Salena Jones and Her Sextet at The Pheasantry

“America`s loss is Britain`s gain ......in the front rank of singers, Infinitely versatile she can swing from jazz standards to more intimate material. Jones is pure class. We should tempt her back more often” – Clive Davis, The Times Arts.

Salena Jones has been described by one writer as “one of the world`s greatest jazz singers”, and in contrast by another as “not altogether jazz orientated”. The truth is that she is impossible to categorise. Whatever the material, Salena Jones brings to it her own highly distinctive interpretation. Here and there a hint of Sarah Vaughan and Carmen McCrae, but essentially she has developed a personal style which owes little to anyone. She sings each number relatively “straight”. No extensive improvisations, no vocal histrionics, no over-dramatics or psuedo-emotional outpourings....

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“America`s loss is Britain`s gain ......in the front rank of singers, Infinitely versatile she can swing from jazz standards to more intimate material. Jones is pure class. We should tempt her back more often” – Clive Davis, The Times Arts.

Salena Jones has been described by one writer as “one of the world`s greatest jazz singers”, and in contrast by another as “not altogether jazz orientated”. The truth is that she is impossible to categorise. Whatever the material, Salena Jones brings to it her own highly distinctive interpretation. Here and there a hint of Sarah Vaughan and Carmen McCrae, but essentially she has developed a personal style which owes little to anyone. She sings each number relatively “straight”. No extensive improvisations, no vocal histrionics, no over-dramatics or psuedo-emotional outpourings.

“The attraction lies in her voice quality pure and simple, rather than in the clever manipulation of words or music. This was particularly evident on two ballad numbers - “If I Should Lose You” and “When I Fall In Love” - which were both counted in at an unusually slow tempo. At the same time her phrasing is never less than elegant, and her time is very jazz-influenced. The conviction with which she closed her performance, with a medley of blues, provided clear confirmation of her musical roots” – Daily Telegraph.

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