NYC Vocal Jazz Workshops with Carolyn Leonhart, presented by New York Jazz Academy, are now registering interested students. Led by Carolyn Leonhart, long-time vocalist with Steely Dan, acclaimed jazz singer, and professor at Berklee School of Music, these workshops are open to teens and adults at all levels. For jazz vocal enthusiasts, these weekly workshops offer a hands-on exploration of all elements of jazz singing. Workshop participants will work on personalizing tunes, develop a feel for time signatures other than 4/4, develop a deeper understanding of song form, explore smart singing technique, and much more. To register online, and for more information, visit our website.

About Carolyn Leonhart:

The daughter of famed bassist Jay Leonhart, Carolyn Leonhart has a soulful voice that has been hailed by critics throughout the world. One of the winners of the Thelonious Monk Vocal Jazz Competition, she is one of the most accomplished and versatile singers of her generation. Carolyn successfully straddles the ever-changing worlds of jazz and pop, interweaving both into many of her projects. She is known for her fourteen-year tenure as lead back-up vocalist with Steely Dan, as well as her work with Lyn Leon and Wax Poetic. She sings jazz classics with authenticity, and navigates through complex music with ease. Critics have written “Leonhart may be the one to give female vocalists a good name again." -- John Frederick Moore, Jazziz Magazine, July 2005 and Jazziz Magazine featured Carolyn on the cover of its “Women In Jazz" issue (2003) presenting even more evidence that Carolyn Leonhart stands out in the crowded field of jazz vocalists. Carolyn's three solo CDs (including “If Dreams Come True," a collaboration with tenor saxophonist and husband Wayne Escoffery) have received wide critical acclaim, and she will release her her next collaborative CD with Wayne Escoffery later this year. Carolyn has performed at clubs, theatres and festivals all over the world, and appears regularly at Smoke Jazz Club and The Jazz Standard in NYC. Carolyn teaches privately from her home studio in New York City, focusing on aspects ranging from vocal technique and musicianship skills to song study and improvisation. Since 2006, Carolyn has also been teaching part-time at Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA. At Berklee, Carolyn teaches private students as well as a variety of performance labs ranging from jazz to R & B and Background Vocals. She has given clinics and master classes at high schools and colleges throughout the US and Europe. Carolyn has also been a Voice Consultant on MSNBC and has appeared as a panelist at “GRAMMY Career Day" for New York City High School Students.

About New York Jazz Academy:

The New York Jazz Academy, recently featured on NBC television, offers classes, lessons, and programs for tots, kids, teens, and adults. Located on 86th and West End Avenue, in the heart of the Upper West Side, this new jazz school offers the highest quality jazz music instruction to New York City students of all ages. Recognizing the lack of opportunity among many NYC students to play in school jazz ensembles, the New York Jazz Academy offers weekly big band rehearsals, sectionals, jam sessions, and jazz improvisation seminars for kids, teens, and adults. NYJA also offers in-home private lessons throughout the boroughs.

The NYJA faculty roster is perhaps the school's most impressive feature. It includes saxophonists Wayne Escoffery, Charles Pillow, and Loren Stillman; trumpeters Chris Rogers and Philip Dizack; trombonist Mike Fahie; pianists Deanna Witkowski and Adam Birnbaum; guitarists Brad Shepik and Tom Dempsey; bassists Ike Sturm and Dave Ambrosio; drummers Pete (La Roca) Sims and Richie Barshay, composers Darcy James Argue and Miles Okazaki, and vocalists Carolyn Leonhart and Sofia Rei Koutsovitis, among others.

Those who are interested in signing up for New York Jazz Academy lessons and workshops may contact New York Jazz Academy program director Javier Arau at nyja@nyjazzacademy.com or (718) 426-0633. For more information, including curriculum, rates, locations and instructors, visit us on the web.