Carolina Moon live review ~ Woollasten Nelson JazzFest 09

"Those faithful to original jazz versions are in for a surprise. Carolina Moon is gathering international acclaim for her fresh ability to rearrange the old favourites in the true postmodern sense"

"A mere slip of a woman in a crushed velvet amber dress that matched her eyes... Moon’s intonation of the lyrics and great range of expression through her body creates a striking centrepiece"

"Manins played the oldest looking saxophone I've seen... he elicited some exciting solos for which he was visibly humbled by audience response"

Paula Cunniffe, Nelson Mail 09

Jim Mora Show - NZ Live
13 Nov 09
Radio New Zealand

Caroline Lynn came to New Zealand after extensively traveling the world and picking up a wealth of musical knowledge along the way.

In the New Zealand Live studio is the artist known as Carolina Moon with two thirds of her band.

Listen: 38.45

Jazz Moon Arising
by Jeff Neemes

"She might be the woman out the front with the silky voice but Auckland-based jazz singer Carolina Moon doesn't consider herself a diva."
Read interview
by Jeff Neemes - Waikato Times - 27/9/07

TV1 Good Morning Show ~ Simon Sweetman Broadcast Wednesday 2 May 9.40am

" We've got a woman whose based in Auckland and her album East of the Sun. Now I don't know very much about her at all but she is a jazz singer. She has the most amazing voice and does a cover of Light My Fire which is nice and sultry and sauve. A lovely album, she's got an amazing voice and backed by incredible musicians, some of Auckland's best-known veteran jazz musicians. So for people who like things by Patricia Barber and Diana Krall. It's going to go down a treat."

Quotes

“…a beautifully articulated intimacy….” — Graham Reid, www.elsewhere.co.nz

“…one dynamite singer from the City of Sails…who was simply fantastic at the Jazz Festival when she sang at the Mount” — Winston Watusi, The Weekend Sun

“…scholarly in a completely relaxed way …. powerfully expressive.” — John Clare, Sydney Morning Herald

“…a remarkable singer who is breaking new ground” — Daily Telegraph

"Carolina ... enthralled the near capacity audience" — Bay Chronicle

"If women jazz singers are your thing then there’s a myriad of great names to choose from — Diana Krall, Sara Lazarus, Madeleine Peyroux.... Add Carolina Moon to that list." — The Wellingtonian

“Carolina.. has a flawless vocal range and brings to each a song a freshness of approach so different from most singers. Her interpretations are spacious, musically interesting and totally absorbing as she uses her voice like a musical instrument to weave in and out of the music with beautiful improvisations.

“ the duo work of voice and sax in unison was brilliant, very reminiscent of Cleo Laine and John Dankworth.”

“This concert was jazz at its collective best: a wonderful vocalist who gave us her all, and a band that got in behind this awesome talent with some pretty impressive talent of their own.” — Angela Crawford, Wanganui Jazz Club

“ I have to say you are incredible “ — Tony Hatch

“ Excellent scat!” — Mike Manieri

" Those faithful to original jazz versions are in for a surprise. Carolina Moon is gathering international acclaim for her fresh ability to rearrange the old favourites in the true postmodern sense"

" Moon’s intonation of the lyrics and great range of expression through her body creates a striking centrepiece"
— Nelson Mail, Woollaston Nelson JazzFest

The Bay Chronicle, 2 July 2009

British born jazz vocalist Carolina Moon backed by some of New Zealand’s jazz legends including Frank Gibson Jr and Billy Kristian, enthralled the near capacity audience with an entertaining selection of jazz songs. These included Everything Happens To Me, Blue Moon and Django Reinhardt's Nuages.

Carolina's unique interpretation of jazz standards together with fabulous arrangements made each song fresh and new. Carolina uses her voice as an instrument, living, expressing and experiencing everv word with additional melodic, imaginative scat solos in most songs. Equally entertaining were superb piano solos by Steve Barry and sax solos by Roger Manins.

Review by Mike Nettmann

Carolina Moon ~ live review Wanganui Jazz Club 07

As part of her CD launch, Carolina Moon, with partner Roger Manins, top Australasian tenor man, breezed into Wanganui on Sunday and performed some astonishingly different arrangements and “takes” on well-known jazz tunes. Backed by the top talents of Paul Dyne (bass), Anita van Dyck (piano) and Reuben Bradley (drums), this was a polished and very professional concert by a consummate vocalist who must rank as one of the best in Australasia. Carolina, who teaches vocals at Auckland University, has a flawless vocal range and brings to each song a freshness of approach so different from most singers. Her interpretations are spacious, musically interesting and totally absorbing as she uses her voice like a musical instrument to weave in and out of the music with beautiful improvisations.

For me, the songs that stood out for their innovative arrangements, were “Call Me”, the beautiful Billy Strayhorn “A flower is a Lovesome Thing” and “Close your Eyes’. I also enjoyed the band’s ‘take’ on the Charlie Parker “Yardbird Suite” which not only showcased Caroline’s improvised scat, but also gave all the musicians a chance to stretch their legs. Roger Manins is a joy to listen to as he powers his way through the up-tempo numbers, and sensitively eases his way through the ballads using the tenor as a tasteful harmony backing to the vocals. The duo work of voice and sax in unison was brilliant, very reminiscent of Cleo Laine and John Dankworth.

This concert was jazz at its collective best: a wonderful vocalist who gave us her all, and a backing band that got in behind this awesome talent with some pretty impressive talent of their own. Maybe I’m biased [well of course I am]!! but Anita van Dyck played absolutely lovely piano, not easy considering the piano was out of tune and had some “sticky notes” to boot. Nevertheless, her backing of Caroline was tasteful and unobtrusive, yet very supportive throughout the evening. Everybody I spoke to considered this a great evening’s entertainment of the highest calibre, reinforcing the Jazz Club’s commitment to bringing top quality musicians to Wanganui. Our club members gave good support to this concert, and this is appreciated and augurs well for the future.

Angela Crawford, Wanganui Jazz Club