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Mary Foster Conklin
Praised as “a potent advocate for women in jazz,” NYC-based Mary Foster Conklin has hosted a weekly radio show called “A Broad Spectrum – the Ladies of Jazz” celebrating women composers and lyricists since 2016 on WFDU 89.1 FM based at Fairleigh Dickinson University in Teaneck, New Jersey, streaming on the HD2 Channel at http://www.wfdu.fm.
She has taught several workshops on radio submission for singers and recently was a participant on the Jukebox Jury panel at the 2024 JALC Jazz Congress. As a vocalist, she is a master storyteller with an affinity for uncovering hidden gems deserving attention. Her fifth and most recent recording, These Precious Days (MockTurtle Music), was praised as “a treasure” by JAZZLIVES and “A winning new collection of songs… by a vocalist equally effective on suspects usual and otherwise,” JAZZTIMES.
She has appeared in theatres, jazz clubs, cabarets and even fire escapes in the metropolitan New York area and throughout the United States and Canada. As a leader, her sets are a mix of contemporary material and standards, with an emphasis on the lesser known treasures of the Great American Songbook, with a focus on women writers. In New York, Conklin’s talents have earned her a place on the stages of Mezzrow, Pangea, The Blue Note, Zinc Bar, Iridium and Birdland.
She has also be seen from time to time singing off various fire escapes as The Lady in the Red Dress with the Renegade Cabaret. Her latest projects include THE RAINBOW PROJECT, a collaboration with pianist John diMartino and violinist Sara Caldwell, MIRRORS REVISITED, an evening of dark art songs by Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller imortalized by Peggy Lee and LIFE IS A BITCH, a tribute to Beat poet/lyricist Fran Landesman, (best known for "Spring Can Really Hang You Up the Most" and "The Ballad of the Sad Young Men") which was praised by the New York Times as "full of salt and vinegar — with the intensity and tough humor of someone who might have lived on the bohemian fringe in the late ’40s and ’50s, when the word ‘hip’ meant something."
On the West Coast she has performed in Los Angeles at the In House Jazz Series, Vitello’s, the Gardenia and the Jazz Bakery. She has appeared in Chicago at the Cultural Center and in Palm Beach, Florida at the Royal Room. Ms. Conklin was awarded the 2010 MAC Award for Jazz Vocalist by the Manhattan Association of Cabarets and Clubs, and has been praised by The New York Times as “a highly creative singer whose style blends cabaret and jazz so thoroughly as to defy any easy categorization.”
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Mary Foster Conklin: These Precious Days
by Pierre Giroux
Mary Foster Conklin is a New York-based singer with an eclectic approach to the choices she makes in deciding upon a repetoire for her fifth release, These Precious Days. Unafraid to step outside the nine dots, she has focussed the project on lesser-known jazz and popular compositions by predominately female songwriters. Joining Conklin are a number of top shelf New York musicians including pianist and arranger John Di Martino, violinist Sara Caswell, bassist Ed Howard, drummer Vince Cherico, guitarist Guilherme ...
Continue ReadingMary Foster Conklin: Blues For Breakfast
by Michael P. Gladstone
Blues For Breakfast, the third album from vocalist Mary Foster Conklin, is a tribute to the music of Matt Dennis, who died in 2002 at the age of 88. Although he was not as renowned as the members of the Great American Songbook circle (Cole Porter, Irving Berlin, Richard Rodgers, et al.), Dennis did indeed contribute significantly many memorable songs, primarily during the second half of the Twentieth Century. In the liner notes, author James Gavin relates how in the ...
Continue ReadingMary Foster Conklin: Blues for Breakfast: Remembering Matt Dennis
by Jack Bowers
I don't review many albums by singers these days, but I couldn't pass up a tribute to Matt Dennis, one of the most talented and sadly neglected songwriters of the Twentieth Century. Before scoffing, remember “Angel Eyes," “Will You Still Be Mine," “Everything Happens to Me," “Violets for Your Furs," “Let's Get Away from It All," “Show Me the Way to Get Out of This World" and “The Night We Called It a Day." All were written by Dennis, who ...
Continue ReadingMary Foster Conklin: You'd Be Paradise
by Jack Bowers
Hip singer, splendid album. To elaborate — New York–based songstress Mary Foster Conklin, who obviously loves what she does, goes around the block and back to avoid the obvious on You’d Be Paradise, complementing no less than four sophisticated tunes by the inimitable Bob Dorough with one each by David Cantor (“Nirvana”), Tom Waits (“Broken Bicycles”) and Michel Legrand (“The Windmills of Your Mind”), King Pleasure’s wry commentary on Stan Getz’s opus “Don’t Get Scared,” a brace of venerable Cole ...
Continue ReadingMary Foster Conklin: Crazy Eyes
by AAJ Staff
She’s standing there on the cover, lovely black and white photograph, big smile, looking to the heavens. You know what this is; you turn it on. “You got a blue eye”, sings the sophisticate; “It’s deeper than any blue.” You know what this is. She relates that the other eye is charming – only it’s green ! You do not know what this is. And you should – in this witty album Mary Foster Conklin sings an eloquent batch of ...
Continue ReadingSteve Kuhn, Vijay Iyer, Rachel Z Celebrate the Music of Bud Powell (Sun. Jazz Brunch) Mary Foster Conklin This Weekend at at the Iridium Jazz Club
Source:
Jim Eigo, Jazz Promo Services
IRIDIUM JAZZ CLUB 1650 BROADWAY (Corner of 51st) NEW YORK, NY 10023 RESERVATIONS: 212-582-2121 Sets At 8:00 & 10:00PM Effective immediately, minimums are $10/person/set for all Sept. 27-30 THE MUSIC OF BUD POWELL BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION BUD POWELL TRIBUTE 'THE AMAZING BUD POWELL' Sep 28 Steve Kuhn Billy Drummond Eddie Gomez Sep 29 Vijay Iyer Piano Stephen Crump Bass ...
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Mary Foster Conklin Tomorrow at the Lincoln Square Barnes & Noble at 66th and Broadway 6:00 P.M
Source:
Jim Eigo, Jazz Promo Services
MARY FOSTER CONKLIN tomorrow (April 18): Any Wednesday at the Lincoln Square Barnes & Noble at 66th and Broadway 6:00 p.m
Yes, the weather has been dreary this week, but why not jump into your favorite rowboat tomorrow (April 18) and come to see the wonderful smokey-voiced jazz singer MARY FOSTER CONKLIN as she pays tribute to the songwriter Matt Dennis, as she does on her award winning album, Blues for Breakfast: Remembering Matt Dennis. We can't promise that the ...
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Mary Foster Conklin Wednesday, March 7 @ 8PM and 9:30PM Enzo's Jazz Room at the Jolly Hotel Madison Towers
Source:
Jim Eigo, Jazz Promo Services
MARY FOSTER CONKLIN Wednesday, March 7 @ 8pm and 9:30pm 22 East 38th Street (at Madison Avenue) (212) 802 0600 in the Whaler Bar located in the Lobby. Complimentary antipasti served by Ristorante Cinque Terre $15. cover charge, 1 drink min. Sets are at 8pm and 9.30pm Praised by the New York Times as “a highly creative singer whose style blends cabaret and jazz so thoroughly as to defy any easy categorization," and “an ...
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Mary Foster Conklin East Coast CD Release Event November 7th at Sweet Rhythm
Source:
All About Jazz
November 7 - 8pm and 9:30pm Mary Foster Conklin East Coast CD Release Event - BLUES FOR BREAKFAST - REMEMBERING MATT DENNIS (Rhombus Records) Sweet Rhythm 88 Seventh Avenue South NYC $15 cover + 2 drink minimum http://www.sweetrhythmny.com/
with John di Martino-piano; Greg Ryan-bass; Ron Vincent-drums;Tony Romano-guitar; Joel Frahm-saxophone
Mary Foster Conklin can be heard in clubs throughout New York City and beyond, both as a ...
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Mary Foster Conklin Releases "Blues for Breakfast" on Rhombus Records
Source:
All About Jazz
"If a singer is very lucky, she finds a songwriter with whom her voice and manner are a neat click. Both thrush and tunesmith benefit. For this intelligent jazz interpreter, it's Matt Dennis. She's always been top-notch, but with Dennis, she outdoes herself." THE VILLAGE VOICE Mary Foster Conklin can be heard in clubs nationwide, both as a soloist and with Art Lillard's Heavenly Band. Praised by the Washington Post as “a sensitive artist (but not frail) with a wide-ranging ...
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Mary Foster Conklin at The Jazz Bakery October 25 + The Villa Resort October 26-28
Source:
Jim Eigo, Jazz Promo Services
MARY FOSTER CONKLIN
Appearing Sunday, October 25
at The Jazz Bakery 3233 Helms Avenue Los Angeles, CA 8/9:30pm Reservations: 310-271-9039 http://www.jazzbakery.com/ and October 26-28
at The Villa Resort 67-670 Carey Road Cathedral City, CA Reservations: 760-328-7211 http://www.thevilla.com/
Mary Foster Conklin can be heard in clubs throughout New York City and beyond, both as a soloist and ...
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Mary Foster Conklin New CD + Upcoming Appearances
Source:
Jim Eigo, Jazz Promo Services
Here's an update on Mary Foster Conklin's fall happenings. The new CD, Blue for Breakfast: Remembering Matt Dennis is now available for pre-order on Amazon and the Rhombus Records website (http://www.rhombus-records.com).
New dates have been added. Here is the revised performance schedule for fall:
Thursday, September 21 at 7pm CD preview performance The Metropolitan Room 34 West 22nd Street (bet. 5th and 6th Ave) NYC http://www.metropolitanroom.com/
Monday, September 25th at 8:00 PM ...
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Mary Foster Conklin September 10 at Barry Levitt's Iridium Brunch
Source:
Jim Eigo, Jazz Promo Services
September 7, 2006 To: Listings/Critics/Features From: JAZZ PROMO SERVICES Press Contact: JIM EIGO, [email protected] MARY FOSTER CONKLIN SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 10TH 1:00PM Appearing At
BARRY LEVITT'S VOCAL JAZZ WORKSHOP & BRUNCH FEATURING THE BARRY LEVITT QUARTET: BRIAN GRICE - DRUMS CHIP JACKSON - BASS DAVID SCHNITTER - SAX BARRY LEVITT - PIANO 11am-3pm
At The IRIDIUM JAZZ CLUB 1650 BROADWAY (Corner of 51st) ...
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Marlene Ver Plank + Mary Foster Conklin & Cleve Douglas at the Iridium Wednesday March 1
Source:
All About Jazz
“Like her earlier recordings, this one [Photographs] is full of one magic moment after another. Her distinctive rich and dusky sound is completely captivating, conjuring up images of a film noir femme fatale. She is a supreme storyteller, and chooses songs that provide the kind of lyrics that lend themselves well to her approach.” Joe Lang Jersey Jazz “Stylish without pretension, sexy without posturing, and tasteful without strict boundaries, Conklin is a jazz artist with that always hoped-for combination of musical chops and sensitivity to lyrics.” Barbara and Scott Siegel - THEATERMANIA.COM “A delightfully dramatic young singer whose third album [Blues for Breakfast] amounts to a one-woman archeological survey subtitled ‘Remembering Matt Dennis’: 14 tunes, some familiar, many neglected
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