Press/Reviews
Improvijazzation Nation
by Rotcod Zzaj
Cool vocal jazz here from Samantha & her players (Philip Burkhead on piano; Bill Jackson on bass, Wiiam Brian Hogg on tenor/soprano sax & Dan Dorff on drums), though unfortunately there were no (linkable) samples, you can listen to samples in her MUSIC ROOM page. All-in-all a very enjoyable set…. 9 tracks that emphasize the jazz spirit unquestionably. I particularly enjoyed the energy on "A Foggy Day" - almost exactly like you’re right in the lounge where she’s singing this (or the studio where it was made, perhaps). I give Samantha and crew a HIGHLY RECOMMENDED, with an “EQ” (energy quotient) rating of 4.97.
Click here to see review on the Improvijazzation Nation website.
O's Place Jazz Newsletter
Samantha has a large rich voice that defies her petite stature. Phillip Burkhead (piano), Bill Jackson (bass), William Brian Hogg (sax) and Dan Dorff (drums) provide ample support. Carlson selected each of these pieces carefully reflecting her positive and jovial mood. This comes through in the performance. Day In - Day Out is a solid, emotional debut.
Click here to see review on the O's Place Jazz Newsletter website.
Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange
by Mark S. Tucker
Samantha Carlson's self-produced Day In - Day Out is true lounge music and quite notable for its unusually refreshing joie de vivre, the sort of well executed sparkling set of standards that would be perfectly at home at any of the major labels (wherein I expect she'll shortly find herself). Van Alexander, who arranged the compositions and has worked for Dean Martin, Chick Webb, Ella Fitzgerald, and various others notes that what attracted him to Carlson was her perfect intonation, and he's quite right. While listening to the opening title cut, I was struck not only by the vivacity of the recitation but a mysterious something that illuminated the song. Sure enough, it was that sonorous crystalline purity, and I thought "She can't keep this up!", yet that's exactly what she did, every note perfectly shaped, song after song.
Perhaps the most interesting element here is the cross between fidelity to the originals and the making of them into her own. Several songs should be more moody than they are but damned if Carlson doesn't re-create them so well that you half wonder if the writers didn't really intend them that way in the first place. Even when damping things down, there's an irrepressible joy and vibrant serenity that imbues everything she does, and, more than once, drummer Dan Dorff adds considerable spice and piquancy, especially in the first two cuts, taking them to the side of themselves.
The sole disappointing aspect of this release is the fact that it's only a little over a half hour long, halfway between an EP and a full CD, but I find I'm more than satisfied by the nine cuts offered regardless. As I say, Day In - Day Out is 100% lounge music and, had I been passing through the foyer of the Hyatt Regency or Ritz Carlton, I would've made a bee-line for the bar the moment I heard Carlson's voice, stayed there, mistily downed a brace of cocktails with a smile on my face and snap in my fingers (catch her and pianist Philip Burkhead prancing about in A Foggy Day), thus making the management very happy before returning again the next day for more of the same. And the day after. And the day after that.
Click here to see review on the Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange website.
Midwest Record
by Chris Spector, Editor and Publisher
SAMANTHA CARLSON/Day In Day Out - A solid voiced new thrush with a voice that could be well suited to Broadway steps up and tackles the classic song book. While there's no new ground broken here, this is simply one of those sets that serves you well if you just chose to sit back and enjoy it. An engaging vocalist that knows how to hit all the right notes and deliver the words so you never wonder what she's singing. Jazz vocal fans are well advised to keep an ear out for this youngster as she continues to perfect a sound that's well on it's way already. Well done.
Click here to see review on the Midwest Record website.
Amazon
by Grady Harp, March 13, 2013
She has it all - Beauty, Technique, Style, Communication, March 15, 2013
Coming across jazz vocal stylists who happen to show the careful training of a classical music singer is a particular pleasure. And when that rare artist can put across a song - upbeat and ballad - in a way that makes you want more then you know you've hit on a rara avis. That, ladies and gentlemen is Samantha Carlson!
The nine tracks on this CD show Samantha's many talents well. She can drive a bouncy tune as aptly as she can embrace our hearts with plaintive ballads. And as far as collaboration is concerned, she has the company of some very fine jazz musicians - Philip Burkhead, piano, Bill Jackson, bass, William Brian Hogg, tenor and soprano sax (his riffs are terrific!), and Dan Dorff, drums. Together this fine ensemble offers the following songs:
- Day In- Day Out - Bloom and Mercer
- Sway - PB Ruiz
- Embraceable You, The Man I Love, and A Foggy Day by the Gershwins
- Song of Raintree County - Greene and Webster a rarely heard gorgeous little song in Carlson's and Burkhead's hands
- Misty - Garner and Burke
- But Beautiful - Burke and Van Heusen
- Lullaby of Birdland - Shearing and Weis
Samantha Carlson is a true find and if you have not experienced how she can change a song to make it new and fresh and definitely her own, this recording is a fine introduction.
Click here to see review on the Amazon website