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Karin Plato

Canadian Jazz Vocalist Karin Plato

About Me

Vancouver vocalist Karin Plato is one of Canada's best-known jazz singers. She's a Juno award nominee, Western Canadian Music Award nominee, and multiple National Jazz Award nominee. She has appeared at concerts and festivals across Canada and the USA, working as a composer, arranger, music educator and occasionally as a concert producer (she's the artistic director of the Joy of Jazz Concerts series in Vancouver BC.)

Karin began her life in music on the prairies. She obtained a Bachelor of Music Degree from the University of Saskatchewan, where she studied classical voice and piano. In 1985, she moved to Vancouver to attend Capilano College where she studied arranging and composition and had her first real exposure to jazz. Around 1996 she got the “jazz bug” and hasn’t looked back. Karin has been able to study with some of the world’s great jazz vocalists including Sheila Jordan, Jay Clayton, Kurt Elling and Nancy King.

“This Could Be The One” is her eighth recording of jazz standards and originals. The recording is an audiophile delight, with all the ambience and exquisite detail captured in a “live off the floor” session. The interplay of each instrument perfectly complements Karin’s voice as she weaves her tales of love, joy and sadness.

My Jazz Story

I love jazz because it enables a sense of freedom with the "in the moment" melodies and phrases that occur, different each time, keeping the music alive. I especially love the interplay that can occur with musicians who are truly listening to each other at a deep level, listening and then responding and creating a soul connection together whether that's with burning bebop lines or, in playing/singing a tender ballad.The best show I ever attended was Andreas Schaerer in Frankfurt Germany with his "Hildegarde Lernt Fliegen" project. Mind blowing, truly mind blowing and inspiring. My advice to new listeners: Be patient if you don't like what you hear immediately. Jazz may take longer for some people to truly hear and appreciate. Perhaps for some people it is an acquired taste. That was the case for me! I used to think it was a cacophony where everything was a jumble of sound. It didn't make sense to me. I kept trying and thank goodness I did. It doesn't mean that a person likes everything under the jazz umbrella however, unlike some people I didn't hear it and love IT immediately. Now, I can't imagine my life without it as a listener and as a musician myself.