Ariel is featured in the cover story of HooplaNow.com for the upcoming Jazz Under The Stars in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Ariel performs on Thursday, August 4th at 7 p.m. at Noelridge Park. Here’s an excerpt from the article:

A star bursting onto the world of jazz will launch the annual Jazz Under the Stars concert series on Aug. 4 at Noelridge Park in Cedar Rapids.

Just 18, singer/pianist Ariel Pocock from the Seattle area is blazing her trail through national and international competitions and festivals.

Downbeat Magazine named her the outstanding solo pianist in 2008 and the top jazz vocalist in her age group this year. She also took top prizes at the Lionel Hampton International Festival in 2008; the Essentially Ellington festival at New York’s Lincoln Center in 2009; and the Kobe (Japan) Jazz Competition in 2010.

“People are just going to be knocked out by Ariel Pocock,” says Dennis Green, general manager of radio station KCCK, which presents the concerts.

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Ariel is featured by Marcia Fulmer in her review of the Elkhart Jazz Festival:

This was the case with 18-year-old singer/pianist Ariel Pocock, who arrived with a list of major awards already to her credit and a growing reputation, neither of which completely prepared her audiences (which grew substantially as word spread) for her amazing ability at the piano and the microphone. Throughout the weekend, I heard her vocals described as reminiscent of Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Joni Mitchell and Carmen Macrae but, bottom line, Ariel Pocock sounds/plays like nobody but herself.

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Here’s an excerpt from the South Bend Tribune on the 2011 Elkhart Jazz Festival:

The jazz performers were top-notch and the audiences showed their approval with hearty applause and many standing ovations. It was really good to see that Van Young has returned to give us gold star talent. He has a knack for finding the best players, especially some of the younger talents who are on their way to the top, like 18-year-old jazz piano player and singer phenom Ariel Pocock, singer and songwriter Jenna Mammina and clarinet virtuoso Dave Bennett…I predict the Elkhart Jazz Festival will soon be ranked “No. 1 in the Country.”