Amber Weekes

BIOGRAPHY

The Way She Makes Us Feel:

AMERICAN JAZZ SINGER AMBER WEEKES

American jazz recording artist Amber Weekes has given the world a special and unique gift: her voice. Her producer Mark Cargill described it as “a voice from Heaven,” and hears “harps, violins, trumpets on a cloud of velvet whenever she begins to sing.”

Weekes is rising to the pinnacle of her career with the upcoming 2024 release of “A Lady with a Song – Amber Weekes Celebrates Nancy Wilson,” an homage to the legendary jazz singer and fellow storyteller.

Weekes, raised in Los Angeles, says she was “born singing” in her parents’ musical household. At four, she stepped onto her first stage, the living room coffee table in her childhood home. The daughter of singers from Harlem, Weekes’ home oozed with the sounds of Frank Sinatra, Nancy Wilson, Barbara Streisand, Diahann Carroll, The Beatles, Leontyne Price, Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar Brown, Jr., and Ray Charles. Generations earlier, her grandparents, Wilfred and Nettie Weekes, served musical giants Lena Horne, Duke Ellington, Billy Strahorn and many others inside Weekes’ Luncheonette in the Sugar Hill section of Harlem. These famous patrons left their musical mark on the family. It was just a matter of time that Weekes would step into and fully claim her musical inheritance.

Out of her New York roots came a desire to tell stories through song. Inside her was a strong desire to perpetuate her father’s memories of Sugar Hill as that magical place in Harlem where his parents reigned as king and queen of that beloved community diner. Her love for her father inspired “Round Midnight Re-imagined,” a fully remixed, remastered and reorchestrated version of her first album produced in 2002. Cargill created just the right musical arrangement for Weekes’ vocal prowess. The Midwest Record’s Chris Spector says it’s “killer stuff.”

Weekes brings respect for the history of each song she selects to perform. She has studied music extensively, and brings her naturally good diction and intonation.

“Amber brings all of those attributes and more,” says Cargill. “As a Jazz vocalist, it’s very important to have talent, tell the story, and have great presentation and understanding of the craft.”

At 14, Weekes received several voice lessons from opera singer Gwendolyn Wyatt, but her parents could not afford to continue with them so her father encouraged her to join the church’s adult choir to use her voice. After graduating from Mount Saint Mary’s University in Los Angeles, she began to study voice with L.A. greats Phil Moore, Jr., Catherine Hansen, Sue Fink, and most notably, three-time Grammy nominee Sue Raney for over 20 years. Raney helped Weekes discover her true singing talent by showing her how to use her beautiful voice to tell stories deeply through the music and lyrics.

“Amber has a soulful quality in her voice. She knows how to tell a story with it,” says Raney. “She knows how to place her voice and color the sounds of each song to tell a story. She is one of the best I know. Whether it’s her full voice or a whisper, she knows how to utilize all those colors very well. She’s got that down perfectly. She knows her instrument and what to do with each part of the song.”

Weekes’ vocal training exercises with Raney helped her develop her knowledge of her voice and she created quite a range. “She could have been an opera singer if she wanted. She has the ability. She worked very hard and developed herself into a wonderful, full singer. Her voice just got richer, fuller, better.”

Raney has worked with Weekes on all of her recording projects, and is excited about her upcoming release. She believes that Weekes and Cargill have formed a wonderful partnership that will take her career “to the top.”

“When they found each other, it was the greatest thing that happened. He knew exactly what to do in the studio,” says Raney. “Her voice cannot be buried in the background.”

Beneath Weekes’s ambition is a deep love for her Caribbean and Latin roots, and her family history. Her father, Martin Weekes, who passed away in 2016, continues to inspire her, and her work is a tribute to him. She also draws inspiration from her mother who introduced her to the work of singer Oscar Brown, Jr. Raney says Weekes’s talents have led her to introduce her audiences to him and others like him.

“Oscar Brown was an entity unto himself, so it was innovative of her to take his songs,” says Raney. “I remember seeing him years ago, but appreciate his material through Amber. For example, ‘Mr. Kicks’ is a song that you wouldn’t hear a woman do. Also, ‘Brown Baby’ and ‘The Snake.’ These songs reflect her versatility because Oscar Brown was very different. Amber sings those types of songs because she loves ballads.”

Weekes has produced five albums in her career, beginning with the promotional recording of “Round Midnight” produced by Trevor Ware and Louis Van Taylor in 2002; the market release of “Pure Imagination,” produced by Ware, Mark Cargill, Kenny Sara, and executive produced by Anthony Berry-Smith, Katherin G. Kahn, Ralph M. Hockes and Weekes in 2019; the market release of “The Gathering,” a Christmas album produced by Mark Cargill and executive producer Weekes in 2020, which was in the top 25 of the Roots Music 2020 Christmas albums chart and top 10 for Christmas jazz albums; the release of “My Romance – A Special Valentine,” (EP), in 2021; “Round Midnight Re-imagined,” produced by Mark Cargill, and executive producer Weekes in May 2021, and the upcoming 2024 release of “A Lady with a Song – Amber Weekes Celebrates Nancy Wilson,” produced by Mark Cargill, and executive produced by Anthony Berry-Smith and Weekes.

All of Weekes’s albums have gotten coast to coast airplay at hundreds of radio stations, including Alaska and Hawaii, and international play in the UK, France, Italy, Estonia, Canada, Argentina, and Australia. Her music has been widely reviewed, calling her "one to watch” and “a singer that's here to stay." Her album, “Pure Imagination,” received rave reviews. Jonathan Widran of jwvibe called it “a revelatory work from an artist the world beyond the L.A. jazz scene needs to hear more of.” Grady Harp from amazon.com said, “Amber Weekes is at the peak of her powers! She just soars in this new recording…this new collection of her gifts is an enriching treasure that proves she is at the top of her game.”

Weekes has performed all around the United States and the world, including Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas and the Hampstead Jazz Club in London. She is a frequent headliner at Sunset Boulevard’s famed Catalina Jazz Club. To support her alma mater, Mount Saint Mary’s University, she recently headlined the “Women in Jazz” concert at the Moss Theater in Santa Monica, California, to raise scholarship funds for the University’s Equity, Diversity and Justice Leadership Scholars Program. Her chart-topping music in the Roots Music Reports is played on radio stations and streamed around the world for all to enjoy. She believes that her music is an instrument of healing and can heal the soul through her art form of jazz. Like those jazz artists who came before her, she is committed to its preservation.

For more information, contact:

KRISTINA HAJJAR

Hajjar Communications

[email protected]

626-905-5529

JIM EIGO

Jazz Promo Services

[email protected]

845-986-1677

KATE SMITH

Kate Smith Promotions

[email protected]