© 2005-2006 Datri Bean
One of the Top 5 DIY Albums of 2006
- Performing Songwriter
"Bean describes her music as "Southern-fried vintage jazz," and with its languid melodies and sultry vocal lines, it does sound as if it could have floated off a Georgia porch and landed by accident in rainy, cold Seattle. Bean's vocals recall Billie Holiday, only with sheer joy replacing all that pain." - Seattle P.I.
"A true original" - Performing Songwriter
" ...especially beguiling, at times recalling the dynamic between Billie Holiday and Lester Young." - The Stranger
"(Bean has a) seemingly inate ability to charm a packed house into quietude with infectious tunes about sweet tea and tamales." -About.com
"This is one of the best-written records you're likely to hear." - Victory Music Review
"Datri Bean creates a sound that makes me imagine a sunny, country afternoon sipping mint julips on an old screened porch, the air moving ever so slightly under the ceiling fan. It's a nice place to be." Vigilance Magazine and the F-Word E-Zine
FOLK MUSIC: ABOUT.COM
Review of live show
Tractor Tavern, Seattle, May 17, 2006
I've only seen Bean live on one occasion – when we shared a small, somewhat-impromptu showcase billing at a basically unknown neighborhood coffeeshop. Since then, however, I've become a fan of her latest record Slow Down Summertime, which sets to music perfectly what it feels like to spend a summer in the bayou country of Texas and Louisiana.
Unfortunately, playing the piano doesn't allow for as much bodily freedom as does playing the guitar, but Bean doesn't let that get in the way of her seemingly inate ability to charm a packed house into quietude with infectious tunes about sweet tea and tamales.
When she casually ends her set announcing "That's it," the crowd is able to entice her into an encore – her lovely cover of Randy Newman's "Louisiana 1927."
THE SEATTLE P.I.:
"Bean describes her music as "Southern-fried vintage jazz," and with its languid melodies and sultry vocal lines, it does sound as if it could have floated off a Georgia porch and landed by accident in rainy, cold Seattle. Bean's vocals recall Billie Holiday, only with sheer joy replacing all that pain. "Summertime" makes occasional excursions toward comedy ("Honey Wine" is a chipper love song to an odiferous "you" one can only hope is an elderly dog), but it truly shines when Bean settles down for slow-burning, serious numbers, such as the weary, troubled-relationship ballad "Not Enough Winter" or the spiritual "Mother.'"
.>> read the whole article
>>listen to the live interview
PERFORMING SONGWRITER:
"Part cabaret, part picnic in the park- there's really no better way to describe Datri Bean's latest record. The Seattle resident's sweet, sultry vocals will put a smile on your face before you even decipher the linguistic twister she poses with "Sweet Tea": "Sweet tea, tea and tea, Tijuana tea if you wanna...."
Sparse piano and smooth clarinet dance a dawdling tango while Bean invites you to "sing along with Lady Day" in "Slow Down Summertime." Breathe deep and listen to organ and pedal steel waltz seductively with drums and mandolin throughout the entire album. Bean takes us through bread-scented kitchens, Texas rain and Big Jim's Giant Truckstop in Nebraska, where "Love is God" is scratched in the table, and patrons drink coffee to medicate their brains.
Bean may remind you at times of Suzanne Vega or Edie Brickell, but Slow Down Summertime is a true original, and one that belongs in your collection."
THE STRANGER:
"Featuring 10 original compositions, the jazzy Americana of Slow Down Summertime should delight fans of (Jolie) Holland, as well as Norah Jones, Nellie McKay, and Rickie Lee Jones (in her less outré moments). Bean's unpretentious voice is casually complemented by her laid-back piano style, brushed snare drums, and clarinet; her interaction with the latter is especially beguiling, at times recalling the dynamic between Billie Holiday and Lester Young. "My favorite vocalists are Nina Simone and Billie Holiday, for their phrasing and sincerity," confirms the singer-songwriter. "I like the laziness of Leon Redbone's voice, as well."
Oddly enough, Bean had limited exposure to jazz in her youth. "I grew up in a land of commercial country radio," she recalls. "Cheyenne, Wyoming, where I grew up, has no live music, except in the summer, during their large rodeo, Cheyenne Frontier Days. I saw all the big, sappy stars, in all their glitzy glory. I even got Wynonna Judd to autograph my cowboy hat when I was 7 years old."
Unlike those Nashville stars, Bean developed a unique voice, as a vocalist and a songwriter, too. Her arrangements may be modest, but she embraces experimentation, dabbling in blues on "This, Like Every Other Sunday," and integrating instruments like mandolin and melodica without sounding twee. Her tunes are memorable, but not instantly so, reflecting her appreciation for Duke Ellington and Hoagy Carmichael. And she knows how to spin a good yarn, setting the poignant "Jim's Giant Truck Stop" in the restroom of an interstate gas-and-grub.
In light of McKay's recent record-company drama (her label, Columbia, dropped her on the eve of releasing her sophomore album), Bean holds no illusions about graduating beyond the DIY realm. "I don't think the majors are a great place to look if you want to hold on to your artistic independence, or do something unusual," she concedes. "I've been listening to Randy Newman lately, and I keep thinking, 'This guy is brilliant, but he could never get a deal these days. He's just too weird.'"
KEMIKS MAGAZINE
Datri Bean is unlike any artist I've ever heard, at least not recently. Her self-described Southern-fried vintage jazz is reminiscent of Billie Holiday, Nina Simone and others of that genre, but with an upbeat twist. She sings of swimming holes, sweet tea, lilac wine, 6'9" men in overalls .... where does one sign up for that trip? I want to go.
Born in Wyoming, Bean lived in Austin for years before settling in Seattle. Her heart, however, was still in Texas and that ache resulted in some terrific songwriting. From the smooth, clarinet-infused opening track (Sweet Tea) to the ragtime ode to a beloved canine (Honey Wine) closing, these songs transport you to a sleepy southern town where big front porches, scorched vegetable gardens and sippin' hooch rule the day.
Even more impressive than the general tone and feel of the music, are the lyrics. Be it walking "past the broken steps and kitty cats and tools and chunks of metal scattered on the ground" (I Saw Your Sign) or sitting down "at one of 15 available tables; the waitress comes in squeaky shoes; she's wearing turquoise blue" (Jim's Giant Truck Stop), she skillfully transports you to each and every location. You can see it. You can feel it. You can go back time and time again.
I had the distinct pleasure of catching two of Ms. Bean's shows late last month, hot on the heels of her recent tour with the Ditty Bops. Both Charlotte area venues were small and intimate, and perfect for her act. Datri took the stage in her trademark striped socks, made herself comfortable at the keyboard, glanced at her percussionist and backup vocalist, Aimee Tubbs, and they were off. The first thing I noticed (besides those terrific socks) is that she sounds exactly like she does on the CD. In a day of over-produced, sugar-laden pop garbage, hearing someone actually performing their own material, and doing it well, is a joy.
Bean and Tubbs have a easy rapport and it suits the musically perfectly. Bean's presence is intoxicating. She pulls you in with the stories between songs and the songs themselves -- it's utterly enthralling. I'm not the only one who thinks this way, as evidenced by reactions I've witnessed. I've never been to a show where the audience was so captivated by a performance that, when it ended, and the last notes lay lingering in the air, a cricket could be heard chirping just outside the window next to the stage. That actually happened during her Winston-Salem show. Remarkable.
Ms. Bean began each set with a few songs from her upcoming sophomore release, most notably "Lazy", which is exquisite, and "Okra", which is a favorite of Tubbs' and is just too much fun to leave off the next CD (hint, hint Datri). She finished the show with several of the songs on her current release and another tune, "Tamales", which was on her demo but didn't make it onto this pressing. Hopefully, we'll get another chance to hear that on the new release as it's a fabulous song. Nobody incorporates food into a song like Datri Bean.
About.com named her one of the "best folk artists you've never heard of ." Now's the time to remedy that situation -- check on tour schedules and sample her work at www.datribean.com.
~ K. Hubbard
THE EUGENE WEEKLY
Southern Fried Vintage Jazz
Datri Bean
Datri Bean is not a performer who woke up one day and decided to try out revival music. Her songs ring with the authentic tone of an artist who was raised on the rootsy rumblings of early jazz and Americana. Slow Down Summertime, her debut album, includes several whisky-swirlin', toe-tappin' ditties intermixed with a few livelier tracks and occasionally slowed with a stark ballad. The opening song, "Sweet Tea," sets a sexy, engaging tone for the record, backing Bean's raw, sultry vocals with a slinky jazz-clarinet melody provided by Asylum Street Spanker Stanley Smith. "Jim's Giant Truck Stop" stands out as the songwriting triumph of the album, transporting Bean's listeners to a Nebraska diner with gut-wrenchingly vivid images of a woman taking stock of the reality of a place in life she never expected to find herself. Bean's ability to fuse jazz piano, horns and folk music and her incredibly talented band should not be underestimated, but it is her "sepia toned vocals" that move her work beyond simply an enjoyable experiment in making the old new again and classify her as both a talent and a visionary.
THE SEATTLE TIMES:
If you can use a break from the norm, check out Datri Bean, a talented, off-the-beaten-path singer. She'll perform songs — including the leisurely, evocative title track — from her self-produced "Slow Down Summertime" at 9 p.m. Saturday at Ballard's Conor Byrne Pub ($5). Bean, who says she was "raised in a rodeo family on the plains of Wyoming," ranges from Americana to classic jazz.
She came here from Austin, and this delightful anomaly (sounding very 1920s, at times) is another nice addition to the Seattle soundscape. For a listen, go to www.datribean.com
VICTORY MUSIC REVIEW
ACOUSTIC MUSIC MAGAZINE
"Datri Bean makes luscious jazz, oozing with emotion and unnerving observations. Quoting a few lines here won't begin to do the record justice, but take these as proof that this is one of the best-written records you're likely to hear: "We walk around on dirty feet" and "This holy roller town ain't got no bars... old time religion and great big cars" from "Sweet Tea." "We both forget to do all the things that we were kind of supposed to be doing" and "We'll be out in an hour or five" from "I Saw Your Sign." "I'd like to fill my little house with prayer candles, but it's such a mess of laundry" from "It's Raining in Texas." "Where do I stuff in the hairpins, the embarrassment of my existence?" from "This, Like Every Other SUnday." The tunes themselves are marvelous, old-school jazz-pop creations reminiscent of the standards of the '40s and '50s, played with great assurance by Bean herself on the piano. She's backed by a small combo that throws in a tinge of country from time to time with a little mando and pedal steel. Ooooo, this is good! Go get it so you can hear the rest!"
THE SOURCE WEEKLY
"Jazz singer-songwriter-pianist Bean has drawn apt comparisons to the late, great Billie Holiday. Her 2005 album, Slow Down Summertime, is a deliberate, dreamy journey into bluesy happiness."
VIGILANCE MAGAZINE:
& THE F-WORD E-ZINE
In praise of EP "Tamales"
"Datri Bean creates a sound that makes me imagine a sunny, country afternoon sipping mint julips on an old screened porch, the air moving ever so slightly under the ceiling fan. It's a nice place to be. I was fortunate to obtain a three song EP from Ms. Bean last month and I must admit it is in my player more than anything else these days. Tori Amos, Sarah Slean and Nellie McKay may have made piano accompaniment popular, but Ms. Bean takes it a step further by bringing it back to basics -- just her pure, full, emotive voice lilting over her impressive skill on the ivories. Jazzy, bluesy, country, folksy -- it's all there. And not only is her voice perfect for the sound, her writing is as well. If Billie Holiday were alive today, she'd want Datri Bean writing her material.
Originally from Wyoming, Ms. Bean currently resides in Seattle, honing skills in Boston and Austin along the way. She's played the piano all her life, writing songs and singing almost as long. She was recently selected as one of a handful of performers chosen over hundreds to play at the Kerrville Folk Festival New Folk Concert in Texas later this month, a tribute to her talent. The only complaint I have is that the EP is much to short -- a tease, if you will. I am anxiously awaiting the CD she promises to release later this year and will review it as soon as I can get my paws on a copy. Until then, she's got us covered by offering complete downloads of all three tunes on her website at www.datribean.com."
published in Vigilance Magazine
and
the F Word E-Zine
>> view online
-Vigilance Magazine
