What The Press Have Said

Press Quotes for Dream On

Lyric FM, Ireland: Jazz Alley ...It doesn’t get better than this...

The Ticket, Irish Times: Zrazy’s delicate sultriness may now be the blossom of cool jazz in the 1950s Loose and limber, sensual, from the breathy opening of Angel Walking to the Waitsian Deitrich chilled improvisations of Bossa Nova...

Ray Comiskey of the Irish Times: "...Walsh wraps her warm, lived-in voice with unaffected directness round Nelson's superior compositions....this is impressive affirmation of Zrazy's individuality".

Hot Press: ...superb musicianship in a sun-drenched Cuban-soul context, the babes are back with Dream On, a languid, summery, cafe-jazz concoction of breezy continental soul, Latino inflections and free-form structures invoke the sensual uplift of the Buena Vista Social Club...

In Dublin: "...heavenly chill-out jazz. A real find"

The Event Guide: " A beautiful album" "..very high quality jazz-infused songs"

Veteran broadcaster PJ Curtis has described Dream On as: "an absolutely marvellous album…unlike nothing else being produced in Ireland. The lyrics are beautiful spiritual poems and the musicianship is superb"

Gregg Shapiro of OUTLOOK NEWS, USA: Continuing in the jazzy vein of their last few albums, Irish duo Zrazy (Maria Walsh and Carole Nelson), who accompany themselves on flute, sax, and other instruments, have returned with the verdant Dream On (Alfi). Also backed by a quintet, Zrazy’s songs have a dreamy and seductive quality, embodied in songs such as "I Know When You Are Near," "Rain," and "Keep It Real," and the nine minute "Drive" contains a sexy jam.

Reviews of Private Wars

THE IRISH TIMES, 5 March 1999: Zrazy: "Private Wars" (Alfi); This may be the single most sensuous, moody, set of love songs released by any Irish act this year. In fact, Private Wars is so low-down and dirty it sounds like it was recorded in bed. Songs like Remember (That You Did It First With Me) and Ecstasy certainly celebrate, in no uncertain terms, the delights to be discovered when a bed ain't used simply for sleeping.; Wonderful stuff, with lyrics written mostly by Carole Nelson and then dipped in the honey that seems to permanently drip from singer/composer Maria Walsh's lips. Nelson also knows how to handle a saxophone. Beautifully. At this point in their career, the only thing we need to know is, do they deliver as musicians? On the strength of this album, a thousandfold. - Joe Jackson

HOT PRESS, 17 March 1999: Zrazy are back with a bang. And boy, do they know how to renew old acquaintance with style.; Three albums on and Carole Nelson and Maria Walsh are in mellow mood. Private Wars is a jazz album that's more New York than New Orleans, a loping languorous thing that hangs in the air long after the last song fades.; Zrazy were never slow to take chances. But this time round, they've turned expectations on their head with one of the most romantic collections to hit the racks in quite a while. One listen to Private Wars and you'll wonder how such meandering tripe as that extruded by Houston, Carey and Dion, ever managed to hog the limelight.; Walsh and Nelson are no slouches in the writing stakes either, with 11 originals out of a total of 13 tracks. The title track is an echo from their debut album, albiet reincarnated in more considered form. Sax, piano, double bass and percussion flutter and sway in the background throughout, like loving relatives waiting to be called for a contribution.; Much of Private Wars is erotically charged, emotionally naked. But Zrazy's take can always be relied upon to be a little more leftfield than expected. And so it is that 'Remember That You Did It First With Me' is a quirky meditation on both virginity and female relationships, which avoids getting tied up in knots lyrically or musically.; The two covers are carefully chosen and seamlessly melded with the originals. Billie Holiday's 'God Bless The Child' and Cole Porter's 'Night and Day' are suitably sublime additions to what is already an accomplished collection.; The only dud notes are struch by Walsh's vocal uncertainties, especially vident in 'Beloved'. Still, whatever her motivations, she sweeps and soars for so much of the album that the odd vocal quandary serves more to tweak the attention, rather than sully the music.; Instinct tells me that Zrazy would be better ensconsed in Manhattan than in Dublin, if they want this album to truely see the light of day. The sheer panache and savoir faire that Private Wars exudes deserves a bigger audience than it's likely to garner in Ireland, where jazz is taken in small spoonfuls.; Whatever the game plans, they've produced one gem of an album that could alter forever the notion of 'mood music' if only it get's a chance. - Siobhán Long

GCN Newspaper. March 1999: Its been just over five years since Dublin duo Maria Walsh and Carole Nelson massaged us with their love for Mother Nature. From the jazz-folk of their first album Give it all Up to the techno-inflected Permanent Happiness these multi-talented women have run the gamut of their musical influences and, judging from this new album, their collective emotional experiences.; It's also something of a return to first love as they take us hand in hand through a sublime selection of their own jazz cuts. From the opening title track, a wistful signature with Nelson's sax almost as counterpoint, we're in for a right bruising. There's the chilling paeon of Remember (That You Did It First With Me) with Walsh's almost metallic voice scraping the nape of your neck, eerily reminiscent (in sentiment) of last year's My Confession and the exquisite I Just Want To Drink Alone that has classic written all over it. The sax inflected swing of Cry Baby is very immediate, as is the languorous Fall Until You Fly, the latter having a very strong aspirational hook. Beloved sees Walsh's unreal voice and Nelson's effortless piano in close company ("Take me to your heart, Enclose me in your love, For I have wandered far and wide, The case of love to prove"); There are also good enough covers of God Bless The Child and a particularly joyous Night And Day - but who needs them after this embarassment of riches?; Apart from Nelson swapping saxophones for piano the duo are aided in this jazz seduction by the very tight ensemble playing of Myles Drennan, Geraint Roberts, Andrew Bold and Conor Brady.; This album has already been requested when I've played it at H.A.M. in the Chocolate Bar and I cannot recommend it highly enough. Go and support our home team.; A sublimely produced personal testimony from our digital duo. - Tonie Walsh

In Brief

TIME OUT (London): "Smooth as silk Dublin-based world-jazz funksters who mightily impressed on their last visit. Although impossible to pin down, their music is creamy and rich, yet studded with nuggets of social conscience."

TORONTO STAR (Canada): "Not only are they poetically conscious and politically motivated, the two are determined to be out and active in a nation still under Catholicism's firm grip."

CITY LIMITS (London): "Traces of their backgrounds as jazz musicians are evident in their range of improvisation skills.....Too sexy for their country?.......catch the Green Goddesses in the Fridge, Brixton."

QUOTA MAG. (Toronto): "The lyrics have an authentic simplicity and emotion is articulated in such a way that illustrates Zrazy's songwriting is clearly in a cliche-free zone."

VARSITY REVIEW (Toronto): "The dynamics between them bounce off walls, it's electrifying."

HOT PRESS (Ireland): "Totally at odds with any prevailing trend in Ireland......vocals oozing hurt and experience......ZRAZY now don't ask, they demand you watch."

MUSIC WEEK: "they could be the next Irish act to cause a stir."

SUNDAY BUSINESS POST (Ireland): "Zrazy are stunning".

2FM (Ireland): "Best incoming album of '94."

IRISH TIMES: "Maria Walsh's vocals unravel smoothly into wonderful shapes, leaving the listener with images that remain long after the final sighing notes."

DUBLIN EVENT GUIDE: "..fresh in a sea of male rockers....with their funky ethos....and undoubted songwriting talent...irreverent, affable, joyful and offbeat."

Quotes about Zrazy's Second Album, Permanent Happiness

HOT PRESS (IRELAND): "...Brilliant...Ranging from hardcore techno to soft undulating dance rythms, and from funky disco to unadulterated balads...such a diverse creation."
"...It's like one big party and all kinds of strange and wonderful folk are welcome."

XL MAGAZINE (IRELAND): "...How come you haven't been listening to Zrazy forever?"
"This album should see their star rising higher."

HOT PRESS (IRELAND): "...Brilliant songs which resonate in the head long after the disc has become silent."
"There are some truly magicical moments in the Zrazy experience. Their musical eloquence is beyond doubt as is the sincerity of their feminist and gay credentials."

IRISH TIMES: "...Magnificent and humourous musicians..."