautiful instrumental work...she sounds like she's got something to say and really knows how to say it. Joni Mitchell should hear her. People would hear a musical/spiritual link between them.”
Bill Henderson, Canadian Producer, Composer, Musician

"When I listen to an artist, I listen from three main perspectives: technical prowess/command of musical language, emotional/spiritual connection, and vision/creative artistry (ie: does this individual have a Voice, something that makes them unique?). There is much music that excels in one or two of these areas; the best music, however, displays a more or less equal balance between these elements, and in my opinion Sienna falls into this rather rare category."
Dave Restivo, Three-time National Jazz Award-Winning Pianist

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