Darby Dizard

American jazz vocalist Darby Dizard was born in San Francisco, adopted in her years, and "whisked away" to live with her new family in a sleepy town in Oregon. Her mother was a "Southern Belle" while her father was a WWII fighter-pilot turned sportscaster turned lawyer. At home, records were played constantly and she loved to memorize Nat King Cole songs. While Dean Martin was her mother's favorite, Dizard herself loved Frank Sinatra. Her parents' marriage fell apart when she was twelve. Longing for "the sophistication of New York", she went off to Sarah Lawrence College at the age of 17.

After college, Dizard visited Sean Swinney's studio to record a classical demo for opera competitions. While they were mixing the tape, she intimated to Swinney that her roots were really in rock and jazz, and that she would love to do some jazz singing again someday. Swinney gave her a few names of pianists he knew, and Dizard noted them down in her book, holding on to them over the years. In the summer of 1996, she finally called one of them - Christopher Cherney. All she had wanted to do was make a demo.

She cut a deal with Cherney to make a three-song jazz demo. They worked together on the songs, got the musicians together, and finally made the tape. It went so well that they decided to write some original music together. At the time, Cherney was roommates with Tony Romano, a guitar player.

Dizard, Cherney and Romano have been playing together ever since. Together with the rest of the band members (Jim Cammack, Artie Dixson, Cyro Baptista, and Patience Higgins), they are currently based in New York, New York.

Critical Reviews

"Lovely, voluptuous, animated, talented, sonorous, certainly sexy, and compelling is the craft of one jazz singer Darby Dizard? She can turn a phrase in favor of romantic fascination, soul, and wit? Darby sings to us with a tremendous range of mental fantasy, encompassing pastoral scenes to moonlit nights." - George W. Carroll, e-jazz news

"She commands one's attention from the first track? Shiver-inducing stuff? Worthy of the big room with the big speakers, these guys are worthy of any big room anywhere? Highly recommended? Three microphones (out of four)" - Doug Boynton, girlsingers.org

"Beautiful Lady, Beautiful Voice, Amazing Talent! ? bringing a depth of meaning to the lyrics with her buttery smooth voice. Yet she can just as easily pounce into the upbeat jazz medium in 'Speak Low' or into the wink of comedy delivery in her unique 'The Music Goes Round and Round' segueing into 'I Hear Music'. Or she can just tear your heart out with 'Early Autumn'." - Grady Harp, Amazon.com

"Listen to her soar on "Five Hundred Miles High" and "Early Autumn" and you feel the power of her voice." - D. Oscar Groomes, OsPlaceJazz.com

""This Time The Dream's On Me" is the highlight of this album." - John Gilbert, e-jazz news


Darby's official website: http://www.darbydizard.com
Darby on MySpace: www.myspace.com/darbydizard