“Aural Elixir — “I Like Coffee!” Listen if you like Sara Bareilles. If you need caffeine to get you through your day, then you’ll definitely enjoy this little love ballad about coffee from Aural Elixir. The video for “I Like Coffee!” was in NPR’s Tiny Desk Contest for 2018 and highlights singer, Jesse Maclaine’s soft and jazz-folk voice along with unique percussion like cans, glasses and barrels. This video is sure to brighten your day with the upbeat piano, Maclaine’s infectious smile and the fun-going bloopers at the end. Find the band here.” - Symone Roque
“Last month, on the 28th remembrance ceremony, about 200 people came out, doubling the previous year despite the light flurries and below freezing temperatures... the gravity of lives lost weighed on the attendees and performers alike. Sirens wailed during the eulogy, and Jesse Maclaine’s voice, which wove beauty throughout the event, broke as she sang “Somewhere over the rainbow” post-name reading....” - Katelyn Skye Bennett
“Nearly two decades on, Jesse Maclaine is the sole remaining member of the Colorado-based jazz-folk band Aural Elixir. Their latest release serves as a showcase for the act’s main draw: Maclaine’s powerhouse vocals. The de facto leader of this trio can’t help but bring to mind standard bearers of the ’90s coffee shop sound—angry and vulnerable mystics like Alanis and Fiona who shouted prayers over their own forceful piano hammering—as she belts in a way that would lift the roof off of any espresso hole that hosted her. That being said, Maclaine and the rest of Elixir are a little too in love with cheekiness to occupy the same sphere as those latter-day Liliths. A little levity doesn’t hurt, but tracks like “I Like Coffee!” are little more than T-shirt slogans stretched over three and a half minutes. Sandwiched between anthems of escape like “A Way Away” and the affirmational “Perhaps,” it can’t help but have the opposite effect of the band’s favorite brew. While Maclaine doesn’t possess the same gift for wordplay as the artists she references, the straightforward cuts like the title track and album closer “When Will I See You Again?” show the power of simple statements said with conviction. ” - Alex Galbraith
“...Jesse hugged me with the biggest bundle of compassion. I can still feel her warm heart squeezing her love into me. “Thank you for helping us,” I said. She handed me her music CD with her contact information and asked me to call her later so she could check on us. That evening I called to let her know everything was ok and thank her again. People are good. 9-1-1 failed us in our immediate need, but the strangers, Jesse and Charles, didn’t.” - Shauna Hoey
“ 5 out of 5 stars! Terrific new CD from Aural Elixir! (Review of Partially Domesticated Amazon: Exposed!) Aural Elixir - Jesse Maclaine and friends -- always comes up with fresh, insightful, soulful, and eclectic mixes of highly creative tunes. Check out a few from the sample list below, and then get this CD! Fun, heartfelt, energizing energy throughout. ” - Avid Reader
— Amazon
“She's so amazing!" Aural Elixir's original song "Ask Your Angels" was featured in the popular podcast Best Radio You've Never Heard - Flight Case Vol. 255, compiled, mixed, and edited by Perry Bax. ” - Perry Bax
“Featured in Defender Picks! Jesse Maclaine, Margie Perez, and Johnny Vidacovich are at Café Istanbul tonight for the Aquarian Birthday/Costume Party. Aural Elixir is Jesse Maclaine’s solo act, but she often plays with other local greats. Maclaine finds a middle ground between strong and spaced out vocals only adding to her eclectic jazz/rock/folk sound.” - Unlisted
“Originally formed in New Orleans, the Denver-based Aural Elixir still holds true to the Big Easy’s more sultry jazz traditions.” - Editor
“ On their fifth album since the late ’90s, this “rock-folk-jazz fusion” collective, which at one time featured Lynn Drury, has by now pared itself down to a jazz trio format, complete with upright bass and Johnny Vidacovich sitting in on drums. It puts the spotlight solely on remaining original member Jesse Maclaine and her unusual fusion of strong-yet-spacey female singer-songwriters: Joni Mitchell’s sly and perceptive confessional meets Fiona Apple’s confrontational doomed romantic, with little hints of Tori Amos’ gonzo earth mother and Carole King’s practical warmth. ...like Joni, she swoops and dives and repeats rushed phrases,..Her voice is expressive, and her lyrics can be engaging...“You Don’t Need That Pill” is as direct and tough as its title, while the nicely sardonic “All Friends Here” is just hardheaded enough to form a nice contrast with its upbeat stroll... Working some honest-to-goodness New Orleans piano tradition into “We’re All Millionaires” lets some air into her vision: “I can’t wait ’till I’m a millionaire / I’m gonna show the whole world how to care about each other … I’m gonna give it away / Well, most of it, anyway.””
“Lynn Drury, Alex McMurray, Johnny Vidacovich, Andrew Wolf, violinist Jane Uitti and Aural Elixir herself, Jesse Maclaine come together for the Maclaine’s fifth album, Partially Domesticated Amazon: Exposed! Celebrate in costume with snacks from Fatoush, and prizes for the best outfits. The party theme is myths and ancient cultures.” - Unlisted