CARNIVAL OF JOY is not an attempt to copy hallowed recordings or performances. Of course I hear sly touches of Louis and Fats and Hoagy himself in these performances, but they are admiring glances rather than full-dress impersonations. Emily and her friends have understood something deep about the delicate balance between honoring the originals and creating something new, so each of the six songs here is a small, casual drama in itself — joyous or somber, wild or pensive (and in the case of ROCKIN’ CHAIR, nearly ominous) — with singing and playing that adeptly honor the song and carry its many messages straight to us.
-Michael Steinman, JAZZ LIVES

The Wall Street Journal lists Carnival of Joy! as "Superior album" and explains:
Trombonist, vocalist, and bandleader Emily Asher's Carmichael collection finds lots of interesting and new things to do with the music of Bloomington, Ind.'s most celebrated son.

Ms. Asher's band, Garden Party, co-stars the eloquent trumpet prodigy Mike Davis, who blasts in a Beider