The name Angela Hagenbach may be new to jazz fans living beyond her hometown of Kansas City, but her sultry, restrained, and breathy vocal style is beautifully familiar -- at times, you might feel you're listening to a new Diana Krall project, but with a more exotic edge. This is especially clear when she plays it straight and sticks to the trio format, as she does on the easy swinging "I Can't Believe You're in Love With Me." The real key to Hagenbach's artistry -- and what will help her establish her own identity -- is her unique choices of style (journeying often into world music territory) and her love for a colorful delivery of very poetic lyrics. She turns Michael Franks' soulful "Tell Me All About It" into a cool, sexy bossa with a Rhodes undercurrent (courtesy of Roger Wilder). The bossa treatment of Rodgers & Hammerstein's "It Might as Well Be Spring" is similarly colorful. She turns "Dark Dreams," an original sonnet by lyricist Phyllis Becker, into a lively, witty Afro-Cuban adventure that allows her to express a deeper vocal timbre. Hagenbach then turns Becker's pantoum poem "You Keep Calling Me" into a brisk, gleefully percussive jam done in the Bahian afoxe style. Closer to home, she tackles "Blues Are Brewin'" by alternating her own seductive style with a hilarious historic dialogue with a mumbling Clark Terry, who also adds his inimitable muted trumpet expertise to the track. Other all-star guests who should help Hagenbach boost her visibility are Russell Malone and Jimmy Heath. ~ Jonathan Widran
Angela HagenbachKansas City singer/songwriter, "Angela Hagenbach, is one of those rare jazz vocalists who finds more in a song than the composer penned. Certainly more than one finds on the lyric sheet. Like Sarah Vaughan or Shirley Horn, Angela Hagenbach inhabits a song, and breathes new life into her carefully selected material. "Poetry of Love" is the answer to the question, 'Where have all the great jazz vocal records gone?'" writes Mark Bacon Producer/Host, Jazz After Dark and Pan American Rhythms, KRVS 88.
7 FM, Lafayette & Lake Charles, LA.
In October 2003, Hagenbach toured Brazil with SRO concerts in Rio de Janeiro and Ilhabela where she previewed selections from her latest recording, Poetry of Love, due in stores, January 20, 2004. This star-studded disc features jazz legends Clark Terry and Jimmy Heath. Also appearing are Russell Malone, James Williams, Don Braden and others, along with her HOT Latin Jazz ensemble. Poetry of Love is now available at angelahagenbach .
Singing everything from swinging straight-ahead Jazz Standards, Blues, and original compositions to sensual rhythmic Latin Jazz, Angela was praised by Cadence Magazine and JazzTimes for her "...Immediately appealing voice and razor sharp intonation." Her 2001 Grammy nominated national debut, Weaver of Dreams, garnered three stars from Downbeat Magazine, and was an immediate radio success. Weaver of Dreams shot to number five on the Gavin Jazz Chart in just six short weeks.
Her professional music career was launched in 1990; by 1994 Angela released her critically acclaimed recording debut Come Fly with Me on Amazon Records®. Scott Yanow of LA Jazz Scene, described it as "Full of rhythmic fire." Showcasing her Latin side, Angela released Angela Hagenbach HOT Latin Jazz in 1995. "...There is nothing more beautiful than a mixture of styles. To our delight, Angela Hagenbach Hot Latin Jazz does it with assurance, taking advantage of every moment," praised Sergio Mielnizenko, Producer of NPR's Brazilian Hour. Patricia Meyers from JazzTimes applauded Feel the Magic, Angela's 1997 release, "She possesses an extraordinary range, excellent phrasing and a singular style." She also won rave reviews for her theatrical debut when she co-starred in Duke Ellington's Sophisticated Ladies, presented in 2002 by The Theater League of Kansas City. As a fashion model, Angela graced international runways and appeared in countless television and rDown Beat (p.68) - 3 1/2 stars out of 5 - "Cheerful and savvy, Hagenbach blends sexy subtlety with smart phrasing, seldom raising her voice above a sandpapery coo."
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