The extraordinary Krystle Warren returns to captivate our hearts and minds again– Australian tour March 2012

“Krystle Warren… you should really give her a listen. You won’t believe what you’re hearing – she’s amazing.” k.d. lang

For ‘WAY TO BLUE’: “The deep, smoky, boundless voice of Paris-based soul singer Krystle Warren was the revelation of the show. She breathed a heart- stopping I Was Made to Love Magic unaccompanied, and earthed many a pitch- perfect harmony chorus.”  The Age

“Warren’s voice is an extraordinary instrument, murmuring with tenderness at times, growling with intensity at others. It vividly recalls Nina Simone in its depth and smokiness, as well as John Martyn and (Jeff) Buckley in terms of virtuosic variety.” The Guardian

The enigmatic and gifted folk-jazz-soul singer and songwriter Krystle Warren – one of the revelatory highlights of the recent concert event “Way to Blue: The Songs of Nick Drake” is returning to Australia very soon to wow audiences all over again.

Existing Australian fans and newer converts alike can catch Krystle in March 2012 at her own headline shows (as well as the support for folk-blues troubadour Eric Bibb).

Krystle will perform at the Blue Mountains Music Festival, Port Fairy Festival, MossVale Music Festival, and the Brunswick Music Festival.

Krystle Warren burst upon English audiences with a show-stealing performance on the Jools Holland Later program in October 2009, around the same time she was receiving serious plaudits from Rufus Wainwright and kd lang. She repeated the trick at the Barbican’s Jazz Voice concert in the London Jazz Festival; “Songs of Grace and Danger – The Songs of John Martyn” curated by Danny Thompson.

She’s also now an honorary member of the extended Wainwright/McGarrigle/ Thompson clan having played at Kate McGarrigle tribute shows in London and New York; and of course the Nick Drake “Way To Blue” posse with shows across the UK, Italy and very recently Australia. Last summer she featured alongside Rufus Wainwright and Kylie at the third annual Watermill Center Concert in the Hamptons – and she recently supported Joan As Police Woman on her UK tour.

Music critics instantly “get” Krystle too: As The Independent said, “There are elements of Nina Simone and Joan Armatrading in folk-jazz singer Krystle Warren’s voice, and even Dusty at her dustiest.” While our own SMH said following the Way To Blue Sydney Opera House performance: “However, it was Warren, with a voice that has some of the character of Nina Simone and the buoyancy of a young Aretha Franklin, who regularly stilled the room.”

There’s just something alluringly familiar about Krystle Warren. She instantly sounds classic, like a highly-regarded veteran .Much of her strength is down to the assured quality of her voice, which sashays elegantly among the hidden corridors linking jazz, blues, folk, funk and pop without a trace of self- consciousness and has you instinctively grasping for elusive comparisons.

Tracy Chapman, Nina Simone, Joan Armatrading, Norah Jones, Madeleine Peyroux and Erykah Badu spring lazily to mind, but Warren really does have a distinctively forthright style of her own.

Originally from Kansas City, she served her apprenticeship busking in New York and Paris. Her original songs and soulful, husky singing brought her to the attention of the Paris-based Because label, home to Manu Chao and Amadou and Mariam, resulting in the release of her debut album Circles. “We are certainly in the presence of a mighty talent”, attested Colin Irwin of the BBC at the time.

Uncut Magazine echoed the sentiment saying: “Warren’s thrilling debut fully lives up to expectations….It’s all uncontrived and near faultless, really.”

‘LOVE SONGS. A Time You May Embrace’ is the title of the soon to be released new CD from Krystle Warren & the Faculty.

Australian audiences are in for a real treat – let yourself be swept away by the intelligent, captivating, and wholly remarkable sound of Krystle Warren.