“A true original” –Performing Songwriter

“delightful anomaly”–SeattleTimes

“Bean describes her music as “Southern-fried vintage jazz,” and with its languid melodies and sultry vocal lines, it does sound as if it could have floated off a Georgia porch and landed by accident in rainy, cold Seattle. Bean’s vocals recall Billie Holiday, only with s h e e r j o y replacing all that pain.” –Seattle Post Intelligencer

“Bean’s ability to fuse jazz piano, horns and folk music and her incredibly talented band should not be underestimated, but it is her “sepia toned vocals” that move her work beyond simply an enjoyable experiment in making the old new again and classify her as both a talent and a visionary.” –The Eugene Weekly

“ ...especially beguiling” –The Stranger

“a deliberate, dreamy journey into bluesy happiness.” –The Source Weekly

“(Bean has a)seemingly innate ability to charm a packed house i n t o q u i e t u d e with infectious tunes about sweet tea and tamales.” –About.com/Folk

“Datri Bean creates a sound that makes me imagine a sunny, country afternoon sipping mint julips on an old screened porch, the air moving ever so slightly under the ceiling fan. It’s a nice place to be. If Billie Holiday were alive today, she would want Datri Bean writing her material.” –Vigilance Magazine

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Feb 4, 2011 (Austin, TX) Indie songwriter and jazz vocalist Datri Bean will release her new CD, Ruby, February 4, 2011, at Austin's new jazz venue, the Swan Dive, 615 Red River. Doors at 8:00. Tickets are $10. Bands include Datri Bean and the Minor Mishap Marching Band.

Datri Bean calls her music Southern-fried vintage jazz: sepia vocals from the jazz age, back-porch piano, and delicate, quirky, original songs.

Also featured at the CD release party is Datri's musical project the Minor Mishap Marching Band– a 27 piece renegade brass band, Bourbon Street meets Budapest. Datri is the bandleader, composer, and conductor of the band, which is producing Austin's first festival of community street bands, HonkTX!, next March.

Co-produced with Andre Moran of Congress House Studio, Ruby contains thirteen original songs. They have the unmistakeable flavor of pre-war jazz, but also klezmer and indie pop– a quirky, modern reinvention that is a distant cousin of the work of Hoagy Carmichael and Billie Holliday, but also of Randy Newman, Tom Waits, and Andrew Bird. Instrumentation includes piano, clarinet, bass clarinet, sousaphone, trombone, trumpet, accordion, ukulele, cello and saw.

At the core of Ruby, is the title track about Datri's eighty year old piano teacher and mentor. Datri's friendship with this extraordinary woman had an enormous affect on her music and writing, as well as her life. Datri was nineteen when she stumbled into the home of the elderly piano teacher who would later be called "Ruby" in Datri's work. After an abrupt interview and audition, in which Datri nervously fumbled through the piece, Ruby accepted her as a student. Ruby was intimidating and strict. She was a masterful musician. Over the next several years, she transformed Datri's playing as well as her relationship to music. She also became one of Datri's closest friends.

Over time, Ruby's health declined and she was no longer able to teach. Datri majored not in music, but in Russian, and studied abroad. Shortly after she returned to the United States, a fellow piano student spotted her at the grocery store and let her know that Ruby had recently passed away. Years later, in a cramped room with only enough space for the piano it held, the song "Ruby" was written in a single tearful sitting.

The release of Datri Bean's new album, Ruby, will be celebrated Saturday, February 4th at Austin's newest jazz club, the Swan Dive, 165 Red River. Doors at 8:00. Tickets are $10. Bands include Datri Bean and the Minor Mishap Marching Band.

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