After a dozen releases on Concord Jazz over the course of two decades — and three Grammy ® nominations for Best Jazz Vocal Album along the way — the versatile vocalist/pianist still believes that the emotional connection that takes place in a small, quiet club during the late hours is one of the best parts of the jazz.Allyson sings in English, French, Portuguese, Italian, and Spanish. The songs she performs are drawn from a variety of genres, including bossa nova, blues, bebop, pop standards, soft rock, and folk rock. She has recorded vocal performances of several instrumental jazz compositions, using both scat and vocalese techniques.
Her last cd “Round midnight” was release in 2011.
`Round Midnight, an 11 track collection was recorded in New York City and features tracks from a wide variety of sources, including Bill Evans, Paul Simon, Duke Ellington, Johnny Mandel, Thelonious Monk, Stephen Sondheim, even Charlie Chaplin. This album marks the first time in 13 records that Allyson plays all the keyboard parts — piano and Rhodes. In ‘Round Midnight, Allyson is joined by her long time partner, guitarist Rod Fleeman, with Bob Sheppard on woodwinds, harmonicist Randy Weinstein, bassist Ed Howard, whose previous associations include balladeer Shirley Horn, and drummer Matt Wilson.
“…utter musical fearlessness….a complete artist – one of the jazz world’s finest…” New York Times
“Allyson knows what jazz singing is all about…sometimes tender, sometimes tough, (she) always strikes the right chord.”- Associated Press
“No matter what she performs, Ms. Allyson is one of the most grounded singers working today.” – New York Times
