Leslie Avril is sexy, bluesy and sheer dynamite live. An extraordinary singer who's been compared to legends from Janis Joplin and Edith Piaf to Billie Holiday.

Her vocals electrify an audience with power, depth and aching honesty.

The "v" in Avril stands for versatile and vivacious. Part country, part cabaret, part blues, part jazz, she's the complete entertainer who can sing just about anything in the songbook.

She relights torch songs with flaming passion, and wrings every drop of emotion from a classic ballad.

In an age of disposable pop and singing clones, Leslie Avril has made her mark as a complete entertainer.

She headlined the piano bar at The Underground when it was Melbourne's top night spot, then showed her adaptability by fronting rock groups like The Mixtures, and Chris Stockley's Blue Healer Band -- forerunners of the "outlaw" sound that changed the conservative image of country music.

Leslie has gone on to make three country albums and become a concert drawcard. She is one of the top artists at the monster Tamworth Country Music Festival, where she plays to capacity crowds.

She now combines a career in country with international piano bar engagements that have taken her to hotels, clubs, resorts, casinos and festivals in Europe, the United States, South-East Asia, the Pacific and all over Australia.

Leslie Avril went country as lead singer with the pace-setting Blue Healer Band she formed with ex-Dingo Chris Stockley.

Then she took the acid test and hit Australia's Nashville, the huge Tamworth Country Music Festival -- and the impact still reverberates today.

The late Mort Fist, the critics' critic in country music, recalled her stunning debut this way in The Northern Daily Leader:

'Hardened festival regulars and top-class session musicians alike were unprepared for the effect that Leslie Avril has on her audiences.

She shimmied, she shook, she strutted, she flaunted, and she flirted but most of all she sang. Searing ballads followed by driving rockers, all delivered with a voice full of power, style and class.

This dynamic and powerfully sensuous singer makes every song her own. Leslie is one of the great live acts in the country.'

After lighting up Tamworth she flew high with the Drifting Rocket Pilots, a favourite band of country aficionados now known as Johnny Green's Blues Cowboys.

Taking the temperature of the Avril/Rocket combination, Sydney reviewer Doctor Dease prescribed it as "hotter than Tamworth in January", and wrote this about Avril in The Daily Telegraph:

'The effect is instant, electrifying. The girl is dynamite. A rich, throaty voice that can make a Patsy Cline classic like I Fall To Pieces sound as if it was written for Janis Joplin, and kick an old chestnut like King Of The Road clean down the block.'

These days, Leslie storms Tamworth and other country meccas with her own hot band.

She scorches through contemporary and classic country in a live act that sends the crowd-meter off the dial.

No one else in country gets an audience rocking quite the same way.

She's earthy and funny, a raconteur with a gift for salacious repartee worthy of the outrageous Bette Midler.

A born entertainer, at her absolute best when she's turning a crowd on. And nobody does that better than Leslie Avril.

There's another side of Leslie Avril away from her trademark white stetson and cowboy boots -- the immaculately dressed, piano-playing chanteuse.

The up-close cabaret atmosphere of piano bars and nightclubs suits her seductive charm and steamy vocals perfectly.

Reviewing her in The Age, Peter Wilmoth declared:

'Leslie Avril pores over her piano and sings the blues, prompting comparison with Joplin and Holiday.'

Leslie Avril's versatility is rare among modern artists.

She moves effortlessly between different styles of music.

A classically trained pianist, she can sing everything from blues, jazz and country to standards, Broadway show tunes, or French love songs.

When she led the Leslie Avril Jazz Combo, praise for her innate feel for the intricacies of jazz flowed from Harold de Marigny in the Toorak Times:

'Miss Avril has sense of rhythm, melody and lyrics second to none. Her timing and feel for Le Jazz Hot is spot on.

She reminds me very much of the late, great, divine Sarah Vaughan.'

When she segued into her Parisian persona for chansons d'amour, the same reviewer paid this tribute:

'A vocalist blessed with the alluring looks of French sex-siren Danielle Darrieux and the voice of the legendary Piaf.

The singer who has the rare combination of looks and voice is Leslie Avril and her rendition of La Vie En Rose brought tears to my eyes.'

Here's a selection of seven songs from Leslie Avril's extensive piano bar repertoire.
Songs are available as both downloadable MP3s and streaming audio - just click the appropriate link below.
SONG	MP3*	STREAMING AUDIO**
Am I Blue	Download	Windows Media	Real Player
Guilty	Download	Windows Media	Real Player
Moon River	Download	Windows Media	Real Player
Ne Regrette Rien	Download	Windows Media	Real Player
Piece Of My Heart	Download	Windows Media	Real Player
The Rose	Download	Windows Media	Real Player
And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda	Download	Windows Media	Real Player
*For MP3 downloads, Windows users should right-click the link and select "Save Target As..."
**If you need to, you can download the players using the links below