Between The Lines

A vibrant harmonic glow....
Chicago Sun Times

Performing in trio, quartet and quintet settings with some of Chicago's finest, pianist Joan Hickey's modern takes on standards, pop tunes and her own originals are fresh, vital and swinging. Joining the rhythm section of drummer Dana Hall and bassist Dennis Carroll, are trumpeter Tito Carrillo and saxophonist John Wojciechowski performing arrangements of "Black Magic Woman," "My Funny Valentine," "The Man I Love," and more. Hickey has been performing and recording around Chicago since 1980 with her own groups and in appearances with Nat Adderly, Milt Hinton, Buster Williams, Von Freeman, Joe Williams and many others.

Production Info:

Produced by JOAN HICKEY
Recorded at DR. CAW RECORDING, Northbrook, IL
Engineered by CRAIG WILLIAMS
Mixed at SYSTEMS TWO in Brooklyn, NY by MIKE MARCIANO
Cover painting by TRACY MacEWAN
Photography by PAUL SHERMAN
Design & layout by JOHN BISHOP

Reviews of Between The Lines

All About Jazz (Dan McClenaghan)
Chicago-based pianist Joan Hickey and her quintet sound as if they're trying to sneak up on you with some warbling horn work over a steady bass line as the opening Hickey original, "Herbris," spins to life. Then they find the groove that leads into a light-stepping piano solo; and over the course of eight-plus minutes they keep a mainstream feeling ...

Chicago Reader (Neil Tesser)
For pianist JOAN HICKEY, the new Between the Lines (on the Seattle imprint OA2 Records) is a triumph of another sort: because the only previous CD under her own name barely got distributed, this will be her debut for most listeners. For me the disc is something of a revelation for other reasons. As I've come to expect from her, Hickey holds togeth ...

Jazz Times (Forrest Dylan Bryant)
Leading with a gentle touch at the piano and a lighthearted sense of adventure, Hickey guides her Chicago-based quintet through hard-bop and modern jazz territory with aplomb. She also allows the music to take a few rhythmic detours, adopting a reggae beat or flirting briefly with free jazz. The first four tracks show off the group's strength and f ...

Cadence (Jerome Wilson)
Pianist Joan Hickey delivers a CD that is more Jazz-centered with emphasis on Blues accents and the free floating pulse established long ago by the ?60's Miles Davis Quintet. ?With A Song In My Heart? and ?The Man I Love? get strong, exuberant interpretations that feature saxophonist John Wojciechowski going wild, playing a hard, burrowing tenor on ...

Cadence (Oct-Dec 2007) (Jerome Wilson)
On Between The Lines pianist Joan Hickey delivers a CD that is more Jazz-centered with emphasis on Blues accents and the free floating pulse established long ago by the '60's Miles Davis Quintet. "With A Song In My Heart" and "The Man I Love" get strong, exuberant interpretations that feature saxophonist John Wojciechowski going wild, playing a har ...

Chicago Jazz Magazine (Paul Abella)
Ever heard on of those discs where everything sounds like something you've heard before, but you can't quite put your finger on it? Joan Hickey's latest disc, Between The Lines, is one of those really interesting records that just plain sounds familiar. Of course when your disc starts off sounding a bit like VSOP and wraps up with the one-two pu ...