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Kay Kostopoulos

About Me

Kay Kostopoulos is a recording artist, jazz vocalist & lyricist,Stanford professor, and actor

Kay Kostopoulos is an elegant singer, a voice inspired by the golden age of jazz. A professional actress who teaches who teaches Acting and Communication Skills at Stanford University in the Department of Theater, Graduate School of Business, and School of Medicine. She currently has dual residencies in New York City and San Francisco. Her theatrical background lends an emotional sensitivity to her lush and sensuous three-octave vocal range. Kay performs bi-coastally in San Francisco and New York City. She and legendary saxophonist Noel Jewkes have been featured at premiere venues and jazz festivals all around the San Francisco Bay Area, including the Sonoma, Napa, Healdsburg, Vallejo,Sacramento, Palo Alto, and Fillmore Jazz Festivals. Their album, “Exotica”, a Mediterranean Jazz Journey, received rave reviews,and was honored by the Stanford Humanities celebration. Kay conceived Black Olive Jazz with two key ideas in mind: She wanted to draw from her acting background and from her Mediterranean heritage to establish a unique sound in Jazz. Kay has appeared at The Venetian Room, Union Street and Sausalito Arts Festivals, the San Francisco Fillmore Jazz Festival, The Napa Valley, Vallejo and Sonoma Jazz Societies, and given concerts for Stanford Arts Initiative, and many other educational institutions. In NewYork City she has performed at Arthur's Tavern, 54 Below, Bryant Park, Birdland, Pangea, and many other venues. Reviews: New Album: All this is Possible: ”Few vocalists could convincingly unite Charlie Parker, McCoy Tyner, Noel Coward, Rodgers & Hammerstein and the Great American Songbook on a single eight-track program. Yet on her eclectic fourth album All This Is Possible, Kay Kostopoulos moves through this remarkably diverse repertoire with such assurance that the stylistic leaps never feel forced.” ”Throughout the album, the singer is buoyed by an accomplished ensemble featuring the dual magic of saxophonists Noel Jewkes and Peter Brainin, pianist John DiMartino, bassist Sean Conly and drummer Vince Cherico. Whether fueling the exuberant swing numbers, engaging in spirited improvisational exchanges or adding subtle atmosphere to the album’s soulful ballads, her well- chosen musicians bring color, sophistication and a vibrant sense of conversational interplay to each performance.” ”Across just eight tracks, All This Is Possible traverses romance, humor, introspection, theatrical expression and jazz invention. What ultimately unifies this diverse repertoire is Kostopoulos herself —a true renaissance woman whose wide-ranging experiences enrich every phrase and whose commitment to unique, diverse expression gives the album its distinctive voice.” Reviews: ”The lovely Ms. Kostopolous, whose ageless Mediterranean beauty perfectly complements a show incorporating Greek goddesses, set the mood with an excellent rendition of Dizzy Gillespie’s “A Night in Tunisia.” The star makes extensive use of sensuality in her performance, often with the aid of Turkish finger cymbals, called zills. Kay Kostopolous is a fine performer who will leave you enchanted and informed. New York is lucky to have her.”... Andrew Poretz, Theater Pizzazz , NY, NY. ”Beautiful voice with a wide range... Ms. Kostopoulos is equally skilled on ballads and uptempo material...Critic Scott Yanow…Quintessential San Francisco Jazz, Wayne Saroyan, Jazz West… Wonderful lyrical imagery that transports the listener to another environment...Velvety vocal work, Billboard...Kay is a singer with good technique and beautiful tone”, William Sostre, Jazz Times… ”Near the end of the set at Birdland, Kay Kostopoulos dressed as a member of a harem and sporting two pairs of finger cymbals soloed on “Boulevard Of Broken Dreams” was as close to finger cymbal virtuosity as I've ever heard (and if she wasn't also from the Bay Area, I'd claim this as an “only in New York” moment!) (November 12-21, 2021) Concert Reviews, Frontpage by Thomas Cunliffe. November 23, 2021 Her original title song from her album, View From Telegraph Hill, has been lauded as “The Quintessential San Francisco Jazz Song” … Wayne Saroyan, Jazz West; “Wonderful lyrical imagery that transports the listener to another environment”…“Velvety vocal work.” … Billboard; “Kay is a singer with good technique and beautiful tone”…Jazz Times.

Favorite Musicians / Bands

My Jazz Story

I Love Jazz because: I’m an actor & teacher by profession, a vocalist by pure will, determination and focus. I remember seeing Johnny Hartman in Baltimore, many years ago. I was one of maybe 20 people in the audience at the Famous Ballroom. It broke my heart. He sat on the edge of the stage, looking tired, singing achingly beautiful music—his voice crooning the embellishments that made him famous. When I sing to a half empty room, or a noisy group, I always think of him—a true professional, a master, filling the room with his gift—a gift appreciated by only a few, that rainy Sunday afternoon. Brilliant musicians, like Coltrane, use both sides of the brain, one mathematical, analytical, logical the other creative, emotional, intuitive—embodying both at once— particularly on duets with Johnny Hartman. Masterful singers, Ella, Sarah, Anita O’Day, are able to meet the instrumentalists with superior skill and feeling, matching the musicianship with their own harmonic excellence. Equally compelling are the lyrics and the nostalgia for an era few of us ever knew, or knew only through our parents’ memories. What makes so many vocalists, the famous pop artists—From Aretha Franklin to Rod Stewart—and not so famous, like yours truly—some talented and others less so— want to tackle the standards? Why do we do it? The yin and yang of it—that’s what I find attractive. I love the romantic and the bebop, the swing and the odd meter. I have a great EAR, and excellent time. And I believe my singing is absolutely adequate because these qualities are compensated by my reverential appreciation of the music. What I find most exciting is the rhythm and rhythmical players—I am mesmerized by McCoy Tyner’s playing. I met him once at an SF Jazz concert—his huge frame came up the stairs towards the stage. On his way to the piano, he took my hand in his giant paw and said, out of nowhere “So nice to see you again”. I was speechless and grinned like a teenage groupie. Yes, once you’ve heard the difference between jazz and other kinds of music, it’s hard to go back, even though, maybe, like me, you still get a thrill from 50’s rock n roll, and 60’s R & B.

My House Concert Story

I have performed in many house concerts in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Favorite Places to See Jazz

Jazzcultural

Mezzrow Jazz Club

Pangea

Smalls Jazz Club

Polls

Engage

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Beyond All About Jazz: Sharing Jazz Across the Web
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