"Barbara Morrison is likely the most accomplished jazz/blues veteran you've never heard. In a career than spans three decades, the Michigan-born, L.A.-based powerhouse has delivered seven sublime solo albums, three of which ably capture the unfettered snap, crackle, pop of her live performances while remaining unjustly obscure. This latest of her trio of live discs finds Morrison holding court in the Midwestern jazz oasis that is Minneapolis' Dakota, flanked by the sort of nonpareil statesmen--pianist Junior Mance, saxophonist Houston Person, bassist Earl May and drummer Jackie Williams--that most singers would give their left lung for.
Rising, as always, to the occasion, Morrison comes out with both guns blazing, simultaneously suggesting the impeccable jazz instincts of Ella Fitzgerald (whose girlish speaking voice and equally age-defiant gleefulness she also echoes), the intuitive bluesiness of Etta James (whose "At Last" she handles with estimable gusto) and the down 'n' dirty gutsiness of Dinah Washington (most satisfyingly on the hot, saucy "They Call Me Sundown.") But the album's piece de resistance is borrowed from Person's longtime musical companion, the late, great Etta Jones, whose importunate signature tune, "Don't Go to Strangers," comes gorgeously wrapped in six-and-a-half minutes of satin yearning, beribboned with an exquisitely misty sax solo. "

"Detroit-bred, Los Angeles-based Barbara Morrison resides at the intersection of jazz and blues, with a gospel church right on the corner. At least that's the impression that her terrific new CD, 'Live at the Dakota,' gives. Backed by an East Coast combo, she puts her own stamp on such familiar numbers as 'At Last' and 'Please Send Me Someone to Love.' And she really swings on 'I’ll Be Seeing You.' Of course, the disc was cut in Minneapolis, the first release on the new label Dakota Live."

Review of Barbara Morrison Live at the Dakota ****
Morrison shines on Dakota date
" Barbara Morrison is one of the best, earthiest, most exuberant and yet pathetically under-recognized jazz, blues, gospel and soul singers around. Her ebullient, sexually smoking firestorm delivery has raised spirits. Yet, this modern-day queen of the blues is not well-known much beyond Los Angeles. Morrison's unmerited obscurity might well be shattered by the sheer intensity of this live performance that links her with her blues peers, pianist Junior Mance and tenor saxophonist Houston Person. Right from bar one, Morrison generates a rough-hewn, passionate feeling on the opening jump tune, 'Things Ain't What They Used to Be.' Her intensity escalates and all but explodes on an ecstatic, blues-drenched version of 'I'd Rather Drink Muddy Water.' Her visceral version of 'They Call Me Sundown' is an unabashed, fun- and funk-filled ode to unbridled sexual joy. Rooted in gospel-like exultation, her reading of Percy Mayfield's 'Please Send Me Someone to Love' is a shout from the soul."

Everyone in the Los Angeles jazz world knows of Barbara Morrison. Long a familiar figure in clubs, she can always be relied upon to sing blues, standards and r&bish/jazz material with spirit and feeling. Although she has recorded fairly often in recent years, Live At The Dakota can be considered Barbara Morrison's definitive recording. During this concert from Minnesota, she is joined by a perfect backup group from the East Coast consisting of tenor-saxophonist Houston Person, pianist Junior Mance, bassist Earl May and drummer Jackie Williams. While most of the selections,
such as "Please Send Me Someone To Love," "At Last" and "I'd Rather Drink Muddy Water," are quite familiar, these renditions sound fresh and contain their own surprises, as if the singer and her musicians were discovering the tunes for the first time.
Every song is full of soul including a slower-than-usual "Mean To Me," "Don't Go To Strangers," the passionate blues "They Call Me Sundown" and the hardest swinging version of "I'll Be Seeing You" that one will ever hear. Also interesting are the singer's close imitations of both Big Joe Turner and Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson on the blues "Chains Of Love." Both Barbara Morrison and the all-star cast clearly inspire each other throughout the date, resulting in a highly recommended set that is aconsistent joy and available from www.dakotalive.com.

"With one foot in jazz and the other stirring around in the delicious mud of the blues, Barbara Morrison can blithely wow a crowd with skittering Ella scat on one tune, ease through a jazz ballad with a slew of inventive nuances, then blast through the blues with volcanic intensity. On her sizzling new disc, Live at the Dakota (Dakota Live), the peak latter moment comes late in the set on "They Call Me Sundown," which builds from the smoldering intimacy of a conversation between Morrison and Junior Mance's piano to a full-blown inferno, her voice raging alongside blistering saxophonist Houston Person. Whether swinging, dipping into R&B and soul, shouting the blues, or hopping on the A train, Morrison is an unmitigated delight, who, like sundown, definitely does her best work at night."

One of the most soulful songstress of her (or any) generation ... Barbara Morrison can belt out the blues, torch a torch song, and squeeze the soul out of soul, and along the way, she’s a dazzling entertainer and comedienne. Said Rob Adams in the Glasgow Herald, “She makes an audience feel good, like we're all round at her place and she's feeding us in the kitchen.” But it is indeed her voice with its two-and-a -half octave range that ultimately puts her at the top. With over 20 recordings in almost every genre from jazz to blues to gospel and pop, she has received world-wide acclaim."