(Blues,Vocal Jazz,Swing Noir) Bernadette Seacrest - Collection , 3 albums - 2004-2009, MP3, 320 kbps

"At first one might think the greatest benefit of the lounge-y torch song revival is the idea of a smoky-voiced chanteuse sporting tattoos- mmm...classic beauty+punk sensibility=yummy. But Albuquerque's Bernadette Seacrest could be dressed in business casual for all we care. After all, she posses one of those rare voices that summons up romantic demons, lost loves and well-made cocktails. Her new CD, "No More Music By the Suckers", is a tapestry of slick noir ballads and sweet melodies. And you know what? Maybe the tatts are pretty cool too."
-The Santa Fe Reporter
"Seacrest, whose last gig was with the Albuquerque rockabilly outfit The Long Goners, has evolved into a tattooed chanteuse specializing in jazzy, torchy and extremely tunes with a band featuring a double bass, sax and trombone. While Seacrest's voice is the main draw here, don't forget The Yes Men, who create the dangerous atmosphere. Grimes' bass is a major component on most cuts. And sometimes the horn section sounds like they're engaging in a gang rumble."
-The Santa Fe New Mexican
"Her sultry, silky voice spreads across the room like a lush, warm blanket of velvet and ably pays homage to the composers and performers who made those songs so unforgettable in the first place."
~Albuquerque Journal
"You can practically smell the cigarrette smoke and taste the bootleg booze of a speakeasy club when you listen to the music of this retro swinging group. Lead singer Bernadette Seacrest has a sultry voice perfectly backed by a group of able jazz musicians."
~ music.download.com

"I feel as if I've stumbled into the last bar open at 3am in a dark alley in New Orleans. What a great moody performance by one of my favorite artists!"
--Derek Sivers, CD Baby
"There are two reasons why you want to become a Yes Man when it comes to Bernadette Seacrest. One reason may be her piercing eyes and her heavily tattooted body that tells you not to mess with Bernadette - and which by the way is a welcome change from all the clean pseudo jazz divas major labels wants to shove down your throat (although I’m sure she’s one of the nicest person you could meet...someone who sings like Bernadette can’t be bad after all). The second reason is that Bernadette simply knows how to handle a sultry jazzy torch song. In a way Bernadette is a modern Julie London with a punk attitude and a rawer sound. One listen to this live album and you feel beamed into in a small smoky late-night joint with a big glass of booze and the band and singer making music just for the fun of it."
--Jazz Not Jazz
"Not since the heyday of Austin's 8 1/2 Souvenirs has torch jazz sounded as authentic as it does delivered courtesy of Bernadette Seacrest's formidable set of pipes atop the torrid haze served up by her Yes Men."
--The Weekly Alibi
"Hailing from Albuquerque, Seacrest is a refreshing departure from the squeaky-clean jazz-tootsie camp Jane Monheit and Nellie McKay. Just hitting the 40 mark, this heavily tattooed former punk adds a playful Barbara Stanwyk, here-comes-trouble feel to the torch-singing chanteuse formula."
--Tim Durche • Willamette Week | Portland, OR
"....Her blunt-cut bangs and vintage sleeve-tattoos make her look more like a Suicide Girl than a run-of-the-mill chanteuse, but her girlish voice recalls the sweet pain of a young Billie Holiday."
--San Francisco Chronicle
"Whichever ghastly gent did sultry songstress Bernadette Seacrest wrong has surely got a beatin' a-comin' to him, either by us or by someone else out to avenge the honor of the bluesy and ballsy siren. Whenever this tattooed temptress sings tempestuous torch songs about lovers who "couldn't keep the faith," or croons classic covers like Mama Cass' "Dream a Little Dream of Me," this quirky Albuquerque chanteuse makes us want to do wild things...."
--Phoenix New Times
"Nob Hill Singer is Unforgettable.....Her sultry, silky voice spreads across the room like a lush, warm blanket of velevet...."
--The Albuquerque Journal
"Seacrest is a vision from the 40's, a classic beauty with a contemporary twist. Her voice comes at you like Billie Holiday on a train that started in the pre-civil rights South and alighted in the 21st-century Southwest."
--Albuquerque the Magazine
"Many modern day jazz musicians claim to have done their homework, learning from the classic standards and may succeed at making a passing grade however, Bernadette Seacrest has truly arrived at today's modern jazz scene via time-capsule.... Conventional jazz from a most unconventional bombshell!"
--Swing City Magazine

Bernadette’s creative path reads like the back story to a mid-century Hollywood heroine: Ballerina, Beautician, Hell Kitten, Sultry Chanteuse.
She spent her childhood in California where she studied classical dance with the renowned Los Angeles Ballet and American Ballet Theatre until an injury drove her love of drag and pageantry north east and underground. Coming of age amidst the gutter glam and jewel toned ink of New York’s early 80’s street punk scene the ballerina scraped by as a sometimes fetish model, makeup artist and clothing designer for the iconic clothing/shoe company Nana.
In 1993 Bernadette Seacrest declared Albuquerque home and in 2001 made her musical debut with one of the hottest roots rockabilly bands in the Southwest, the Long Goners. Working closely with Pat Bova, the band’s brilliant singer-songwriter, she belted out rebellious anthems in the style of Janis Martin and Wanda Jackson. They played out for two years, grabbing audiences by the collar and dragging them to their feet with performances that never failed to blow the lid off the ballroom. Bernadette, with the Long Goners, shared the stage with Hank Williams III, Jonathan Richman, Wayne “The Train” Hancock, The Bastard Sons of Johnny Cash, Rockin’ Lloydd Tripp, Al Foul and the Shakes, Tom Walbank and Spo-dee-odee.
2003 found the burgeoning chanteuse ready to wrap her voice around the more complex musical terrain of jazz. She collaborated with acclaimed bassist and composer David Parlato for a year before forming a new band- Bernadette Seacrest and her Yes Men- with bass player/song writer extraordinaire Michael Grimes. The combo’s first album “No More Music by the Suckers” was released in 2004 and features desire drenched jazz standards as well as original songs by Grimes and former band mate Bova. Swing City Magazine wrote that the album was “… not an attempt for a one time rockabilly kitten to break into the modern day jazz scene but an attempt to break the mold, an endeavor she unconsciously accomplishes.” Their second album, “Live in Santa Fe” was released in 2005 and magically captures the smoke filled room acoustics of a sold out live performance.
Bernadette has toured extensively and played to packed audiences across the U.S. and France. She and her Yes Men have been featured on NPR and shared the stage with: Samarabalouf, Mat Firehair & the Imperators of Kool, El Senor Igor, Devil Doll and The Glenn Koster Trio.
In 2006 Bernadette followed her heart to Atlanta where she is currently working on a new project, “Bernadette Seacrest and Her Provocateurs” with guitarist Charles Williams and bassist Kris Dale. The trio recently released an EP premiering several new songs, written by Williams, that infuse Ms Seacrest’s signature dark vintage jazz sound with a deep south hue. The mood remains raw and sparse, allowing each musician’s considerable talent to shine through. Bernadette and her boys are planning a tour this summer so stay tuned for dates and venues!
“The whole affair resembles a hand-cranked big screen romance circa 1930s, in which our heroine-as was often the case during the era-beguiles her male counterpart with sleight of sexual innuendo, the blink of a carefully attended eye and an ever-so-slightly liquor-lubricated melody.”