Search - Amanda King :: Chanteuse

Based on her brilliant January 2008 Empire Plush Room show, this debut CD features songs of the 1930s and 40s that seem to have been written with Amanda s voice in mind. King is a singer that has only recently begun to explore the depth of her talent, and this offering shows the promise of now and next. She comes from a well practiced theatre background but her historied ties to classical, Broadway and jazz music are in good evidence on this CD. Able to meld all of these genres together with the exceptional genius of her musical trio - Shota Osabe on piano, Jeff Neighbor on bass, and Micha Nur Patri on drums on Chanteuse what you have is an album that swings brilliantly from beginning to end.

Reviews from her recent shows tell it all:

King at the Empire Plush Room was in her perfect element. The singer is a true throwback to the golden days of nightclubs...The audience was watching a more seasoned performer on the Plush Room stage. King has found new confidence and her voice has taken on many new horizons...and the thrilling Black Moonlight was so masterful that I never wanted it to end. The arrangement had enough power to send a rocket to the moon. Lee Hartgrave, BeyondChron.org

This singer was a suberb (sic) performer ( It s About Damn Time ). I expected a louder, brassier voice, and I was pleasantly surprised to be wrong. Her choice of material was delightful, and her delivery was pitch-perfect. I was SO glad I had taken a chance on this unknown (to me) singer. p.g. cabaret appreciator (Goldstar online review)

Amanda King performs Queenie (lead in Duke Ellington s opera Queenie Pie ) in a blond wig, exuding lots of stage presence and powerful vocal skills. In the middle of her range she sounds a bit like Ella. She also has a light, full high voice which she uses in her shipboard lament about missing New York, and a low, low voice set way deep in the chest and solid gold in placement. My only complaint was that most of the songs she sang were very short, almost conversational in tone. I longed to hear her sing on, to tell us the story, verse and refrain. Jaime Robles, Berkeley Daily Planet

Reviewers have singled out a few of the tunes from this new CD as being particularly masterful, especially the classic Cole Porter tune Love for Sale . It is being said her rendition here is the quintessential interpretation and will be the standard by which others will be judged! Slap That Bass is an Ella tune that starts the CD and it is serious swing from the very beginning. Lazy Afternoon takes the listener to a seductive place of quiet and warmth and will prove to be a must play for anyone in love. And Black Moonlight is simply fabulous. These classics and all of the songs on Chanteuse are beautifully sounded having been recorded, mixed, and mastered at the famous Fantasy Studios in Berkeley CA.

A debut worth buying and listening to again and again, with promise of much more to come!