Daphne Roubini's original tunes bring to mind Django Reinhardt’s Gypsy Jazz with Billie Holiday as vocalist.
- Vancouver Sun -

Transporting listeners back to a time of martinis, lounge suits, and hazy cigarette smoke... the fact that Roubini's originals are indistinguishable among the stacked line-up is the biggest compliment of all.
- Georgia Straight -

Here we find what it would have sounded like if prime Billie Holiday hooked up with the Hot Club for a one off that wound up setting the sky on fire. An utterly smoking journey through a past that never was, this is how you polish a stone into a gem. Killer stuff throughout.
- Midwest Record -

This Jazz/country/folk/blues band filter everything they do through their own special musical time capsule.
- North Shore News -

The musical equivalent of taking a bath in a barrel of finely aged bourbon.
- Robert Collins, CTV BC -

…evocative vocalist, Daphne Roubini, who sounds at once retro (think Billie Holiday and Madeleine Peyroux) and yet cheekily modern and on trend.
- Georgia Mancio ~ ‘Revoice’ Festival, London, UK -

Fresh and Local | Georgia Straight
"Black Gardenia's sophomore effort is built on a brave idea. Mixing jazz and blues standards with a number of original tracks, the record could have easily been a mismatch of quality. Band leader Daphne Roubini, however, makes sure that's not a possibility. Lending her Billie Holiday-esque lilt to classics like T-Bone Walker's gruff 'I'm just waiting' for your call" and adding a folk twist to "You'd be so nice to come home to", Roubini expertly ties the covers together with her rich velvety vocals. Transporting listeners back to a time of martinis, lounge suits, and hazy cigarette smoke. all with an audio clarity that eludes remastered editions of jazz classics. Black Gardenia offers authoritative modern versions of those staples. The fact that Roubini's originals are indistinguishable among the stacked line-up is the biggest compliment of all."

Black Gardenia: Lucky Star | Stuart Derdeyn  
(The Province, Edmonton Journal, Montreal Gazette, The Vancouver Sun, Ottawa Herald, and Regina Leader.)
“Mining the music of an era that just keeps on delivering, Vancouver quintet Black Gardenia features the marvellously jazzy vocals of singer/ukulele ace Daphne Roubini and her life partner guitarist Andrew Smith leading an A-team of local players through less-familiar tunes from the canon by the likes of T-Bone Walker (I’m Just Waitin’ for Your Call) or Hoagy Carmichael and Ned Washington (The Nearness of You), as well as a few originals. Where many groups that mine this well can be too reverential, this group manages to show respect for the music without being too reverent. Roubini has a lovely Jo Stafford-esque set of pipes and with the combined guitar skills of Smith, Cousin Harley’s Paul Pigat, Stephen Nikleva and Jimmy Roy (Petunia and the Vipers), as well as violinist Cameron Wilson and bassist Brent Gubbels (Van Django) and Patrick Metzger, the group is assured lots of swinging interplay. But the one who really gives the material the extra oomph is trumpeter Chris Davis whose inspired and subtle blowing just colours the set with the kind of warm quality that makes you want a good cocktail, an intimate cabaret and a tux. Classy sounding stuff.”
 
http://vancouversun.com/entertainment/music/music-reviews-pnk-enslaved-matt-good-and-black-gardenia
The Vancouver Sun, The Province, The Montreal Gazette, The Calgary Herald, Edmonton Journal, Regina Leader Post & Ottawa Citizen. October 16th 2017

KBUT Music Director Bonnie Gollhoffer  | Big Band/Swing
*Black Gardenia Lucky Star – A blissful rendering of gypsy jazz, folk, blues and the great vocal standards of bygone days. RIYL: Billie Holiday, Django Reinhardt
 

Midwest Record | Chris Spector
BLACK GARDINIA/Lucky Star: C’mon, we all hate faux. Vintage recreations done with passion and authenticity are another story. Here we find what it would have sounded like if prime Billie Holiday hooked up with the Hot Club for a one off that wound up setting the sky on fire. An utterly smoking journey through a past that never was, this is how you polish a stone into a gem. Killer stuff throughout.
( www.midwestrecord.com )