[Download MP3] - Joanne Brackeen: Popsicle Illusion

Daring, intense and full of surprises, Joanne Brackeen's Popsicle Illusion album (also available on CD), sets a new standard with this remarkable solo piano recording of original compositions and classics, creating something fresh with every note that emanates from her piano.

“Joanne’s music embodies a continuous, building, rejuvenating energy that also ignites the listener. And she swings surely and deeply while she hears ahead and around corners in finding harmonies that are personal and yet sound universal.

The advantage to hearing Joanne on a recording is that you can hear the music again and again… discovering new dimensions of feeling, time, and fun.”

                                                                                                -Nat Hentoff

Brackeen has been serious about Jazz piano since her late teens, when she became part of the LA jazz scene.   She worked with Teddy Edwards, Dexter Gordon, Harold Land and Charles Lloyd before moving to New York.  After arriving in the Jazz Mecca, she became the first women to fill the distinguished piano chair with Art Blakey’s Jazz Messengers.  Before she put together her own group, she also worked with Stan Getz, Freddie Hubbard, and Joe Henderson. 

Joanne Brackeen is one of jazz’s most prized possessions: a virtuoso pianist and master composer who epitomizes the history and evolution of Jazz from traditional to free, and everything in between; all with a contemporary edge. Arkadia Jazz is pleased to present Popsicle Illusion, Joanne Brackeen's tour-de-force solo piano recording.