Appearing on the 2008 CD released late September 2008:
D.J. Sweeney, vocals
Danny Embrey, guitar/guitar synth, producer and arranger
Paul Smith, piano
James Albright, bass
Tim Cambron, drums
Clint Ashlock, trumpet
Appearing On the 2006 Cd:
D.J. Sweeney, vocals.
Danny Embrey, guitar, arrangements, and producer.
Paul Smith, piano.
Craig Akin, bass.
Tim Cambron, drums.
Influences
My Dad, Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Carmen McCrae, Anita O'Day, Peggy Lee, Rosemary Clooney, Nancy Wilson, Joni Mitchell, Rickie Lee Jones, June Christy, Lena Horne, Chris Connor, any Count Basie arrangement, Diana Krall, Abbey Lincoln, Gladys Knight, Louis Armstrong, Joe Williams, Louis Jordan, Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Dana Owens, Mary Stallings, Becky Killgore, Prince, Al Green, The Chilites, The O'Jays, Johnny Hartman, and many many more.
First of all, she is NOT a DJ that spins records. Her name is Deborah Jean and she likes to go by her initials, so please don't ask her to listen to your beats for spinning purposes.
Her family has always been very musical. Her father sings and plays all stringed instruments and the piano, Mom , a master in studio art, sings the blues and sang in musicals when she was a child. Her Sister, plays the flute and is a photographer, Her Brother, plays the fiddle and guitar and has a Phd in communications, her nieces and nephews play guitar, violin, and cello. She's always been surrounded by music, education and art. They didn't watch much T.V. growing up. The family travelled to small towns with her musician father playing at dances. He played boogie woogie piano and bluegrass and country music on the guitar. She went to jams with him at the neighbors house and always looked forward to every moment when he picked up the guitar or sat at the piano. When her parents divorced, she was 10, Mom moved the kids to Kansas City. She started listening to a lot of Rock, Soul, and R&B. she began listening more seriously to jazz when she was 16. A highschool friend of hers, now a DJ in L.A, turned her on to Joni Mitchell, Charlie Parker and Billie Holiday. After listening to this music, she fell in love with it and has continued with this love more seriously by singing the standards in clubs all over Kansas City. She also writes poetry when she's inspired and posts it on her blog from time to time.
D.J. has performed at Jardine’s, The Peachtree Restaurant, Café Trio, 12 Baltimore Café, The Melting Pot, The Plaza III, The Coleman Hawkin’s Legacy Jazz Festival, Holy-Field Winery, Plaza Live, The Blue Room, the Plaza Art Fair, The Drum Room and other clubs around Kansas City. Her latest recording is available at cdbaby.com. For future bookings contact D.J. at djjazziedeb@hotmail.com
Reviewer: Vince Staskel
The debut self-titled album by this Kansas City jazz gem is a great find indeed. D.J. Sweeney recalls the days of caberet jazz and steamy nightclubs. The standards could not be better presented. This CD is a treat for anyone who misses a time when a vocalist told a story of longing and of love. D.J. Sweeney is a great find and a class act, indeed.
D.J. Sweeney
D.J. Sweeney
(D.J.)
D.J. Sweeney is a fine singer who has a straightforward delivery, swings lightly, and mostly sticks to the words and melody of the songs that she interprets. She was in Los Angeles for a time but has since relocated to Kansas City. For her self-titled debut, she is joined by a top-notch quartet that includes guitarist Danny Embrey and pianist Paul Smith.
Sweeney adds joy and life to a variety of older standards including “I’m Gonna Lock My Heart And Throw Away The Key,” “You Turned The Tables On Me” and “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love.” Other than “My Love Is,” all of the songs are at least several decades old but she makes them sound relevant, fairly modern and fun.
The music is never complex or complicated, so a long analysis is unnecessary. Simply put, D.J. Sweeney sings some of her favorite songs in a likable and accessible fashion while joined by some of Kansas City’s top musicians. The only fault to this set (which is available from cdbaby.com) is its brief length (around 36 minutes) but it is easy to enjoy and a strong debut effort.
Scott Yanow
Hi D.J. Sweeney, Your eyes are like spheres of crystal water filled with shimmering dreams. I find your eyes to be a wondrous amusement park filled with neo-plastic pleasures and turkish delights. All my thoughts are lost to your graceful gaze? A starfish's lifelong hallucinations of gelatin pools and of actuaries floating upon the foam and reciprocal ohm. Your wonderfully bright soul keep the demons from torturing me. You ever remind me of the enigma of happy thoughts I once forgot. I relentlessly desire cotton candy lollipops. Blinking reveals the true visage of beauty hidden within your eyes. You are dressed with filaments and people take pains to make you fully incandescent this evening. The expanse of your beauty is a void no universe could ever fill. The music that flows from your instruments overwhelms me with creativity. In your absence I am forced into finding other forms of amusement while thinking about you. Polished rock candy comes ever to mind when thinking of you. Wood nymphs sprinkle your path with rose petals while you dance and prowl in the sequined moonlight with leftover cupcake sprinkles.
JFJO returns to KANSAS CITY on HALLOWEEN (SATURDAY OCT. 31) at JARDINE'S! Advance Tickets are still available! Then the following week Brian Haas is partying with Mark Southerland for his Installation Operettas, Moon Bears and Sister Wives: Banquet Boat FRIDAY NOVEMBER 6 – TWO SEATINGS! 8pm & 10pm, $10 (doors open/seatings begin at 7:30 & 9:30) (note, seating is limited) la Esquina, 1000 West 25th Street, KCMO Moon Bears and Sister Wives: Banquet Boat is the second of two unique performances conceived and curated by composer, musician, performer, and sculptor Mark Southerland, a 2008 Charlotte Street Generative Performing Artist Award Fellow. Building upon and reimagining Moon Bears and Sister Wives: Dream Arc (presented on October 23), Banquet Boat blends the culinary arts into its extravagant, operatic, multimedia, performative mix.
Jazz scene is alive and thriving. And yes, KCMusicScene.com is hipper than most, not as hip as some. Thank you for the add. Feel free to post your upcoming shows on our calendar, join our Forums, and use our site to promote your music as much as you want.
I was just in the neighborhood and thought I'd drop in to say hello and thanks for remaining friends. If you get a chance, drop by and have a look through the gallery section as I have some new work to look at.
Online Now!
Then the following week Brian Haas is partying with Mark Southerland for his Installation Operettas, Moon Bears and Sister Wives: Banquet Boat FRIDAY NOVEMBER 6 – TWO SEATINGS! 8pm & 10pm, $10 (doors open/seatings begin at 7:30 & 9:30) (note, seating is limited) la Esquina, 1000 West 25th Street, KCMO Moon Bears and Sister Wives: Banquet Boat is the second of two unique performances conceived and curated by composer, musician, performer, and sculptor Mark Southerland, a 2008 Charlotte Street Generative Performing Artist Award Fellow. Building upon and reimagining Moon Bears and Sister Wives: Dream Arc (presented on October 23), Banquet Boat blends the culinary arts into its extravagant, operatic, multimedia, performative mix.
