Petra van Nuis Jazz Quartet is a quartet created by vocalist, Petra van Nuis, and she had been featured at many jazz events like Chicago Jazz Festival and Jazz City. Petra van Nuis is a Chicagoan vocalist who has a soothing, delicate voice while singing jazz pieces. Her quartet features her, guitarist Andy Brown, bassist Joe Policastro and drummer Bob Rummage playing smoothe jazz that is relaxing and calming to the audience.

As a person who has partaken in many different music activities in the past years, my thoughts on the music and arrangements may seem different to people in a

My initial thoughts on this jazz quartet was that it was not really my style for jazz. The jazz was more soothing than what I like, which is fast and exciting. This type of music you would hear in a cafe or a 1920’s bar, which is understanding seeing that most of the music played was old in sense. Petra van Nuis is a vocalist that has a soothing voice that is relaxing and seems almost helpful at focusing on the task at hand.

Accompanied by the guitarist, Andy Brown, somehow amplified her soothing, melodic voice even more, which makes the songs more smooth and relaxing. The bassist, Joe Policastro, and drummer, Bob Rummage, keep the steady tempo throughout the songs played but they still add their own personal touches while doing it. Together they make a steady, melodic, jazzy group that adds personal touches to old jazz songs.

As a whole, Petra van Nuis Jazz Quartet is a new and interesting jazz group that takes old songs and adds personal touches that seem to make old songs new again. I rate this group a 7 out of 10. I only rate this because I expected a fast pace and more exciting music but instead it was more relaxing and soothing. The group as a whole was well balanced and connected well with each other, with music phrases and personality. I would recommend this quartet to anyone who needs to relax and enjoy the setting and to people who do not like fast pacing jazz.