Rebecca Ryan: Singing Songs with Piano for Every Mood

Canadian chanteuse Diana Krall brought some welcome attention back to starry-eyed standards with last year's When I Look in Your Eyes, but one hardly need venture to the Great White North in search of classic American song craft. Cesar Chavez and Brazos is more like it where L.A. native Rebecca Ryan has been tickling the Four Seasons' ivories since 1997. Her brand-new CD, Stardust and Dreams, hits Arlen, Mercer, Carmichael, and the Gershwins for a softly lit suite of shimmering solo piano and slinky vocals. "The Very Thought of You," Embraceable You," "Someone to Watch Over Me," "One for My Baby" - how long has this been goin' on?

Christopher Gray
The Austin Chronicle May 19, 2000
Four Seasons Lobby

One night I walked into the Four Seasons Hotel in Austin, TX and heard the sounds of the music that I grew up playing as a kid, with my mother, Bobbie Nelson. It instantly reminded me of listening to Stardust, Willie Nelson’s recordings of timeless classics he brought back to life in the 1980’s. Rebecca’s voice and piano playing made such an immediate impression, that we asked her to make a record for the Pedernales Records label, owned by Willie Nelson and myself. Today’s modern music very rarely has the arrangements, lyrics and melodies of the caliber found in these beautiful renditions. We hope you enjoy listening to Rebecca, as much as we enjoy preserving some of the most masterfully composed songs of our time.

Freddy Fletcher,
President, Pedernales Records

Rebecca Ryan is one of the most gifted jazz vocalists and jazz pianists to arrive on the music scene. "Stardust and Dreams" will become a classic, and if you don't own a copy, please get your CD now and enjoy some truly fine music! These wonderfully performed songs come from the decades of the 1930s and the 1940s, and Rebecca Ryan's lovely voice is a perfect match for the songs she sings so well. The songs on this excellent CD include: "You Go To My Head," "Body and Soul," "The Very Thought of You," "Someone to Watch Over Me," "How Long Has This Been Going On," "Dream A Little Dream of Me," "Come Rain or Come Shine," "Stardust," "Skylark," "As Time Goes By," "Embraceable You," and "One For My Baby." Classic songs by a new classic jazz singer and pianist that will enthrall you, enchant you, and linger in your mind with pleasant memories for a very, very long time to come! Rebecca Ryan is a wonderful talent, full of life and vitality, and shares these in-depth feelings with the listener in a highly emotional, loving, gentle vocal expression. Ryan has a great jazz voice, a voice that is memorable and enjoyable!

–Lee Prosser jazzreview.com