Mangiardi’s original songwriting, interpretative, pianistic, vocal and arranging skills are most impressive; her string writing is lovely, and her album Skylark is altogether beautiful and entrancing. The musicians who accompany her are equally excellent.
This music is by turns meditative, haunting, full of mystery (e.g., the gorgeous instrumental piece “The Thrill is Gone”) ... great “feel” from the ensemble.”
Los Angeles, September 2017
If Denise Mangiardi‘s Brown Book comes off as far more ambitious than the average release from a jazz singer, that’s because Mangiardi is far more than just a singer. She’s a composer, arranger and musician, and she’s been doing this for many years–Brown Book, in fact, is her seventh album. Instead of using a small jazz ensemble or even a big band, Denise Mangiardi employs the Slovak National Symphony Orchestra that, like Calabria Foti, takes you back to the ’50s and ’60s when people like Nelson Riddle and Henry Mancini were the rock stars of their day
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The Vinal Anachronist March 2020
"Outstanding album of beautiful and uniquely original songs that work superbly for jazz ensemble and strings."
"Mangiardi's writing for strings is sumptuous, while still allowing plenty of space for some outstanding contributions from some of today's leading jazz soloists."– Nick Lea - Jazz Views
"These are gems in their perfect settings. Mangiardi finds that sweet spot that contains vulnerability and core emotional strength that goes nine miles deep-and all of it surrounded and supported by cohorts that can handle adult-strength harmonies and rhythms. String writing has a very context-specific freshness that connects the centuries."
James Singleton , bassist
New Orleans