Reviews

On Mood Swings, Kosins shows she's got it all - the voice, the versatility, the refreshing new songs, and pure talent. In the words of Grammy Award winning producer Don Was, "With the release of this CD everyone can discover what a local group of fans in Detroit have know for years: Kathy Kosins is one of the finest singers in the world."

"With this performance we can welcome Kathy Kosins to the elite group we call jazz divas." Kevin Mahogany

Mood Swings Kathy Kosins by C. Michael Bailey
Kathy Kosins has a smart mouth. It is manifested in the jazz vocal jewels she composes and sings. Ms. Kosins provides a real treat with Mood Swings. Immediately the listener will note that Ms. Kosins pens the majority of music on this jazz vocal recording with a couple of very notable exceptions.

Mood Swings by Marshall Bowden PopMatters Music Columnist and Critic
15 January 2003
Kathy Kosins is yet another contemporary jazz singer who writes her own material. Between Kosins, Carol Duboc, Shirley Eckhart, Cassandra Wilson, and Patricia Barber, it appears that jazz is raising a crop of female singer/songwriters to rival the one pop music produced in the late '60s to early '70s. Kosins' latest recording, Mood Swings, is an ambitious project that is largely successful both as a display of songwriting talent and as a fine recordings of songs by an interesting and expressive singer.

By Christopher Louden JAZZTIMES MAGAZINE
May 2002
With her earthy sound, enriched with the subtle suggestion of a smoky growl, Kosins is a delightful surprise.

By Neil Tesser -- Chicago Reader
...my favorite tracks--several sparky jazz tunes on which her husky, honeyed voice stands out nicely against the rhythm-and-horns backdrops. On her most successful originals, like the hipster anthem "I Was There" and the lighthearted throwback "Livin' in Style" (which cries out for a Preston Sturges setting), she throws her voice into the melodies, but pulls back a little with her inflection so the lyrics come out cool.

By Larry Nai  ejazz
Vocalist Kathy Kosins stands out in the relative glut of Jazz singers by dint of her distinctive instrument. Combining terrific pitch control with subtly insinuating phrasing, Kosins possesses a voice that communicates intimacy and focus, as well as the impression that she could do just about anything she wishes to with it.

MOOD SWINGS by Paula Edelstein (Sounds of Timeless Jazz)
Kathy Kosins captures the many moods, nuances and styles of swing, soul, blues, and bop throughout this excellent CD. MOOD SWINGS couldn't have been a more fitting choice for the title and with the voice, versatility and talent of Kosins at the helm, these moods are carried off by one of the finest singers in the world.

AMG Expert Review By Alex Henderson
These days, jazz often functions as repertory music; there are plenty of faceless, totally predictable "Young Lions" (both instrumentalists and singers) who insist on doing the same old George Gershwin, Irving Berlin and Cole Porter standards the same old way. But Kathy Kosins, to her credit, doesn't inundate listeners with beaten-to-death warhorses on Mood Swings.

Mood Swings By Dave Nathan
Her tunes rise above the ordinary, exceeding in imagination and interest most of the contemporary material that is fobbed off as jazz/pop these days. ... a very good, diversified vocal session. Recommended.

Oregon Jazz Society
....She converts Jimi Hendrix' Foxey Lady into a jazz standard with a great arrangement and excellent guitar by Michael King and Gary Nester's synthesizer. She sings with honest sounding emotion and a pleasing voice....

Benjamin Ivry
CDNOW Contributing Writer
Kosins is a challenging artist, who seems determined to give listeners what they don't expect, and the intriguingly ambitious small label Chiaroscuro Jazz has done a fine job of letting her find her public. Surely her range of influences and resolve to be daring makes for a far more lively result than the plastic, retrograde retreads that currently glut the market.

Local Singer Makes Ballads Sparkle by Thomas De Shazor
...a talented, uncompromising woman in a male-dominated field, Kosins's painstaking musical efforts are rewarded with a solid album of jazz tunes. Owing, perhaps, to the two-years-plus it took to complete "Mood Swings," the closeness she has with her band-mates is evident in the tightness, maturity and tenderness of the album.

Other Albums by Kathy Kosins: