"Allegra Levy and her compatriots Mimi Jones, Allison Miller, Carmen Staaf take jazz to cool new heights." 
INDIEPULSE MAGAZINE

"A treasure for connoisseurs of jazz and vibrant new interpretations of beloved favorite songs.  Highly recommended."  MIDWEST BOOK REVIEW

"Allegra Levy reveals an unexpectedly playful and clever nature, which makes the album great fun even for those not typically drawn to jazz."  WATERBURY REPUBLICAN-AMERICAN

For Your GRAMMY® Consideration

  • Best Vocal Jazz Album

  • “Will You Still Be Mine?” featuring Allison Miller for Best Jazz Performance

  • “What Are You Waiting For?” by Allegra Levy, arranged by Aubrey Johnson
    for Best Arrangement Instruments and Vocals

“Already on her 2015 debut album Lonely City, Allegra Levy , then 24, was a complete artist with promise as an original songwriter and performer. On her fifth album, Allegra delivers another concept album that asks (and answers) all sorts of questions about life, backed by a female quartet.” RADIO FRANCE

The Out of the Question theme came from Levy’s longtime collaborator, pianist Carmen Staaf. “She pointed out that some of the most beautiful songs are questions, not statements, and I became fascinated with the concept,” says Levy. “So we worked together and came up with this long list of cross-genre songs that end in a question. As you get older, you find that it’s more about the questions than the answers.”

Levy’s all-female quartet begs another question. A century ago, a band comprising women—in the talk of those times, an “all-girl orchestra”—was a novelty. By the turn of this century, it was a statement of empowerment. But we’ve passed the point of having to “prove” women can play this music, because a preponderance of talented improvisers and composers have made that clear. Now it’s strictly a matter of choice. So, in assembling this band of sisters—as she did on her 2020 album Lose My Number—Levy simply reached out to some of the best musicians in her orbit. But she also sought to recapture “the supportive and amazing energy” she experienced on that earlier date, adding, “I haven’t always felt that in the past”—a not-so-subtle nod to the challenges women still face in this male-dominated field. 

As for the album title,? “Well, I have this badass all-female trio that can’t be reckoned with,” Levy explains, “and messing with them really is ‘out of the question.’ But also, it’s about what comes out of the questions ...”

(Excerpted from the ROCK THIS JOINT feature.)

“When I first received this album, I immediately went to the eighth track: “What Are You Doing The Rest of Your Life?” It has a haunting melody by Michel Legrand and has been covered hundreds of times. What would Levy do differently? So impressed was I that I immediately restarted this album from the very beginning. Each song title asks questions and I had my own question: Where had Allegra Levy been all of my life?” CULTURAL ATTACHÉ

“Between them, [Allegra, Carmen Staaf on piano, Allison Miller on drums, and Mimi Jones on bass, with special guests Roxy Coss on sax, Aubrey Johnson on backing vocals and Andrew Baird on guitar] they craft an intriguing and interesting album – more questions than answers…maybe, but mighty fine innovative, contemporary vocal jazz all the same.” SOUL JAZZ AND FUNK

Named one of the Top 10 Rising Star Jazz Vocalists in DownBeat Critics’ Poll of 2021 

“What Am I Waiting For?” is one of the Top Three Finalists of the 2024 John Lennon Songwriting Contest.

“A gift for sculpting words…and agile vocalizing.” THE NEW YORKER

“…unquestionably one to watch…” JAZZTIMES

 "Fresh...exotic…and far beyond the ordinary." THE NEW YORK TIMES