Acclaim & Reviews
Jennifer's debut album "By a Wire" was nominated by Zone Music Reporter for 2014's 'Best Piano with Instrumentation' Award and 'Best New Artist'... Jennifer won the prestigious 'Best New Artist' that year!
Other notable achievements for "By a Wire" include being placed among the best albums of the year for 2014 on Mainly Piano, One World Music and Lloyd Barde's Picks.
"Sisu" Debuted at #1 on March and April's Zone Music Reporter's top 100 chart in 2017, staying in the top 25 for 5 months.; It was also #1 and #2 for 4 months on Gaia Prime Radio; Debuted at #1 on Enlightened Piano Radio and remained in the top 15 for 5 months.
"Sisu" has won:
The "Best Piano Album with Instrumentation" for 2017 at the Zone Music Reporter Awards in May 2018!!;
The "Best Ambient/Instrumental Album" at the Akademia Music Awards in August 2017!!;
The Global Music Award's Silver Medal for New Age Album in September 2017!!;
and was nominated for "Best Ambient/New Age Song" - Sisu - in the 2018 RoundGlass Music Awards!!
Sisu remained in the top 50 for 5 months on the International One World Music Radio's Top 100.
"Soul Love" (2026) has already won "Best Album for June" at One World Music Radio, The Global Music Award's Silver medal for New Age Album in August 2026, Winner for Best New Age Production at the 2026 Intercontinental Music Awards, listed in the Top 10 Albums for Wellness and Mindful Music charts, and has had three Top 5 Singles on New Age Notes Radio!
"Soul Love by Jennifer DeFrayne is one of the standout piano based albums of 2026 with ease, and it is so good to see her back on the recording trail again. Here is a release that is packed with a plethora of quality multi-instrumentalists including Charlie Bisharat on Violin, Eugene Friesen on Cello, Michael Manring on Fretless Bass, Premik Russell Tubbs on Flutes and Soprano Sax and EWI, with the Oboe and English Horn Of Jill Haley, add to that the Fiddle of Sara Milonovich, the wordless vocals of Fiona Joy Hawkins and the percussion of Jeff Haynes and magic is made, if this album doesn’t make it to number one on the charts, there can be no justice in the world of music..."
~ Steve Sheppard- One World Music Radio
"Jennifer DeFrayne returns after an extended absence from recording with Soul Love, a piano-based contemporary classical, new-age-influenced instrumental. Her extraordinary talents at the keys, along with her transitions and complex rhythms, are among the many highlights of the album.... With Soul Love, Jennifer makes a triumphant return to recorded music, delivering what is sure to be one of the year’s most significant instrumental releases. Listening to this album felt like welcoming back an old friend, each note wrapped around my heart, lingering warmly until the very end."
~ Keith “MuzikMan” Hannaleck- New Age Music Reviews Founder
From the opening notes, the music feels like a deeply personal and intimate conversation between artist and listener rather than just contrived compositions for the sake of a “comeback” album. Here, we are sincerely invited into a world of reflection, healing, and reconnection.
The music flows elegantly all through with supreme grace and elegance, and what strikes you about it is its sheer authenticity. There is a certain maturity and depth coursing throughout each song that can only come from someone who has traveled through difficult seasons and emerged with a renewed appreciation and zest for life and creative expression. Here we have the juxtaposition of moments of tender vulnerability blending seamlessly with passages of uplifting strength.
~ Dyan Garris, New Age Notes Radio
"Soul Love is the third album from award-winning pianist/composer Jennifer DeFrayne, following her debut, By a Wire (2014), and Sisu (2017). Soon after Sisu, Jennifer was faced with a long series of health challenges that caused constant physical pain that made playing the piano nearly impossible. In 2022, she had two major surgeries to repair the nerve that was causing debilitating head pain and a reconstructive cervical spine surgery to correct complications from an earlier procedure. It was nearly three years before Jennifer could comfortably return to the piano. During that time, the loss of the creative outlet that had been central to her life for so long must have been devastating. Over time, inspiration and the creative spark returned and Jennifer began recording her new music in December 2025. It’s a beautiful comeback with eleven heartfelt and deeply emotional tracks..."
~Kathy Parsons, MainlyPiano.com
Soul Love is more than an album release after years away from music. It is a testimony to resilience and creative renewal. Jennifer DeFrayne reminds us that healing does not erase pain but transforms it into wisdom, compassion, and beauty.
Listening to Soul Love felt deeply personal to me. These compositions do not demand attention through spectacle. Instead, they invite you inward, where emotion settles gently and honestly. There were moments during this album when the music felt less like sound and more like companionship.
For lovers of New Age and contemporary instrumental music, Soul Love is a must hear album. It offers comfort without clichés, reflection without heaviness, and beauty without excess. More importantly, it reminds us that even after seasons of silence and struggle, the soul can still sing. And when it does, as Jennifer DeFrayne proves here, the result can be unforgettable.
~ Vivek Kumar, New Music Alert
"If piano that helps you in your drive to reach for (and achieve) great things is what your spirit is in need of right now, you will just love Jennifer’s excellent work on this fresh new release! … One of the most beautiful songs I’ve heard (yet) in 2017 is “Palo Santo”; the weave of instruments against her purposeful and high-energy keyboard style is most impressive, and will have you listening over and over again to this inspiring 6:20 composition! The musicians on the album include..."
~Dick Metcalf/Rotcod Zzaj of Contemporary Fusion Review
"Every reviewer relishes the opportunity to hear a new impressive artist and Jennifer DeFrayne is one of them. Her impressive debut from performance to material to production knocks it out of the musical ballpark. With absolutely no filler and only one solo track, Jennifer DeFrayne has left the musical community with no doubt that her debut has sleeper hit of 2014 written all over it..."
~Michael Debbage of Mainly Piano
"On her new album By A Wire, Jennifer DeFrayne opens the doors to the heart so the soul can be heard. She has woven a beautiful tapestry of melodies, harmonies and most importantly heartfelt renderings through this beautiful album. My personal favorites Calling Angels and Hope Floats call the soul back home. I have a personal preference for music that reminds us of the love that is found at the edge of night and day, joy and sorrow - her music does just that. In this music there is artistry and healing to be found. Thank you Jennifer for sharing your gifts with us."
~Michael Brant DeMaria- Musician, Author, Psychologist, Speaker etc.
"Sisu is pianist/composer Jennifer DeFrayne’s second album, following her award-winning 2014 debut, By a Wire. The title refers to a quality that characterizes the Finnish spirit and encompasses perseverance, courage, endurance, determination, grit, fortitude, bravery, spirit, resilience and inner strength. DeFrayne, who is of Finnish descent, explains: “Each song on this album embraces the spirit of sisu in one way or another and each song is meant to reflect the many characteristics of sisu.” An artist who has had far more than her fair share of tragedies and set-backs in life is herself a shining example of sisu at work, and has demonstrated how this positive mindset can enable a person to take action against all odds and turn struggles into success."
~Kathy Parsons - Mainly Piano
Jennifer has brought into this world the best debut album ever recorded, I was truly deeply moved by this album and I really urge you all to run out and buy it, if you don’t you will miss out on a total gem. ..."
~Steve Shepherd of One World Music Radio