Portrait

Echoing Rosie Clooney's natural warmth and Nancy Wilson's impeccable phrasing, Matassa moves from triumph to triumph.
Christopher Loudon, Jazz Times

Several years in the making, vocalist Greta Matassa's 6th recording for Origin is a loving assemblage of her quintet's best material in recent years. A documentation of the work she and her wonderful band have developed on stage over countless performances, and dedicated to her late father James Goehle. A painter and jazz lover, Goehle's faith in and enthusiastic support of his daughter's talents as a teen, inspired and sustained her career in music. The painting on the cover is his portrait of Greta's mother. Greta has been a dominate fixture on Northwest stages for decades and with more recent touring, including sold out dates at New York's Dizzy's Club, and tours of Russia, Singapore, Hawaii, and Japan, Greta's sound is continually reaching new audiences.

"Greta Matassa...Soulful...Soul filled...Pocket Diva...Groove Queen...Scats like nobody's business! She is the real deal, baby!" - Carmen Bradford

Production Info:

Produced by Greta Matassa
Recorded & mixed by David Lange
at David Lange Studios, Edgewood, WA
Mastered by Ross Nyberg
at Nyberg Mastering, Issaquah, WA
Cover painting by James Goehle
Greta photograph by Ziggy Spiz
Cover design & layout by John Bishop

Reviews of Portrait

Midwest Record (Chris Spector)
Away from recording for almost a decade, this regional winner with a worldwide reach (when she wants it) shows how classic jazz vocal is done right. With a great eclectic sense of material, Matassa knows how to dive into every note and find even more than was put there originally. A real pro that's glad to do all the heavy lifting so you can sit ...

All About Jazz (Paul Rauch)
4-STARS Greta Matassa has made choices in her career that have sacrificed some visibility in exchange for lifestyle. Yet the Seattle based vocal artist has established herself firmly as one of America's finest singers, and one of the best that jazz has to offer in the new century. To this point, the jazz public at large had not heard from Matassa ...

Rifftides (Doug Ramsey)
Greta Matassa has never stopped performing extensively or touring with her widely admired quintet, but it has been years since she has made a new recording. The singer's first album since 2011 is a reminder of the rare depth of her musicianship and her ability to fnd the essence of a song. The longtime colleagues with her on Portrait are veterans o ...

Earshot Jazz (Paul Rauch)
It has been nearly a decade since vocal artist Greta Matassa has spoken to us via a new recording. With Portrait, Matassa covers the best of the songs she has performed with her working band of the past 10 years. The result is a solid, swinging collection of tunes steeped in intimacy. Whether diving into Michel LeGrand's "Pieces of Dreams," or r ...

Jazz Weekly (George W. Harris)
Vocalist Greta Matassa has a hint of Carmen McRae's tone in her voice as she sings with richness and wanderlust on this collection of standards. Teamed with Darin Clendenin/p, Clipper Anderson/b, Mark Ivester/dr and Alexey Nikolaev/sax, is luscious on Latin material like the sleek "Baubles Bangles and Beads" as well as the suave samba, "The Beat of ...

Seattle Times (Paul de Barros)
Album releases by Greta Matassa and Kelley Johnson show two Seattle jazz singers at the top of their game Two artists indelibly linked to Tula's Restaurant & Jazz Club, which is closing at the end of this month, are Seattle's best female jazz singers — Greta Matassa and Kelley Johnson — who both celebrated the release of new albums at the cl ...