HAUNTED MELODY (2025)
Sunday Jazz Brunch with Marty Friedman
Best of 2025
Fascinatin' Rhythm with Ray Alexander
Best of 2025
A good album is characterized by many different elements, one of them being when it manages to transport us into the mind and deepest feelings of the musician. American-Canadian vocalist and producer Peter Campbell’s fourth release is just that – an emotionally charged musical journey where all is bared to the listener. Built on introspection rather than spectacle, the record feels intimate and deliberately restrained, inviting the listener into a quiet, vulnerable space. It lingers long after the final note fades, like the echo of a song drifting down an empty hallway.
Campbell has been influenced by Brazilian and Portuguese music on this album which features three pieces by Brazilian composers. This influence is especially prevalent in a tune like “Lost in a Summer Night,” where a soft, reverberant guitar melody is layered over bossa nova rhythms and keyboards shimmering faintly in the background. The arrangements throughout the record leave plenty of breathing room for the music and emotions to play out in their own ways, nothing feels rushed. One of the most satisfying aspects is the amount of warmth and space that are present, perfectly conveyed by Campbell’s emotionally direct, beautiful vocals, adding just the right amount of reflection to the tunes.
This album is for late nights, quiet rooms and listeners willing to listen beginning to end. In embracing subtlety and sincerity, Campbell delivers a haunting, thoughtful work that resonates precisely because it refuses to shout.
KATI KIILASPEA, THE WHOLE NOTE
COMPLETE REVIEW
Peter Campbell is the kind of singer who seems to have stepped out of another time, an era when a tuxedo was not a costume but a uniform, and when a voice alone could command a room. His new album, Haunted Melody, extends that impression, but without lapsing into nostalgia or pastiche. Instead, it creates a world of its own: warm, sympathetic, and crafted with an intelligence that reveals Campbell not only as a vocalist but also as a producer of rare subtlety. The arrangements, co-sculpted with celebrated Canadian guitarist Reg Schwager, demonstrate a deft balance of elegance and invention, proof that Campbell is as attentive to architecture as he is to atmosphere.
What makes Campbell remarkable is his ability to impose a personal style while working with material that resists easy categorization. He moves through an eclectic repertoire with playful authority, interpreting songs as if offering each composer the best of his artistry. Campbell’s tenor voice further distinguishes him. Typically associated with other musical idioms, it here melds seamlessly into a form of jazz that is both generous and openhearted, capable of reaching well beyond traditional jazz audiences.
What, then, does Haunted Melody offer listeners today? For one, it reminds us that nostalgia can be reframed not as sentimentality but as a mode of discovery. Campbell’s music evokes the sepia-toned photographs we stumble upon in attic boxes, reminders not of what has been lost, but of the beauty still accessible when the past and present are allowed to speak to one another. For those who find pleasure in that kind of dialogue, between eras, between genres, between memory and reinvention, Campbell’s latest album will prove a rare and rewarding companion.
THIERRY DE CLEMENSAT, PARIS MOVE
COMPLETE REVIEW
An extraordinary array of talented music artists lend their expertise… to enrich this extraordinary re-imagination of selected songs by various composers. Haunted Melody is a stunning and immersive audio experience, highly recommended.
MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW
Haunted Melody is a lush, poignant collection of vocal jazz shaped by profound personal transformation. With moving interpretations of Leonard Cohen, Jacques Brel, and rare gems alongside Brazilian repertoire, Campbell delivers a deeply personal narrative of love, loss, and renewal, marked by warmth and sophistication.
JAZZ JOURNAL UK
The choice for greats like [Leonard] Cohen and [Jacques] Brel reveals that Campbell is primarily a storyteller: songs must be about something, have depth. A storyteller with a delightful voice, because this must be said: the Canadian is blessed with a voice you can listen to for hours. The choice of repertoire on Haunted Melody reveals something else as well, because you immediately see and hear that these tracks are a reflection of someone who has felt lonely. Don’t expect extravagances, but curl up in an easy chair and let Haunted Melody wash over you. Lovely.
JEROEN MULDER, MAXAZINE
Campbell's voice is rich and expressive and the band elevates the songs with their taste and sensitivity. This is a beautiful record.
DAVID REED, BELLEVILLE INTELLIGENCER
Campbell is devoted to the lyrics of the songs that he sings and renders them with a personal touch that makes each one feel special. It is nice that there are still performers who perform and record this kind of material in this manner.
JOE LANG, NEW JERSEY JAZZ SOCIETY
Haunted Melody brings together an impressive roster of Canadian jazz talent… While the album’s musical textures are sophisticated and worldly, the emotional core is intimate… a sonic reflection of personal loss, love, and rediscovery. The result is a fluid, emotionally resonant album that pays tribute to memory and melody in equal measure. With Haunted Melody, Peter Campbell continues to affirm his place as a modern interpreter of vocal jazz – one who honors tradition while carving a personal and stylistically adventurous path.
JAZZ CHILL MUSIC
[Peter Campbell] offers us his soft, sincere approach on every song, with a smooth sound that wraps around my ears like a warm kiss. The magic that makes someone a great singer is their ability to connect with the listener and make them believe every word shared. Campbell transmits his commitment without compunction.
If you have loved and lost, these songs will mirror your pain and life lessons. Each lyric is like a short story. Campbell knows how to make you feel his every emotion with sincerity of tone and temperament. This is a wonderfully produced album of heartfelt songs and a singer who knows how to sing them.
DEE DEE MCNEIL, MAKING A SCENE! THE INDEPENDENT MUSIC MAGAZINE
COMPLETE REVIEW
Vocal and romantic jazz in the great tradition of the genre. Haunted Melody evokes with suavity the ghosts of great singers like Cole, Crosby, Tormé, etc, but with an identifiable personal touch… As easy to listen to as a generous glass of rosé by the fireside.
FRÉDÉRIC CARDIN, PAN M 360
Redolent with resonances and painfully frank about the compromises we make to keep our beds (among other things) warmed, Peter Campbell’s Haunted Melody emerged as handily the finest album of 2025.
ANDREW HAMLIN, SEATTLE STAR
COMPLETE REVIEW
OLD FLAMES NEVER DIE (2020)
The world of male vocalists is, perhaps, the most bracketed in all of jazz, and the light-voiced, bewitching, cabaret-friendly Campbell doesn't neatly slot into any of the established spaces. But Campbell's skills and emotional draw are second to none. His extraordinary "Loving You: Celebrating Shirley Horn" should have risen from obscurity to become the sleeper vocal album of its year, and "Old Flames Never Die" deserves that same skyrocketing trajectory.
Working, once again, atop a drum-less combo operating with taste and restraint, Campbell proves spellbinding. From the opening take on Fred Hersch's "Stars" all the way through to the end of the date, he wraps his chiffon-laced cords around a lyric as if embracing the words with a knowing and understanding hug.
With an honesty about self and song, a knack for picking slightly overlooked numbers from classic tunesmiths, a strong kinship with his band mates, and sharp arranging ideas, both as an individual and collaborator, Campbell clearly has a solid skill set. But in the end, brushing all of that aside, it's really his voice that carries the day. Despite the industry's need for tagging artists and placing them into different bins, all the great ones remain individualists. And Peter Campbell, who may carry a lower profile than he deserves, is most certainly that.
DAN BILAWSKY, ALL ABOUT JAZZ
COMPLETE REVIEW
JAZZTIMES, YEAR IN REVIEW 2020, TOP 10 LIST
The best album of the year (so far) crept up and caught me on the cusp of the virus, but thankfully in time to keep me company through this and future madnesses.
Peter Campbell’s own website doesn’t tell much of a story… frankly, a bit of intrigue works for the man. He seems to have mysteriously materialized at the microphone, not a frightening ghost but an airy, melancholy spirit getting intimate with that mic and a gossamer-small audience in a hypothetical cabaret. Noisier, brassier acts might take his place later on; but that means nothing. He knows the fleetingness of the moment and the uncertainty of the future, so he accedes to the now and occasionally, understandably, hides in the past.
Campbell sings ahead, behind, and squarely on the beat, never muffing a move, sounding old and young, male and female; and yes, sad, but grasping the happiness in communicating sad. The soft pride, worn lightly, of a job well done, a vocation fulfilled.
ANDREW HAMLIN, JAZZTIMES
COMPLETE REVIEW
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JAZZTIMES, "YEAR IN REVIEW 2020," TOP 10 LIST
A jazz/cabaret vocalist that knows a vast survey of songs to pick from and can mix them all into a seamless whole no matter what era they are from. Classy, up market entertainment, he's a solid vocalist that knows how to take you away for a while and bring you back to a much better place. With smart jazzbos in tow, this cat delivers the whole package in fine form.
CHRIS SPECTOR, MIDWEST RECORD
… an absolutely beautiful and poignant recording from vocalist Peter Campbell. The choice of material, both contemporary and classic - plus Peter's sensitive and tender vocal style - puts a new spin to the traditional jazz vocal classics album. The arrangements and delivery from the masterful collection of assembled musicians is effortless and lush, and - combined with Peter's exceptional vocals - make this a unique and desirable jazz vocal album that is refreshing and sophisticated.
MARTY “MEMPHIS” DELIA, THE JAZZ MUSIC BLOG (AUSTRALIA)
…achingly beautiful.
DAVIS JOACHIM, MY KIND OF JAZZ, CIDI 99.1 FM (QUEBEC)
[Campbell's] voice soars and has a… quality and clarity that is compelling. The Toronto-based band accompanying Campbell is a truly phenomenal collection of talent.
DAVID REED, THE BRANTFORD EXPOSITOR
Beautiful and poignant.
CARRIE A. FRYE, RHYTHM AND GROOVES
Luminous tenor Peter Campbell gives dreamy and Broadway-toned readings to a collection of reflective standards, supported by the sensitive team of Adrean Farrugia, Reg Schwager, Ross MacIntyre, Kevin Turcotte and Michael Occhipinti. Turcotte’s horn adds a bluesy dimension to the slinky “My, How the Time Goes By” and is classy with Farrugia on a gentle “If You Leave Paris,” while a Latin pulse is caressed by Campbell and company for “I Got Lost in His Arms.” Occhipinti’s guitar effects add extra texture and drapery as it contrasts with the acoustic strings on “Old Flames Never Die” and create a mystic haze with Farrugia during “Above the Clouds” before Campbell gives a glistening recital on “Both Sides Now.” Serious and sincere.
GEORGE W. HARRIS, JAZZ WEEKLY
Campbell's high, soft voice and cantilena-like singing are literally enveloping. In the years when jazz was "pop" music, such a voice could be described as seductive. The songs are the perfect backdrop for a small jazz café or an evening with your beloved.
LEONID AUSKERN, JAZZ QUAD (RUSSIA)
[Peter Campbell’s] silky vocals have matured to power… Emotional and sound vocals should be more than enough anytime, but Campbell does more: he has insisted in surrounding himself with a group of exceptional musicians who have also clearly become his “accomplices” throughout the years. Knowing what there is to know about his tone and range, he arranges the classics to better serve him – and, thus, to better shine through his vocals.
Campbell has also produced the album. His hands are “all on deck,” which gives listeners an added bonus: he is telling us a very personal story of love, loss and hope for the future, through a pristine choice of songs, as they fuse to his voice and delivery. Not in a ready-to-hear easy way, though: the album’s line-up is made of standards, but the ones here are not songs that have been taken on over… and over… and over by everyone in the business. The exception is most definitely Joni Mitchell’s eternal jewel, “Both Sides Now." In this particular case, if you’re already thinking "oh no, not again,” let yourself be amazed when you listen to it – you’re in for a special treat.
On a final note, it is crystal clear that Peter Campbell was not aiming for another "job well done." "Old Flames Never Die" finds the singer/arranger/producer expressing himself with a peak of confidence, while at the same time exposing his soul to the bone. There's joy, love and pride in this album – feelings in which we should all be finding ways to bask in, over all the hardship of the dangerous months to come.
RICARDO BELO DE MORAIS, "AS VOZES DO JAZZ," RADIO MOVIMENTO (PORTUGAL)
I can't believe it's possible, but Canada is hatching an incredible number of talented jazz vocalists… And Peter Campbell? He's one of them. Three years ago, he released the critically acclaimed album "Loving You" as a tribute to legendary jazz pianist and singer Shirley Horn. Now he's following up with a new, beautiful, melodic and lyrical vocal jazz album, "Old Flames Never Die," which leaves no doubt about his level as a crooner. The album opens with a stunningly beautiful version of Fred Hersch and Norma Winstone’s “Stars.” Again, Peter Campbell… manages to create a delicate concoction. His tone, expression and style remain exciting and rigorous, pure and believable. The album as a whole is a technical and artistic surplus, a cornucopia of contiguous facets.
IVAN ROD, GAFFA MAGAZINE (DENMARK)
COMPLETE REVIEW
With the release of this new recording, [Peter] Campbell has gifted us with an inspired smorgasbord of musical delights. The opening track, "Stars," is a gem of a tune, written by genius pianist [Fred] Hersch and the incomparable jazz singer Norma Winstone. Campbell’s pitch-pure instrument soars, bobs and weaves through this contemporary, bossa-infused track and [Kevin] Turcotte’s muted solo is a thing of rare beauty. Also intriguing is Coleman and Carolyn Leigh’s "My How the Time Goes By," which reveals a whole different dimension to Campbell, as he dips deep into the blues. The title track opens with creative, otherworldly sonic effects which then segue into a film noir-ish, 3 am ballad of love, loss and longing, expertly rendered. An absolute stand-out is [Adrean] Farrugia’s breathtaking arrangement of "Both Sides Now." His stunningly inventive chord substitutions and Campbell’s skilled vocals have not only created their own musical perspective, but also honoured Mitchell’s immortal classic.
LESLEY MITCHELL-CLARKE, THE WHOLENOTE
COMPLETE REVIEW
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LOVING YOU: CELEBRATING SHIRLEY HORN (2017)
Peter Campbell's supernal singing voice, attention to diction and phrasing, and respect for the meaning of a song are completely in keeping with the way Horn worked. When he sings it, you believe it. This is the kind of album that blocks out the world when you hear it… The band that joins him… is second to none, sensitively painting one perfect backdrop after another while also adding sophisticated touches in solo and surrounding stands… There's simply nothing not to love on "Loving You," so listen closely and drink it in. Here's to life, the late Shirley Horn and the incredibly present Peter Campbell.
DAN BILAWSKY, ALL ABOUT JAZZ
COMPLETE REVIEW
ALL ABOUT JAZZ, BEST RELEASES OF 2017
[Peter Campbell] will most certainly vie for top vocals of the year in Canada, if not abroad…
RAY ALEXANDER, FASCINATIN' RHYTHM, UMFM 101.5 (WINNIPEG)
#1 PROGRAMMER'S FAVOURITE, CANADIAN VOCAL JAZZ ALBUMS OF 2017
A distinctive voice, as honeyed as Nat Cole, Johnny Hartman and Johnny Mathis. It’s my hope that a new release by this singular voice is in the offing. Listen and then listen again. Wunderbar!
ROBERT RUSCH, CADENCE MAGAZINE: THE INDEPENDENT JOURNAL OF CREATIVE IMPROVISED MUSIC
…[a] voice eerily similar to the sepia tones of the famous line of female jazz singers from Sarah Vaughan to Cassandra Wilson…
TOM HULL, STREAMNOTES
With the album "Here's to Life," [Shirley] Horn's approach to material and her sense of the melodic and lyrical became a benchmark. 25 years later, Campbell has made the tribute album… that Horn deserves. Fortunately, he has let the material simmer for a time, because the 'finished meat' is incredibly tender, tasteful and beautifully served. Like Horn, Campbell manages to evoke the material without forcing, and thus he appears almost familial with her. Standards like "A Time for Love," "Wild Is the Wind" and "So I Love You" are beautifully sung tunes… that entertain, keep the balance and stay on jazz's fine razor's edge - as if he were the male counterpart to Diana Krall.
IVAN ROD, GAFFA MAGAZINE (DENMARK)
COMPLETE REVIEW
It’s not hard to fall in love with Shirley Horn all over again when you listen to "Loving You" by Peter Campbell. Such unabashed worship as is lavished on Miss Horn in each of these thirteen songs is completely understandable. There are… few vocalists who can sing counter-tenor like Mr. Campbell does… Campbell’s voice soars gloriously on the opening bars of “A Time for Love”… Perhaps it’s best to say that this is Shirley Horn with bells on… and yet it is not simply well-loved music by an icon in festively re-orchestrated guise… In the numerous examples that exist – retaining Shirley Horn’s harmonies… and, secondly, elaborating and enriching them… Peter Campbell does bring both these features to the music that Shirley Horn made her own. Both Peter Campbell and Mark Kieswetter… call on wonderfully imaginative orchestral techniques… While he does nothing to overpower his musicians, Peter Campbell [purifies] the glory of Shirley Horn as [he] “[shakes] the heav’ns and the earth”…
RAUL DA GAMA, TORONTO MUSIC REPORT
COMPLETE REVIEW
You wouldn't expect a male vocalist to do a singing tribute to Shirley Horn and that's what makes change ups so much fun. Letting others provide the music, Campbell provides the vocals and does it in a most soulful, on target way. Horn was an original and Campbell captures her phrasing and vibe so well that you wish they would have been able to do duets. Certainly a very special treat for all of Horn's fans.
CHRIS SPECTOR, MIDWEST RECORD
Peter Campbell… is magical on this disc…
WEMU FM 89.1, NPR (MICHIGAN)
[Peter] can sing my songs anytime and make me proud…
ARTIE BUTLER, PRODUCER, ARRANGER AND COMPOSER OF THE CONTEMPORARY STANDARD "HERE'S TO LIFE"
It was easy to hear and recognize the affection that Peter has for the music of Shirley Horn. Her shadow is present in every note on this recording.
RON STEEDS, IN A MELLOW TONE, CKCU FM 93.1 (OTTAWA)
… an affectionate tribute to pianist and vocalist Shirley Horn. Campbell's style on this disc mirrors Horn's, with his careful, thoughtful phrasing, clarity of tone and overall sense of storytelling.
SALLY EVANS-DARBY, JAZZ JOURNAL UK
Campbell approaches each song with care and feeling. Horn often chose songs that were a bit off of the beaten path, and Campbell has followed her in his choice of material. Overall, the program is tasty and full of carefully crafted lyrics that Campbell approaches with sensitivity, conveying the essence of the words in an understated, but deeply understanding manner. His tribute to Horn’s musical legacy is heartfelt and should appeal to those who admired her work.
JOE LANG, JOURNAL OF THE NEW JERSEY JAZZ SOCIETY
Tenor [Peter] Campbell has a near operatic voice, and he gently caresses the elegantly romantic melodies favored by the supremely disciplined and artful pianist/singer Horn. The arrangements… are perfect settings for the repertoire. It's all wonderful listening, but of particular excellence is Dmitri Tiomkin's "Wild is the Wind.”
HOBART TAYLOR, KUCI FM 88.9 (IRVINE, CALIFORNIA)
Haunting and harrowing on a variety of visceral levels.
GEORGE W. HARRIS, JAZZ WEEKLY
COMPLETE REVIEW
The uniquely talented jazz pianist/vocalist Shirley Horn… was the inspiration for this album of her songs by Peter Campbell, and he lovingly delivers each one with warmth and feeling… Recommended, not only for Campbell’s “liquid gold” vocals but also for the solos from the jazzmen backing his efforts.
BOB RENY, JOURNAL OF THE INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF JAZZ RECORD COLLECTORS
There are many charms to the performances in addition to Campbell's heartfelt singing… there is trumpeter Turcotte's haunting trumpet on "Wild Is The Wind," or "Forget Me," or guitarist Schwager's fleet bluesy playing on "Sharing the Night with the Blues." "There's No You" has a crisp, economical solo from Kieswetter. The title track is a marvelous duet by Campbell and his pianist and musical director… It is so telling of Shirley Horn's impact years after she passed that she inspired Campbell and this engaging, heartfelt tribute.
RON WEINSTOCK, IN A BLUE MOOD
In this celebration of Horn’s recordings, Campbell utilizes her influence as he performs 13 Horn songs with clarity, musicality and respect while simultaneously creating his own sound… Campbell performs with clear diction, phrasing and vocal colour. He is accompanied by a stellar group of musicians… Inventive arrangements by Campbell and Kieswetter, and smart instrumental improvisations support Campbell’s moving renditions to make this a great musical gift to his musical hero Shirley Horn.
TIINA KIIK, THE WHOLE NOTE
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