Music / Reviews
Ken Franckling's Jazz Notes
"Sarasota-based Synia Carroll is out with a gem of a debut recording. Here’s To You". The singer has a steady rhythm section, trio members – pianist Billy Marcus, bassist Don Mopsick and drummer Stephen Bucholtz – all terrific accompanists and soloists bringing much to the music. Dig their groove and Marcus’s romping solo on “My Favorite Things.” Max Kelly adds Latin percussion on three tracks. Carroll has a wonderful lilt and an innate sense of time that enables her to wrap herself inside a song and make it her own. Gems here include her takes on the Nina Simone hit “Be My Husband,” Mongo Santamaria’s “Afro-Blue” and the smoldering “Black Coffee.” Other favorites: “My Baby Just Cares for Me,” Edu Lobo’s “Tristeza” (“Goodbye Sadness” and the Shirley Horn-Joe Williams staple “Here’s to Life.” She’s used them to paint her own portrait of love and romance.
C. Michael Bailey All About Jazz
"Et in terra. Honesty in music is expressed in its simplicity. The first right thing that vocalist Synia Carroll does on her debut recording, Here's to You... is employ a jazz piano trio, the subatomic format for jazz: piano, bass, and drums. The second thing that Carroll does is fix her art in the earth, something older artists fail to do until later in their career, to their considerable disadvantage as I hear it. She mixes the frankly carnal with the grown up in "Be My Husband." This is responsible, grown up music like that of Dr. Louise Van Aarsen and Sue Sheriff. Grownups making grownup music. The second is she presents her art unadorned with synthetic production, to very great effect. Wow...this is how it is supposed to sound."
Joseph Lang Jersey Jazz
"This album should spread the word about Synia Carroll beyond Sarasota."
Paul Wilborn Palladium Theater St. Petersburg
"Synia Carroll took our audience on a thrilling ride through the music and the magic of Nina Simone."
