Reviews
Greta Matassa: Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, New York, NY. April 25, 2011
Seattle-based vocalist Greta Matassa made her first new York City appearance at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola on April 25. After hearing her first set, it was apparent that having her make the scene in the greatest of jazz centers was long overdue.
– Jersey Jazz Journal
Greta Matassa & Clipper Anderson: And to All a Good Night (Origin)
By Lee Mergner
In this beautifully recorded and produced album from the underrated Origin label, holiday music is given a set of exquisite and precise arrangements. The Seattle-based Matassa is the chief lead singer, although co-leader and bassist Anderson takes a turn in the spotlight on a few songs. The music could perhaps be described as West Coast cool jazz, but they mix up the rhythms pretty well. Matassa’s voice has a purity something like June Christy or Chris Connor and accordingly carries off the ballads with an austere beauty. In fact, austere beauty would be a good way to describe the entire session. The repertoire is not your usual group of songs, thanks to tunes like “November in the Snow” by Bill Mays and Mark Murphy, “Christmas Day” by Bacharach/David, and “Where Can I Find Christmas” by Doug Goodwin. This one may have to make an annual appearance in my household.
– Jazz Times
I Wanna Be Loved
After only a few tracks into my first listen of Matassa’s latest, numerous thoughts entered my mind: wow, this swings hard; tight arrangements; her scatting on the spirited opener “Broadway” is as confident, nimble and energetic as Ella’s; her phrasing is hip like Nancy Wilson; Matassa’s got her own unique style…
– Earshot Jazz
I Wanna Be Loved
Snappy, boppish, conversational- Greta Matassa is totally with her gutsy band-mates on this packed set of tight octet charts.
– DownBeat
Greta Matassa and Tula’s go together like Champagne and fizz
When it comes to Greta, it’s difficult for me to find the proper accolade…Audiences warm up to her right away. She utilizes top-notch players. She has the reputation that will bring in people who might not ordinarily come to Tula’s.
– The Seattle Times
The Smiling Hour
Greta Matassa’s voice is distinctive, with great individuality…Most enjoyable jazz vocal album I’ve heard in some time!
– Audiophile Audition
The Smiling Hour
“Her vocals are lilting where they should be, heavier where they should be, and she’s one of the few contemporary jazz vocalists that can pull off a proper round of scatting without coming off gimmicky”
– All Music Guide
Greta Matassa at the Rising Jazz Stars Foundation
“Matassa’s performance was a marvel of virtuosity.”
– Los Angeles Times
Favorites From A Long Walk
“Worldly, gentle, bold, dynamic, Favorites From a Long Walk is a gift for the heart. Greta Matassa is one of America’s finest singers, and stands firmly among the best in today’s jazz.”
– Jazz Review
Greta Matassa
“Greta’s dynamics and phrasing are always distinctive and exciting as she has tremendous range…a powerful, whiskey voice able to explore her own dimension.”
– The Voice 88.7FM
Home Sweet Homebody
“If Greta Matassa is not a jazz star outside of the Seattle area, it’s only because Matassa hasn’t performed much outside of the Seattle area.”
– The Oregonian
A Road Less Traveled: Greta Matassa’s ‘Favorites’
“Favorites is an album that may surprise many of Matassa’s fans.”
– Earshot Jazz
An Interview with Greta Matassa
“For her new album, Favorites From a Long Walk (Origin Records, 2005), which hits record stores in November, Matassa has looked beyond the standards and unearthed more than a dozen overlooked – yet timelessly classic – jazz tunes…”
– All About Jazz
Northwest Jazz Vocalist Greta Matassa
‘I’m doing a kind of quieter album…these songs haven’t been heard in a while.’
– NW Jazz Profile
Live at Tula’s
“This group is everything that you could want in a jazz band- hard swinging, fearless, sensitive, endlessly creative and technically brilliant.”
– JazzReview.com
Greta Matassa
“Greta Matassa was dazzling”
– The Stranger
Pascal, Matassa spread the good news
“A natural crowd-pleaser”
– All About Jazz
Greta Matassa: All This And Heaven Too
“Go find this record!”
– Planet Jazz
Vox cd reviews- Greta Matassa
“Echoing Rosie Clooney’s natural warmth and Nancy Wilson’s impeccable phrasing, Matassa moves from triumph to triumph”
– Jazz Times
Greta Matassa…In the Moment
Firey vocalist to sing the lead in PNB’s “Seven Deadly Sins”
“Vocalist Greta Matassa is a powerful and prominent voice in the Northwest jazz scene. Her vocal mastery allows her to come across husky, girlish, crisp or jaded.”
– Jazz Steps
Greta Matassa, “All This and Heaven Too; Live at Bake’s Place”
“Seattle native and jazz vocal genius Greta Matassa displays her impressive talent on her new, live recording, All This and Heaven Too.”
– Seattle Gay News
Matassa’s vocal passion powers “Ella & Billie”: tribute to jazz divas is singer’s tour de force
“A classy vocalist with a natural, hometown-girl stage presence”
– Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Group makes jazz come alive
“There was Matassa herself, whose voice can ping and pong along the highest riffs and effortlessly belt down to the darkest whiskey tones. She paid tribute to 14 legendary singers from Billie Holiday to Frank Sinatra, suggesting each singer’s spirit and style while making each song unmistakably her own.”
– Seattle Times
Jazz singer Matassa at home in “I’m a Stranger Here Myself”
“She’s so lighthearted and humorous. Her musicianship is so meticulous. Her voice is so lovely. Her stylings are so precise and detailed”
– Seattle Post-Intelligencer
Matassa hits the mark in Kurt Weill songfest
“Matassa phrases deftly and swings gently without muddying the songs’ melodic and rhythmic infrastructure. Her voice can remind you of Judy Garland’s.”
– Seattle Times
Greta Matassa
“Greta Matassa’s singing is touched by genius”
– Encyclopedia of Northwest Music
Matassa and Weill: musical chameleons
“A vocal chameleon herself, Matassa can sound husky or crisp, ebullient or wailing, girlish or jaded. She recalls Billie Holiday in one phrase, Cleo Laine in the next. Breathy at the top of her range, she also packs a warbling vibrato.”
– Seattle Times
Debut CD may give jazz singer Greta Matassa a new audience
“Featuring some of the top jazz sidemen in the Northwest, Got a Song That I Sing ranges from inventive bop to the hard swinging that Matassa is known for in her work with the big-band Jazz Police.”
– Tacoma News Tribune