Dance Delicioso by Chris McNulty

Dance Delicioso - A joyful dance, the music flows like a river, taking the listener along for a ride through sonic storytelling at its best. Dance Delicioso stays in the mind and begs for repeated listening. Featuring jazz luminaries Mulgrew Miller on piano, Gary Bartz and Gary Thomas on saxophones, Billy Hart on drums, Ugonna Okegwo on bass, and Paul Bollenback on guitars among others.

McNulty’s alluring title track “Dance Delicioso” crosses over between storytelling, world music sensibility and top notch jazz improvisation. Her poignant portrayals of her original “Last Farewell” and the Irish folk ballad “He Moves Through The Fair” are delicately woven among jump-for-joy versions of the classic standards “All of You” and “Star Eyes”. The truly trance-like “Meaning of the Blues” serves as the thread to round out this remarkable listening experience.

What the critics have to say.....

“Eloquent, expressive and extremely exciting. Chris McNulty is without doubt an inspirational jazz singer. At a time when it would appear that just about anyone can be promoted as being a ‘jazz singer,’ refreshingly Chris is the genuine article. The subtle variations she applies to each song aptly illustrate her unflinching commitment to jazz. A consummate artist, her unsentimental approach suggests a certain vulnerability and emphasises an intimacy and sensitivity few singers can match.”
— Mike Pinfold, co-author of On Jazz Singing – Singers & Their Styles, UK March 2005.

“Jazz singer Chris McNulty gets right to the work of jazz & vocal horn lines with her singular take of the cogent Cole Porter original, ‘All Of You.’ Chris stretches & soars in & out of the lyric, harmony, & melody, et al. Through it all, the tune emerges whole. This is a girl who can tear a song apart viably in front of your very ears… and, what a joyful noise she makes as the musical pieces break off & hit our senses beautifully.”
— George W. Carroll, The Musicians’ Ombudsman, July 2005.

“The McNulty-penned title tune tells a handful of life-affirming stories, with some lush background harmonies, and listen to her voice as it rises from womanly to girlish as she when she tells a young girl’s tale. A beautiful, original, polished effort.”
— Dan McCleneghan, All About Jazz, July 2005

“If you’re not in a jazz mood, you will be when you listen to the title track.. Chris’s vocals are solid, yet sultry, & will capture your heart immediately, not to mention your ears… it’s my favourite cut on the CD. She’s backed by about 12 players, not to mention the 4 member vocal (backing) group. The recording is superb, & will have jazz fans dazed for days. This lady isn’t afraid to step into new territory, & it’s evident from the broad range of styles on the album… she sings material by Annie Lennox, Cole Porter & Bobby Troup – & does it her own way! True talent is rare, but it’s clear that Ms. McNulty has it in spades… along with a joy for singing that communicates to the listener without her having to try (or so it sounds). You won’t find an album quite as timeless again this year, I’ll bet you… if you love great jazz vocals, you’ll have to get this one! This gets a Most Highly Recommended from my ears, as well as the “pick” of this issue for “Best Female Jazz Vocals”. Cool jazz, but with vigour!”
— Dick Metcalf, Improvjazzation Nation, July 2005.

“Although this is Chris McNulty’s fifth CD, she remains less well known than is her due. An inventive and thoroughly engaging jazz singer with an especially attractive touch with ballads, Chris has been delighting audiences for the past two decades. For anyone who has missed hearing her, either in live performance or on record, this CD will be a revelation. This is a singer of considerable character and vast experience who brings to every song she sings an originality often lacking in the work of better-known contemporaries. Here, Chris is accompanied by a team of very good instrumentalists drawn from the foremost ranks of today’s jazz and session players, among whom are pianist Mulgrew Miller, alto saxophonist Gary Bartz, cellist Eric Friedlander, drummer Billy Hart, bassist Ugonna Okegwo and guitarist Paul Bollenbeck. The songs are a pleasing mix of standards and originals composed by Chris. Definitely a CD to look out for and to savour.”
— Bruce Crowther, UK journalist & writer, July 2005.

“One of the current generation of jazz singers most deserving of a wider audience and greater recognition…her treatments suggest not only her familiarity with, but also her affinity for, raga’s modal structure as she explores the quarter tones and introduces subtle vocal embellishments American jazz singers don’t usually adopt.”
— Bill Donaldson, Jazz Improv, Fall 2005

“Chris McNulty’s CD Dance Delicioso has been selected as one of the best records of the month by our staff of reviewers, meaning that the sticker “Consigliato da Musica Jazz” (= recommended by Musica Jazz) will appear on the reproduction of its cover within the review section of the October issue of Musica. Moreover, every second month a small poster including the covers of the recommended CDs will be sent to selected Italian record shops. The other best records of the month on the October issue of “Musica Jazz” are:* Charlie Haden & the Liberation Music Orchestra – “Not In Our Name”.”
— Musica Jazz Review, Italy, October 2005.

Chris McNulty is vocal jazz musician, composer and educator and the recipient of numerous awards including the 2013 Australian Bell Award for Best Vocal Jazz album for ‘The Song That Sings You Here'. Her groundbreaking release ‘Eternal’ placed 11th on the DownBeat Readers Poll 2015 for Album of the Year. She was also the recipient of a 2019 Bundanon Trust Prelude Composer Residency award.

chrismcnulty.com