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Summertime 3:180:00/3:18
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Night In the City 3:540:00/3:54
About
Mary Foster Conklin
JAZZ VOCALIST / RADIO HOST
New release - These Precious Days (MockTurtle Music)
Check out the new recording on Bandcamp and come out to hear the music live if you're in the New York Area.
Featuring John Di Martino on piano, Sara Caswell on violin, Ed Howard on bass, Vince Cherico on drums and Guilherme Monteiro on guitar. Just before the pandemic we worked together on a unique catalogue of Leiber and Stoller art songs. As the world evolves into a new chapter where nothing is as it was, we explore what’s ahead with music by Melba Liston, Leonard Cohen, Fran Landesman, Andre & Dory Previn and more.
“A winning new collection of songs… by a vocalist equally effective on suspects usual and otherwise… The contrast between Conklin’s smoky voice and Caswell’s bright, sharply defined tone often imbues the arrangements with concentrated drama.” Andrew Gilbert, JAZZTIMES
"Conklin’s rich vocal sound adds strength to the lyrics of the songs she sings and there is an undercurrent of jazz phrasing in her intense delivery. The instrumentalists here are collaborators rather than accompanists and pianist John Di Martino and violinist Sara Caswell both have several very good solos. There’s much to admire here and this album will have broad appeal." (Bruce Crowther, Jazz Journal)
“A provocative recording. Conklin's voice is friendly, often sardonic, but always welcoming. An embarrassment of riches is MFC.” (C Michael Bailey, WildMercuryRhythm.com)
Praised as "a sensitive artist (but not frail) with a wide-ranging boldly colored voice and an open ear for off-beat material" (Washington Post), Conklin is a master storyteller with a talent for uncovering songs deserving more attention. She hosts a weekly radio show celebrating women writers called "A Broad Spectrum - The Ladies of Jazz" which streams online at WFDU.FM HD2 every Sunday from 3-5pm ET.
MUSIC
Available at iTunes, Amazon, Bandcamp, Barnes & Noble
This project is about love, loss and the power of the Now – my response to the deep disruption of the past few years, which began before the pandemic. It begins with a restless Latin arrangement of a Leonard Cohen tune about weathering heartbreak and ends with a tender piano/violin arrangement of September Song, dedicated to my Dad, whose death in
This project is about love, loss and the power of the Now – my response to the deep disruption of the past few years, which began before the pandemic. It begins with a restless Latin arrangement of a Leonard Cohen tune about weathering heartbreak and ends with a tender piano/violin arrangement of September Song, dedicated to my Dad, whose death in 2018 was a catalyst for the project. The arrangements are by pianist John diMartino and the band includes Sara Caswell on violin, Ed Howard on bass, Vince Cherico on drums and Guilherme Monteiro on guitar. Just before the pandemic we worked together on a unique catalogue of Leiber and Stoller art songs. As the world evolves into a new chapter where nothing is as it was, we explore what’s ahead with music by Melba Liston, Melissa Manchester, Buffy Sainte-Marie, Fran Landesman, Andre & Dory Previn and more.
Shows
Live performances are slowly starting to come back, but you can tune in every Sunday to my radio show streaming on the internet at WFDU.FM
“Conklin lends a sultry self-assurance in moods both hot and cool, swaggering with a sly poet’s percussiveness in Joni Mitchell’s “Night in the City” and crooning with velvety sophistication on “Moonglow.” - Brian Zimmerman
— Downbeat
Studio Shots
New Hi Res Photo
Hi Res Photo
With Vince Giordano and Freddy Cole
Carnegie Hall
With WHRV-FM radio hosts Jack Freiden and Jae Sinnett
With pianist John Di Martino and violinist Sara Caswell
Release concert with Vince Cherico, John Di Martino, Sara Caswell and Mike Karn