JoAnn Funk

“People make fun of lounge singers, as some of them can fall into elevator/easy listening mode: you know, the kind of music best suited as background noise. That doesn’t seem to be the case at the lobby of historic St. Paul Hotel in Saint Paul, Minnesota, as evidenced by the album “Jazz In The Lobby Bar,” the album featuring JoAnn Funk and Jeff Brueske. She is on vocals and piano, he is on bass. The album is near perfection – jazzy, breezy, contemplative even. I am especially taken by Funk – she has an appealing bedroom coquettish voice, kind of like a modern Blossom Dearie – it’s instantly unique, recognizable, and intimate. She herself does the arrangements for these songs, and they are wonderful, making songs like “Someone To Watch Over Me” and “The Very Thought Of You” sound fresher than Minnesotan snow, And major props to her for singing my favorite Cy Coleman song, “You Fascinate Me So. ” While it’s not good as my beloved Peggy Lee’s version, it does justice to the song. And she is versatile as well, bringing a melancholic country twang to “Anything You Ask.” Sometimes the Blossom influence can be a bit uncanny (such as in “Tea For Two’) but any reservations about that can be overcomed by a touching “Over The Rainbow.” I mean, anyone who can sing that and make me listen is primo in my book. if I were even anywhere near St. Paul’s Hotel right now, I’d be rushing to that lobby, but listening to this album is the next best thing.” - Leone Lescota

“What really draws the audience is the superb musicianship of these artists. JoAnn Funk is perhaps our answer to Diana Krall - a first class pianist who happens to also have a first-class  voice which she uses to cover a wide range of material, from the classics of the Great American Songbook to Brazilian, contemporary blues, pop and even country writers -- George Gershwin, Cole Porter, Blossom Dearie, Peggy Lee, Waylon Jennings, Leonard Cohen. JoAnn defies comparison-- she has hints of many but the sum is uniquely JoAnn. Bassist Jeff Brueske is an ideal foil.” - Kevin Barnes

“It was a wonderful evening! Thank you so much for sharing your marvelous talent and the talent of your musician friends. It was all terrific!” - Mary Lee Huber

“ Just when you think you never want to hear another version of “Somewhere Over the Rainbow,” along comes jazz singer and pianist JoAnn Funk with one so idiomatic and enchanting that it seems like a brand-new song. Her voice, her arrangements, and her timing are sui generis, and she has the ideal musical partner in bassist Jeff Brueske. The CD is named for the place they have performed most Fridays and Saturdays for the past seven years, the elegant lobby of the Saint Paul Hotel. Guests on the CD are Richard Kriehn on violin and mandolin, Nathan Norman on drums and Pete Whitman on sax. Together they turn a lot of old standards – “Moon River,” “Tea for Two,” “You’d Be So Nice to Come Home To,” “Someone to Watch Over Me” – into songs that are suddenly interesting again.” - Pamela Espeland

“JoAnn Funk has been a fixture at The Saint Paul Hotel for seven years, so it’s fitting that she titled her latest CD with bassist Jeff Brueske “Jazz in The Lobby Bar”. She’s an accomplished pianist and a chameleonic vocalist. She can offer several different voices on the same song. She’s partial to a girlish coquette (the Marilyn Monroe evoking “Someone to Watch Over Me”) and a breathy balladeer (the country tinged “Anything You Ask”). But she’s at her best with her more sophisticated vocals on “You Fascinate Me So”. ” - Jon Bream

“We thoroughly enjoyed the music last night. The music "sent me", ala the Sam Cook song in the 1950's. It was a time of excellent musicianship and a time of wonderful musical moments!” - Chris Mato Nunpa

“The Lobby Bar, notes JoAnn, "re-creates a New York-style club" within downtown St. Paul's historic and elegant Saint Paul Hotel. The second recording of the Funk/Brueske partnership does not recreate the first, although both include a broad sampling of the music heard nearly every weekend. A significant difference here is the emphasis on the duet arrangements of piano/voice and bass on the new recording, adding drummer Nathan Norman to just two of thirteen tracks, and violinist Richard Kriehn and saxophonist Pete Whitman to one each. JoAnn notes that she chose "the tunes people react to, tunes that are witty and have a bit of attitude. It's how I approach the gig, too, I mix it up." That "attitude" -- underlying many of these songs but particularly "You Fascinate Me So" and "I Get a Kick Out of You" -- is one of the ingredients that separates these arrangements from more typical renditions of the same tunes. Another, perhaps more significant, is JoAnn's fresh approach to pacing and phrasing, and particularly her use of space-- rarely where the listener expects.  Ray Noble's "The Very Thought of You" provides a leisurely opener, JoAnn's phrasing somewhat reminiscent of Diana Krall with bigger spaces, and her piano mirrors the shape of her vocal lines. Brueske's bass solo here -- and indeed throughout-- suggests another vocal chorus, while the piano/bass duo is simply luscious. A few well -placed minor notes give the ending a wistful feel, a tactic typical of many of these tracks. JoAnn draw next from Mose Allison on the sarcastic "Don't Worry 'Bout a Thing," and proves to be a master of blues and storytelling herself-- not an imitator, but she does the living legend justice on both piano and voice. (Like Krall and Karrin Allyson, JoAnn's piano chops alone could carry her career.) Brueske's walking bass keeps it moving and his solo moves with a bluesy bounce. Both the Cole Porter and the Gershwins are represented with two great standards apiece. Brueske launches "You'd Be So Nice to Come Home To" with a melodic solo, followed by JoAnn's sparsely supported opening lyric. It's slowly paced with a very subtle swing; every thought and syllable is given its due, its luxurious time. Piano lines thicken into cascading chords. More lively, "I Get a Kick Out of You" adds clickety percussion from Nathan Norman who ultimately provides a rattling swing that morphs into a Latinized vamp. The melody won't be found in the instrumentals here-- and JoAnn flies just fine on her own.  The first of the two George and Ira Gershwin covers, "Someone to Watch Over Me" is paced very slowly, suggesting a gently poking wit that belies the lyric. Guest Pete Whitman adds commentary on tenor sax. "Our Love Is Here to Stay" is more straight-forward, a light swinger graced by Brueske's opening bowed solo. Of the other Songbook classics, "Tea for Two" is given a coquettish lilt, and once JoAnn gets into the heart of the song, the pace is dangerously slow, the spaces wide, and the hesitations flirtatiously placed. Another song that risks overexposure, JoAnn's rendition of "Over the Rainbow" is as wistful as one can imagine, enlivened by her slightly jagged phrasing. Jeff provides a sweet bass vamp introducing "I'm Glad There Is You"  Cy Coleman's "You Fascinate Me So" rises above the term "standard," thanks in part to Nathan Norman's engaging brushwork, setting the stage for that little bit of "attitude." The musical conversation between piano/bass and drums, and the devilish lilt of the vocal lines really does feel "like a powder keg about to blow." JoAnn can annihilate with her soft fire. JoAnn can sing bebop, too. Taking Clifford Brown's "Joy Spring" a bit slower than the usual, she sings the first verse with just bass, hands off the keyboard, a duet that recalls Sheila Jordan and Cameron Brown. After coming in on piano, JoAnn adds some stride-like embellishments before turning the spotlight onto Brueske; the emphasis goes back to voice and bass on the final chorus. The most surprising track is the Waylon Jennings/Billie Jo Shaver beauty, "Anything You Ask," featuring Richard Kriehn on mandolin and violin, which fit perfectly into the country vibe. And so does JoAnn, sounding like the best of country's songbirds on this slow, meandering arrangements. Her high, breathy voice seems born to country melodies and lyrics. The once over-done pop classic, Henry Mancini/Johnny Mercer's "Moon River" is not often covered by jazz singers. Brueske's arco accompaniment and solo add to the flow of the river, and the duo provides a soft caress of an ending. Jazz in the Lobby Bar should engage audiences for years to come-- whether listening on personal audio equipment or in the comfy live setting of the Saint Paul Hotel, which just might be the best-kept jazz secret in the country. Although surely a recording, and talent, at this level can't hide for long. Nor should it.” - Andrea Cantar

“Your show was fantastic tonight!” - Sara Stiles

“Funk and Brueske tackle the songs of Nat King Cole, Blossom Dearie, Dan Penn, Madeline Peyroux and more with aplomb, taste, and imagination” - Larry Englund

“JoAnn Funk's sultry voice and jazz-cabaret piano stylings will again grace the St. Paul Hotel's Lobby Bar on Sept. 1. Before that, she's devoting an evening nearby, at The Artist's Quarter with her show: Give Him the Ooh lala, dedicated to the songs of cabaret legend Blossom Dearie, who wowed audiences in London and New York with tunes like "My Gentleman Friend," "I'm Hip" and "Peel Me a Grape." Dearie died at 84 in 2009. "She has a dry wit that's delicious," Funk says. "I love the songs she chooses.” - Hal Davis