Melissa Stylianou Group at 55 Bar

The singer’s fourth album (released this spring on Anzic Records) presents her fresh takes on beloved jazz standards and left-field songs from Johnny Cash to Joanna Newsom, backed by top New York players. Her concert on June 20 marks Melissa's return to her monthly residency (3rd Wednesday of each month) at 55 Bar.

It can be easily forgotten sometimes, but stories – telling them, hearing them – are at the heart of why we make music and are moved by it. Singer Melissa Stylianou feels this deep down, and with her fourth album – Silent Movie, released March 27, 2012 on Anzic Records – she moves closer than ever to the essence of storytelling in song. Stylianou renews standards long beloved in jazz – “Smile,” “Moon River,” “The Folks Who Live on the Hill” – even as she helps broaden the field by putting a personal spin on songs by James Taylor, Paul Simon, Johnny Cash and Joanna Newsom, accompanied by such top New York players as saxophonist/clarinetist Anat Cohen. Channeling a venerable tradition in jazz, Stylianou also puts her own lyrics to the music of celebrated composers, breathing fresh emotional life into instrumental pieces by Edgar Meyer and Vince Mendoza. And the album’s affecting title track is a new Stylianou co-composition that underscores why Downbeat magazine described her as “an original.”...

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The singer’s fourth album (released this spring on Anzic Records) presents her fresh takes on beloved jazz standards and left-field songs from Johnny Cash to Joanna Newsom, backed by top New York players. Her concert on June 20 marks Melissa's return to her monthly residency (3rd Wednesday of each month) at 55 Bar.

It can be easily forgotten sometimes, but stories – telling them, hearing them – are at the heart of why we make music and are moved by it. Singer Melissa Stylianou feels this deep down, and with her fourth album – Silent Movie, released March 27, 2012 on Anzic Records – she moves closer than ever to the essence of storytelling in song. Stylianou renews standards long beloved in jazz – “Smile,” “Moon River,” “The Folks Who Live on the Hill” – even as she helps broaden the field by putting a personal spin on songs by James Taylor, Paul Simon, Johnny Cash and Joanna Newsom, accompanied by such top New York players as saxophonist/clarinetist Anat Cohen. Channeling a venerable tradition in jazz, Stylianou also puts her own lyrics to the music of celebrated composers, breathing fresh emotional life into instrumental pieces by Edgar Meyer and Vince Mendoza. And the album’s affecting title track is a new Stylianou co-composition that underscores why Downbeat magazine described her as “an original.”

For more information go her websites www.melissastylianou.com
facebook.com/melissa.stylianou

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