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Donna Deussen
Jazz Vocalist Donna Deussen
About Me
Donna Deussen’s singing has been praised for her “agile musicianship and wise good taste.” (John
McDonough, writer for Downbeat). A magna cum laude graduate of Berklee College of Music in
Boston, Donna has studied privately with Tierney Sutton, one of her many influences (along with
Ella Fitzgerald, Carmen McRae, and Nancy Wilson, to name a few).
Donna performs regularly throughout southern California and Arizona. Some of the many clubs
where she has performed recently include: Beverly Hills Art Fair, Malibu Winery, Millenium Biltmore
Hotel (downtown LA), Cal Tech Summer Jazz Series (Pasadena), the Inn At Morro Bay, Tempe Arts
Festival (AZ), West Valley Art Museum (Surprise AZ), the Phoenician Hotel (Scottsdale AZ), The
Grape (Ventura), The Gardenia (Hollywood), Vitello's (Studio City), and many more. Donna has
worked as a session singer at several recording studios in the L.A. area, and has been heard on local
radio commercials. In addition, she run a teaching studio and is committed to helping other singers
improve their vocal technique and jazz chops.
Her CD On The Street Where You Live with guitarist Paul Weitz features unique and exciting
arrangements of pop and jazz standards and has received rave reviews, including C. Michael Bailey
placing it on his list of the best CDs of 2014 in All About Jazz.
“High Wire” is her debut album, released in 2003. Backed by a killer band made up of some of Los
Angeles’ finest musicians, the CD features 12 exciting arrangements of jazz and pop standards, and
includes Eric Marienthal (of Chick Corea’s Elektric Band) on saxophone.
In 2021, Donna released a digital recording with guitarist Tom Rizzo called Weathering The Storm.
All three albums can be heard on I-tunes, Amazon Music, Spotify, etc.
For more information or to connect with Donna regarding bookings, please go to
www.donnadeussen.com
REVIEWS/QUOTES:
THANK GOD A JAZZ SINGER FINALLY COVERED CALIFORNIA DREAMIN AND DID IT A
RIGHTEOUS!!! I've been waiting for that for four decades! Donna Deussen knocks it screaming out of
the ballpark. John Philips, were he still with us, would be exultant. Ah, but let's not stop at Johnny
'cause the very next cut is Steely Dan's Do Wrong Shoes, and Don Fagen's gonna go into raptures
when he hears this version. As I've been noting for some time now, it's well past the moment the
successors to The Great American Songbook were covered, and that sentiment's slowly spreading
to the jazz world, Deussen making excellent contributions (her take on Joni's Both Sides Now isn't
radicalized but it's very very sweet, even to the point of multi-tracking a duet with herself, and I love
it when singers do that).
Deussen's version of On the Street Where You Live is OUTSTANDING (geez, I better knock off the
capitalizations or the whole review is going to be nothing but!), taking the chestnut sprinting down
to the end of the pier and jumping off to dance the Lindy Hop with amped-up mermaids, swingin'
and then some. You have not, I guaranfuckingtee, heard the hoary ol' chestnut done like this before.
Deussen is an extremely confident singer; I don't think it's possible for her to make even the most
minor mistake or for a microsecond quaver in her choices. You can tell she knows exactly what the
next 10 moves are going to be while simultaneously permanently in the pocket, forever in the
moment, and then projecting forward to where everything should lead.
It's a CRIME that this is only Deussen's second slab. She should have 10 out by now, be
soundtracked in movies, appear on TV, and find herself featured in Playboy Jazz Fests. Take my
word for it, y'all, this is one of the country's most talented singers, one of the best I've EVER heard.
On the Street is a definite in the year's 30 Best. - Mark S. Tucker / F.A.M.E. (Folk & Acoustic Music
Exchange) (Apr 6, 2015)
The blending of talents featured on On the Street Where You Live, the new recording from jazz
vocalist Donna Deussen and guitarist Paul Weitz’s trio, is deeply satisfying. It’s also very organic,
with the album feeling like it came together over black coffee and the recording taking place
between sure friends. In essence, that is the story.
“Several of the arrangements came while sitting around Paul’s kitchen table, just throwing out ideas
and experimenting with different sounds and rhythms,” says Deussen. “We’d just sit there and
record something on Paul’s little Zoom recorder, until something sounded right.” On the Street
Where You Live is a tremendous example of what happens when a unit connects and the music is
found on the same page. There’s no sense of ego and no insufferable “performance.” Instead, Donna
Deussen and Paul Weitz’s trio manage a remarkably pure and superbly fresh record. This is “kitchen
table jazz” at its finest.
- Jordan Richardson / Something Else Reviews (Jan 30, 2015)
Deussen's scat singing is full-throttle. She scats as naturally as she sings... Weitz's crack trio
combines with Deussen's voice is like a perfect fall pie crust, rich and comfortable. A spare and
humid coupling of Black Coffee with Night in Tunisia highlights the recording with the most
inventive of arrangements. Deussen dances with Wayne's tenor saxophone, bouncing phrases off
the horn-man like an inspired handball player; the singer has the upper hand. On the Street Where
You live is beautifully completed and realized... Deussen never over-sings. Very good show, here! -
C. Michael Bailey / All About Jazz (Oct 8, 2014)
ON C. MICHAEL BAILEY'S BEST RECORDINGS OF 2014 LIST:
http://www.allaboutjazz.com/c-michael-baileys-best-recordings-of-2014-beat-kaestli-by-c-
michael-bailey.php
“Donna Deussen has a warmer than Tierney Sutton tone to her voice, and teams it up well with
guitarist Paul Weitz and his cast of Matt VanBenschoten/b and Gus Duffy/d. They do some clever
things with 60s pop tunes like “California Dreamin’” and “Both Sides Now” giving a bit of flair to the
folk tunes. Deussen sounds assured on the intimate take of “The Very Thought of You” and gets a bit
spry with Duffy who shifts gears like a Ghia during “On the Street Where You Live.” Her tone can
exude confidence and sass during a strutting “Sister Sadie” which features a gleam in Deussen’s eye.
Fun and inviting session.”
- George Harris / JazzWeekly.com (Sep 25, 2014)