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Lisa Gary

Singer, lyricist, and songwriter Lisa Gary is currently pursuing her career in New York, as a recording and performing artist.

About Me

Twenty-three year-old jazz singer, lyricist and composer Lisa Janine Gary hails from a musical household in New York, where she grew up surrounded by her father's passion for jazz. Lisa began her music studies on the trumpet under the primary instruction of her father. “It was the best time of my life when the three of us: Dad, my brother, and I sat around playing trumpet trios all day. My family always bonded through the music”. After years of playing both classical and jazz trumpet, she was drawn to the vocal jazz medium at the age of 16 and soon after was honored by the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts in their Vocal Jazz category.

Lisa pursued her love for music throughout her education and in the Spring of 2009 she received her Bachelor's Degree in Jazz Performance from McGill University's Schulich School of Music in Montreal, with the honor of Outstanding Achievement in Jazz Voice. Lisa's most recent accolade was her acceptance into the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Vocals Competition, the world's most prestigious jazz competition that focuses on a different instrument every year. She was chosen out of 237 applicants from 33 countries to be one of 12 singers to perform in October 2010 for an illustrious panel of judges including Patti Austin, Al Jarreau, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Dianne Reeves, and Kurt Elling.

Prior to finishing her degree, in the Summer of 2008, Lisa competed in Switzerland at the renowned Montreux Jazz Voice Competition after being selected out of a world-wide pool of applicants. She also performed the theme song as part of the press release of the Montreal Jazz Festival DVD in the Summer of 2009, preceding the 30th edition of the festival. In addition, Lisa has been the vocalist for the Starlight Children's Foundation at several of their fundraisers, working along with Larry Day, a DJ for one of Montreal's top pop radio stations. She later made her radio debut in an interview with Mr. Day, during which she sang live on his show on Q92.5. Lisa has performed at the noted Montreal jazz clubs the Upstairs and the House of Jazz, New York's Iridium, and at a variety of other venues in both Canada and New York.

Lisa is also involved in the house music scene. She has been recording vocal tracks for several DJs. One of the songs she recorded, ”Euphoria” by Made by Monkeys, has recently been remixed by DJ Rossko from Bulgaria and released by Kult Records. Lisa has just finished laying down the tracks to “I'm Gone”, her newest project with DJ Rossko, which has already become a hit in the version sung in Bulgarian. Her live debut on the house scene took place in October in Montreal, where she sang with Made by Monkeys at the renowned after hours club Stereo.

Influenced by master classes taken with Jon Hendricks, Lisa is also exploring the world of lyricism in a different light. She is mastering vocalese, the art form invented by Mr. Hendricks. You can hear some of Lisa's vocalese on her recordings of “All of Me” and “Basella”.

Lisa is currently pursuing her career in New York and Montreal. She is working on jazz, funk, pop and house music projects, and is actively performing and recording. Lisa's music can be heard on Montreal radio and on her website: www.myspace.com/lisagarymusic.