Reviews

“Durham’s uncannily pure delivery was a revelation” – LONDON EVENING STANDARD, 1994

“ … the passion and emotive power of Durham’s powerful stirring voice” – THE DAILY MAIL, LONDON, 1994

“Durham’s bell-like tones were gloriously sure and stirring” – THE TIMES, LONDON, 1994

“I would walk over hot coals to hear her again” – SOUTH WALES ECHO, WALES

“Fantastique!” – LE CANARD ENCHAINE, PARIS

“audience … rapturous in their response, rising to their feet …so that  her return was inevitable” – COURIER-MAIL, BRISBANE 2008

“Though diminutive, her stage presence remains enormous.  And then there’s that voice …” – QUEENSLAND TIMES, 2008

“Durham’s vocal power is still wondrous …” – QUEENSLAND TIMES, 2008

“… an evening with true musical royalty …” – QUEENSLAND TIMES, 2008

“Judith Durham returned to her jazz roots with this extraordinary album of big-band blues and jazz standards, augmented by three excellent originals by the singer herself … Durham belts these numbers out like a latter-day Ethel Merman, only bigger voiced and with an excellent feel for the genre and the sound in which she’s working … “Body and Soul,” “Gimme a Pigfoot and a Bottle of Beer,” “Am I Blue,” “Sister Kate (I Wish I Could Shimmy Like My),” “The World’s Jazz Crazy,” and “Cakewalkin’ Babies from Home” are overpowering evocations of a sound that was just about current when Durham was born, and that she’s taken to heart as her own, even more natural than her folk-based stylings with the Seekers. Her originals, “I Wanna Dance to Your Music” and “Mama’s Got the Blues” are a match for any of those standards, at least in Durham’s hands as a singer, and lead one to believe that she could’ve had a career scoring musicals, had she been born 40 years earlier (and she still could on TV — “I Wanna Dance to Your Music” sounds like a television series scenario set stunningly to music). One of the two new bonus tracks on the CD, “Gloryland,” is a doubly interesting cut as well as a killer performance, for it is the kind of song that the Seekers might’ve done, and would’ve done as four big voices with acoustic 6- and 12-string guitars — here, it’s got a jazz band accompaniment and give Durham a chance to soar as a solo vocal in ways that her Seekers fans could drop their jaws over … The album is also a dazzling showcase for the Hottest Band in Town (especially pianist/arranger Ron Edgeworth), who display a love and familiarity with this repertory the equal of Durham’s. There’s not a weak moment on the album, which is a must-own for fans of big-band jazz or blues vocals”  –  ALL MUSIC GUIDE

“ … hot-momma Judith belts out a touch of the blues …” – RECORD MIRROR, UK

“ … this album really swings …” – DONCASTER GAZETTE, YORKSHIRE UK

“ … a band that lives up to its name … this album really swings …” – NOTTINGHAM EVENING POST UK

“It’s amazing how such a big sound comes from such a petite frame …” – SOUTH WALES ECHO, UK

“Judith Durham was, and is, one of the classier singers to crack the hit parade …” – MELODY MAKER, UK

“ … Judith Durham’s lusty singing rates her a high place among non-American jazz singers … with top gear larynx going to work for her she is able to holler out some of the Bessie pieces like Gimme A Pigfoot, Alexander’s Ragtime Band and Cakewalking Babies From Home with an estimable relish …” – RECORDS & RECORDING, UK

“ This is razzamatazz at its best …” – THURROCK GAZETTE, ESSEX UK

“Judith’s voice is big and clear, and she uses it with complete understanding of these demanding songs, and how to project them … a great disc …” – THE SUN, MELBOURNE AUSTRALIA

“The Hottest Band In Town aren’t given that label for nothing … they swing along…” – THE AGE, MELBOURNE AUSTRALIA

“Miss Durham, doing what she likes best, singing trad jazz standards in what could be, if only more people realised it, one of the great voices of our time …” – THE STAGE, UK