Digital Jazz News

A clean and clear voice with just a slight earthy or smoky finish, Wexler hits a sweet spot in jazz vocals that not many artists are filling right now. Under a Painted Sky does the same. Instead of a handful of the same predictable covers that have essentially been beaten to death, the tunes here are some “lesser-known,” and in some cases, forgotten numbers that Wexler embraces to make her own.

– Digital Jazz News

Pop Culture Classics

Whatever the mood, vibrant vocalist Wexler can convey it perfectly. With an expressive, nuanced voice and a unique manner of phrasing, she adds her own magic to such tunes as “Wonderful Wonderful” and “Avec Le Temps.” Some very tasty tidbits by her musicians complement her exploration of many vivid emotions.

– Pop Culture Classics

Game Vortex

Judy Wexler: Under A Painted Sky is an impressive record. It’s packed with accomplished musicians, interesting repertoire, and a woman who leads the band rather than just floating above it. The latter is hard to explain, especially to non-musicians, but there is a difference between singing and performing. Almost any fool can sing a tune, but to perform means putting one’s stamp on some material. Listen to any of the greats singing stock material in surprising and delightful ways.  Check out Ella Fitzgerald’s version of “A-Tisket, A-Tasket” or Sonny Rollins performing “Blue Room” and compare to the source. Wexler is channeling jazz greats and performing repertoire, but she appears driven to leave her stamp on what she touches.

– Game Vortex

Jazz Society of Oregon

Wexler possesses a nearly engrained, somehow automatic feeling for delivering a lyric with total honesty. And she does this with spot-on intonation and respect for her material.

-Jazz Society of Oregon by George Fendel

Midwest Record

Wexler continues to affirm she’s a right on nu jazz vocalist as she adds her own special sauce to chestnuts and continues to seek out tunes from offbeat sources that she has the instincts to make her own. Whether covering Johnny Mathis or Egberto Gismonti, Wexler is a most charming tour guide and gracious hostess. Her first call pals bring up the rear without getting in her way and a good time is really had by all. A top shelf recording throughout.

– Midwest Record

F.A.M.E. (Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange) 

Judy Wexler sings in a cool refreshing voice, kind of a blend of Karen Carpenter, Toni Tenille, Doris Day, and then the boss nova chanteuses. And, yow!, she couldn’t have chosen a better band for her coverage of standards, classics, and other songs: Alan Pasqua, Bob Mintzer, Walt Fowler, Alex Acuna, and four more in a great nightclub/night streets/August afternoon ambiance. Bright and bouncy, pensive, wistful, no matter the emotion or coloration, these guys have it covered, and Wexler pitches her talent to embrace each mode and mood.

– F.A.M.E. (Folk & Acoustic Music Exchange)

The Bluegrass Special

California-born and -bred Judy Wexler floats above and flits about her songs with breezy joie de vivre and with such delight in their themes that a casual listener might mistake her sunniness for superficiality. Those casual listeners would be wrong. Wexler’s warm, airy voice is deceptively but deeply engaged in her repertoire’s emotional textures, and once you hear its woodwind quality in the context of her tight jazz octet’s sublime conversations, her passion for the moment, and her determination to find a distinctive opening for herself (especially in some of this album’s more familiar tunes), become dramas unto themselves.

–  TheBluegrassSpecial.com

Jazz in Space

You don’t have to look far to hear a true jazz singer. That would be Judy Wexler and she’s someone who’s got the smarts to understand a lyrical phrase and knows how to tell a story. A chanteuse to be reckoned with, Wexler teams again with pianist/arranger extraordinaire Alan Pasqua for her third album, Under a Painted Sky.

– Nick Bewsey, Jazz In Space

Downbeat by John Ephland 

Judy Wexler’s Under a Painted Sky (****) serves as a kind of soundtrack to a movie waiting to be made.  Wexler dips into French with the lovely “Avec Le Temps.” She plays the tourist with a rare cover of Egberto Gismonti’s dreamy “Cafe.” Another song with a Latin feel that speaks of longing is Abbey Lincoln’s “And How I Hoped For Your Love.” Wexler’s song choices are unique, and her take with a small group sound intimate. The album closes with a rare cover of Gary McFarland’s “Sack Full Of Dreams.”

– Downbeat, John Ephland

Scott Yanow, Jazziz

Easy on the Heart has one memorable performance after another.

– Jazziz