Jazz Boxx by Susan Getz

Her sound is reminiscent of Chet Baker or Patsy Cline yet all her own. This exciting work -flush with talent and musical sensibility- mines the American jazz tradition of musical exploration digging deep with original compositions, jazz standards, and pop tunes. Favorites bust out including a ridiculous rendition of The Beatles' hits "Come Together", a groove-laden "The Long And Winding Road" and Susan's hip ballad "Say Goodbye To Love". Open Jazz Boxx for an earful!

Susan Getz

A unique singer on the rise, with a captivating new CD

It's not often that a delightful new singer appears on our radar with a distinctive voice and assured grace already in place, but San Francisco vocalist Susan Getz is doing just that. From the first note she sings, it's clear that Susan has been listening to the greats, but there's no doubt that her sound is her own.

Now, with an ever-growing resume of appearances in major Bay Area music venues like the Plush Room, Bruno's, Shanghai 1930, CafÈ du Nord and Zebulon's Lounge, and with her beautiful new CD, Jazz Boxx, in hand, Susan Getz stands ready to bring her wonderful, singular sound to a wider musical audience.

No less a jazz expert than famed producer Teo Macero said upon listening to Jazz Boxx, "It's nice to hear a new voice. Susan Getz is on the right path, with a charming sound and a different style. The concept, to be sure, is hers alone."

Susan sings with economy and a ready warmth, underscored by an ever-present yet controlled emotion. She stays close to the melody, generally eliminating flourishes and vocal adornments.

Asked to describe her own style, Susan answers with a smile, "I try to sing like Ernest Hemingway writes. He doesn't put in a lot of extra words, but he's very descriptive. I think it was Miles Davis who said, 'Don't worry about playing a lot of notes. Just find one pretty one.' That's what I shoot for in my music."

It's no surprise that the vocalists she says have influenced her most-Chet Baker, Peggy Lee, Astrud Gilberto, Carmen McRae and Carlos Jobim-are all paragons of understatement and smoldering emotion. While all of these performers have made their mark on Susan, it's the Gilberto and Lee influences that seep out of her singing most clearly.

This doesn't mean Susan is afraid to take chances. She often approaches songs from unique directions, bringing fresh perspectives to timing and harmonies that allow her to illuminate surprising corners of long familiar favorites. She has a deft lyrical touch that lends her lovely originals a heartfelt but quiet empathy.

Susan also gives her sidemen plenty of room for creativity, encouraging counter-rhythms and inventive harmonies that add a creative depth and tension to Susan's performances. The proof is in the heartfelt efforts turned in on Jazz Boxx by pianist Leonard Thompson, bassist David Ewell, drummer Jemal Ramirez and trumpeter Joel Ryan, an ensemble of some of the Bay Area's finest instrumentalists.

Susan grew up in a musical household in Ohio. Her mother taught her the standards, and her first

performing "gig" was as a five-year-old, standing on a table in the family garage, playing tambourine with her older brother's rock band. Her singing career started in 2000 when she began music lessons with jazz and cabaret legend Faith Winthrop and Bay Area piano great Dick Hindman.

With a firm grasp on her compositional and arranging skills, and her warm, strong voice, Susan Getz is poised for wonderful things, eager to share her unique sound and captivating, intimate style.

As Susan puts it, "You know the kind of songs someone might be singing in your ear on the dance floor? That's the tone I like."

As Teo Macero requests, "Let's hear more from the silky voice of Susan Getz."

Reviews and News

NPR Selects Jazz Boxx for All Songs Considered Open Mic

NPR, National Public Radio, features Jazz Boxx Track #2 The Long And Winding Road on All Songs Considered Open Mic, Stage 48.

"Frequently new singers follow other great singers in style, not that I disapprove, but it is nice to hear a new voice. Susan Getz is on the right path with a charming sound and a different style coming from her first cd. The concept, to be sure, is hers alone. Susan, let's hear more from you, the silky voice of Susan Getz."

Teo Macero--Spring 2004

"Cool Scene." Janet Eastman --Los Angeles Times

"Susan Getz keeps the spirit of West Coast Cool alive on her debut recording, Jazz Boxx. She exhibits her jazz/pop sensibility with Robert Palmer's "Honeymoon" as well as Lennon/McCartney's "Long and Winding Road" and "Come Together." All three selections showcase Getz's warmth and tenderness. Another facet of Getz's artistry is her distinctive interpretation of Great American Songbook standards. Worthy of note are Susan Getz's originals, which truly highlight her potential. Her songs fit hand in glove with her voice and style. "Say Goodbye to Love" is a hauntingly beautiful piece." Susan Getz's intentions, intimacy, lyricism, and passion for the music shine through.

Jeff Hedberg--AllAboutJazz.com

"Aaaah Yes.........Jazz vocalist, Susan Getz comes at you right where it counts......Her vocal delivery hits you in the solar plexus area of your musical sensibilities, with taste, charm, enchantment, fascination, attraction, grace, art, aesthetics, & wit. This is a singer with an ability to offer her talent with a delicate & subtle yet equally strong sense of vocal liberation."

George W. Carroll/The Musicians' Ombudsman --ejazznews.com & jazzreview.com

"...a fresh new voice."

David Fender -- Raw Egg Radio

"She knows exactly what material to sing and how to find the right tone for each piece, evoking exactly the right emotion in every case. Her voice is in turns warm, vulnerable, seductive, touching, and witty.

Howard Feldstein -- JazzNow.com

"A remarkably new and refreshing voice has appeared on the West Coast in the form of Susan Getz...a voice that is at once restrained, yet strong enough to fill one's soul with the bittersweet vision she finds from within all the tracks on her well-balanced CD..."

Steve Lambert--The Green Lounge

"As Good As It Getz"

San Francisco Bay Guardian

"Like some of the most mature players, masters of subtlety - Miles Davis, Shirley Horn - Susan Getz makes the most with the fewest notes."

Winthrop Bedford -- Jazz Improv Magazine

Average Customer Review: