She writes the band's music, conducts, and occasionally plays the piano. The members of her 15-piece band, in their late twenties, are good players, and the rhythm section of pianist Pete Rende, bassist Matt Pavolka and drummer Marlon Browden, is solid and empathetic to her vision. Her music flows subtly and naturally, like a river full of ripples and reflections, and her musings are alive with the harmonic colors of jazz. Rather than following the predictable mannerism of using the ensemble for a few choruses to set up the soloists, Souriau keeps the ensemble in the forefront, with solos woven through. She is not afraid to use dissonance, angular inner voice movement, or even vocal sounds of the band members, or to stretch sounds out to express feelings.
Moods build gradually.
Attractive wisps of melody arise and lead through shadowy, interior places, occasionally coalescing and finding the sun in a strong burst of pulsing melody. As Souriau conducts, she walks back and forth with pouncing steps, her brown ponytail bobbing. In energetic sections, she punches the beat with arms bent at the elbows, her dancer's motions heightening the music's physicality. It takes Souriau about two months on average to complete a chart. There's no rule about what I'm going to do.