Irene Atman's Page

“Atman has that irresistible intonation ringing in her timbres which jazz vocalists have. She has a storybook perfect pitch able to touch the listener’s soul, understand the sorrows that burrow in their hearts, stroke their sensibilities with tender caresses and lick their wounds.”
- Susan Frances, JazzReview

"It is not often that a vocalist can stamp a song her own, but I can’t express enough how good Atman is at this. She knows how to swing, she knows how to sing ." - Christopher Lams, Jazz Improv NY

"Atman is clearly one of the finest singers around, gifted with a voice that allows her to reach high notes with ease, revealing a cool and enticing style that tenderizes the lyrics with a touch of class" - Edward Blanco, All about Jazz

"Irene Atman is the epitome of New York style. She knows the meaning and the feeling of what she sings. Her rendition of “Why Did I Choose You” will bring the sweet passions of love to a simmer. This song will never be sung any better, never with any more understanding and feeling of the sentiment expressed. " - Bob Gish, Jazz Improv NY

"Atman sings "Why did I choose you" with a vocal dexterity equivalent to a flute that can speak words. It's often difficult to tell that she's taken a breath, as she seamlessly moves from one sustained note to the next phrase" - Woodrow Wilkins, All about Jazz

"Atman has perfected the malleable harmony line, her voice stretching and contracting effortlessly in all four dimensions, defying the quantum mechanics of sonics." - C. Michael Bailey, All About Jazz

ABOUT IRENE
It’s been quite a year for Canadian recording artist Irene Atman who recently relocated to New York City from her hometown of Toronto to record her latest CD titled “New York Rendezvous”. Irene follows her highly acclaimed self-titled debut of 2007 with this latest release, backed by the finest jazz musicians on the New York scene today - Frank Kimbrough on piano, Jay Anderson on bass, Matt Wilson on drums and Joel Frahm on saxophone.

The disc’s title “New York Rendezvous” is just that – the reunion of Irene Atman and Frank Kimbrough after a couple of dozen years along different musical roads. Now together in New York , with Frank acting as musical director and co-producer of the CD, Irene Atman is being hailed as “one of the finest singers around, gifted with a voice that allows her to reach high notes with ease, revealing a cool and enticing style that tenderizes the lyrics with a touch of class”. (All about Jazz)

In a recent interview with Jazz Review, Susan Frances says, “Atman has a voice that was divined to sing jazz just as assuredly as was Tony Bennett, Shirley Bassey, Vicki Carr, or any other vocalist born with the timeless elegance that Atman possesses. She enables audiences to feel the lyrics and become a part of the stories being told in the songs.”

Born in Toronto, Irene is also an accomplished pianist. Her love for classic jazz started early. “I always say, that my greatest inspiration came from my father’s fruit cellar,” she said. As a child, she brought up a box of old records from the basement and asked her father to play them for her. “Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Doris Day. All of the greats”, she recalled. “I just loved them”.

At 19, while studying history at the University of Toronto, Atman credits that time as the official start of her professional career. During those years in Toronto, Irene sang with the Stan Hiltz Orchestra, recorded with the Boss Brass, and performed with the legendary Tony Bennett. She has also performed with jazz luminaries Guido Basso, Dave Young, Terry Clarke and Peter Appleyard. Last year, Irene toured Australia and Japan where she performed at the Canadian embassy in Tokyo with Makoto Ozone and Holly Cole for a Tribute to Oscar Peterson.

Upcoming performances in ’09 will see Irene performing at New York’s finest supper club Feinstein’s at Loews Regency where she will be joined by jazz greats Frank Kimbrough on piano, Jay Anderson on bass and Joel Frahm on saxophone