Barbara Carroll to release new album

HARBINGER RECORDS PRESENTS
HARBINGER RECORDS has announced the release of the new CD from piano jazz legend BARBARA CARROLL. The CD Something To Live For: Live at Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola – the most improvisational album of a recording career that stretches back to 1951 – was captured in performance at New York’s nightclub overlooking glittering Manhattan. The disc, which will be in stores and online on April 27, 2010, was produced by Todd Barkan.

Carroll’s trademark versatility is displayed with songs from theater (“All I Need Is The Girl” from Gypsy and “Lonely Town” from On The Town) and film (she has a ball with the rollicking lyric of the famous list song “How About You?” from Babes on Broadway, complete with new references to Derek Jeter and Barack Obama). As usual, she includes several classics written by her late colleagues Dizzy Gillespie (“A Night In Tunisia”) and Cy Coleman (“I Wanna Be Yours”).

The fluid lyric lines of her piano style pay a special homage to Duke Ellington on this album. His music is featured on five tracks including songs like “In A Sentimental Mood” and “Mood Indigo” that have gone on to be pop standards, in addition to favorites of the jazz community like “Single Petal Of A Rose” and “Things Ain’t What They Used To Be.”

In addition to Ms. Carroll on piano and vocals, the CD features Jay Leonhart on bass and Alvin Atkinson on drums.

Barbara says “Jay and I have been making music together for over 35 years. He’s one of the most sympathetic musicians in the world, a complete joy to play with. He allows me to be totally free, to move in any direction I choose to go with the music. And Alvin is simply as tastefully supportive and joyously swinging as any drummer in the world.”

Special guest star Ken Peplowski on tenor saxophone and clarinet joins in for the second half of the album.

“Ken is just the best there is and what fun to be on the bandstand with him,” adds Barbara. “He’s always open to new ideas and the sound of surprise.”

Barbara launched the CD release with a return to Dizzy’s. She continues her lauded series of Sunday Bunch concerts at the Algonquin Hotel’s famed Oak Room through June 20, 2010.

BARBARA CAROLL is an elegant jazz pianist, composer and vocalist who has long been regarded as one of the most fascinating purveyors of swinging jazz piano and rhythmic, expressive vocals. Whether Ms. Carroll is rendering a composition by Harold Arlen, Cole Porter, Billy Strayhorn or Thelonious Monk, her inventive piano playing and totally unique vocal sound insure that she will transform that composition into her own art – presented as no one else has presented it – with her trademark emotional directness and respect for the tune and all of its many possibilities.

She began playing piano at age five in her native Worcester, Massachusetts, with classical training starting when she was eight. Although Barbara continued her piano studies through high school and attended the New England Conservatory of Music, she always maintained her fervent interest in jazz improvisation.

Influenced early on by Nat Cole, Bud Powell, Charlie Parker and other important musicians of the era, noted jazz critic Leonard Feather called her “the first girl to play bop piano.” After her New York debut at the Downbeat Club on legendary 52nd Street, it wasn't long before Barbara's progressive, percussive and lyrical style helped her establish a career that has set her apart.

Her diverse musical career has encompassed appearing on Broadway with her trio in Rodger's and Hammerstein's Me and Juliet to appearances in concert halls, jazz clubs, festival stages throughout the world. She has performed on many major TV programs including regular appearances with Dave Garroway on the original “Today” show. She has performed for President and Ms. Clinton at the White House. She has made over thirty recordings on labels such as Atlantic, RCA Victor, Verve, Blue Note and DRG with an array of jazz luminaries that includes Art Farmer, Jay Leonhart, Claudio Roditi, Bucky Pizzarelli, John Pizzarelli and Randy Sandke. Equally at home in a concert hall or intimate music room, she connects with her audience through the passion, joy and emotional power of her performance.

In 2002, Ms. Carroll completed her record-breaking run at the famed Bemelmans Bar in the Carlyle Hotel, where she appeared each spring and fall for extended engagements for 24 years. In recent years, Ms. Carroll has received several Lifetime Achievement Awards including the Kennedy Center’s “Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz” Award, special honors from the Manhattan Associates of Clubs and the Back Stage Bistro Awards, as well as the National Arts Club’s “Distinguished Artist” Award. The venerable “Highlights in Jazz” concert series paid tribute to Ms. Carroll with an all-star evening featuring Bill Charlap, Grady Tate, Jackie Cain, and Kenny Washington.

Visit Ms. Carroll’s new website: www.BarbaraCarrollJazz.com.