Search - Valerie Joyce :: Reverie

The Power To Dream Aloud

Northern Hemisphere | 09/08/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Valerie Joyce is a talented composer and musician for whom much opportunity exists. Her debut album, Reverie, is a competent step into jazz recording. The brightest light for the Seattle resident is her voice, a resonant wisp of serenity that can be massaged for power and effect.

Joyce immersed herself in challenges that are endemic to producing one's first record: technical production, arrangement, comfort and style. Valerie's decision to showcase range and ability produced mixed results but will, in the long term, greatly benefit the musician.

Valerie Joyce can write. "Oasis," the first of four original songs within, represents fundamental penmanship. On "Silent Sky," Valerie's voice stirs like a breeze off Seattle's Puget Sound in a state of mind that undoubtedly prevailed when she penned this song. The composition's endearing simplicity casts optimism on the integrity of the idea. On "Orchid," Joyce pursues her vocals in the power of quietude. On "Christmas Eve," we hear the first overt studio effects and they enhance the nostalgic feel of vocal-piano duet. In a future incarnation, one bets that Joyce would imbue this arrangment with strings. Time will bring a welcome complexity to Joyce's future writings.

Reverie is rooted in a sparse and, therefore, limited sonic sensibility. When one possesses the pipes, as Valerie Joyce does, studio effects can be tastefully employed to powerful ends. Such indulgence would have enriched not only the fundamental effects of instruments such as saxophone, flugelhorn and flute, but the players' opportunities to maximize those machinations. This kind of playing could generate an aural environment with more affected post-production. As Joyce relaxes, so will her arrangements.

Jazz vocalists habitually contain instrumental improvization and, in this case, the finished product felt abbreviated. Valerie Joyce has the potential of using voice and instruments to reciprocate and augment each other. Spontaneity can be difficult in a recording studio. Sometimes, it is best to just hit "play" and "record," and dream aloud.

Reverie is an adept entry to the artistic continuum or recording. Valerie Joyce must now cast her rich timber in different aural contexts in order to diversify her vocal talent. A drier, less airy, delivery would prompt a more purely improvised, spontaneous incantation. Valerie can also look forward to the learning curve that inevitably accompanies studio production experience.

When she breathes, technically and aesthetically, Valerie Joyce could a force of jazz.



By Gregory J. Robb- Jazz Improv Magazine (Summer 2004 Vol.4)"

If you like Billie Holiday or Norah Jones, you'll love this

Karah Stokes | Lexington, KY United States | 07/06/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I can't stand to listen to most jazz singers except Lady Day and Norah Jones, and the latest Diana Krall CD -- they sound affected and far too mannered at the cost of sincerity, as if they are just listening to themselves making a beautiful sound. But Valerie Joyce is way different: she sounds like she really means what she is singing. Check out especially track 9, "The Shadow of Your Smile." She also has an amazing, unique voice, which she uses to perfection, riding its dynamics like a hawk rides a thermal far above the ground. In its high register, it sounds like a breathy flute; in its low register, it sounds like an alto saxophone, and she effortlessly shifts between them, according to the emotions of the song. On top of all this, the instrumentation is tasteful and gorgeous. Nothing gets in the way of the song. I'm glad I discovered this."

Simply Dazzling!

Karah Stokes | 06/22/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I apologize for the tidy review regarding vocalist Valerie Joyce. However, the symbiosis between her choice of sidemen & her disciplined vocalise, suggests a succinct commentary. Her project is simply dazzling. The group deserves accolades as well for creating a solid musical base for Valerie to intone her songs to the masses. This is subtle & restrained vocalism. This is a singer with a new delicateness & grace...Offering us a whole realm of vocal possibilities to reckon with.George W. Carroll/The Muscians' Ombudsman"