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Mary Ann Hurst

Jazzophile from a young age...

About Me

Born in Long Island, New York and raised in Japan, Germany, Thailand and several states in the U.S. Attended college at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter, MN (member of their great touring choir) and graduate school at University of Minnesota (East Asian Studies) and Harvard (classical Chinese). Worked building positive US-China relations through study abroad and arts exchanges for years. Lived in Beijing and sang with Japanese-Chinese jazzband “Beijing Jazz.” Researched and collected Chinese folksongs and produced jazz cd entitled “Chinese Folksongs in a Jazz Mode.” (See http://www.radio86.co.uk/node/12034?comment=1). As a child, saw Louis Armstrong perform, as well as Duke Ellington in Marseilles, France, two seminal jazz “aha moments.” Have studied with Kurt Elling and Sheila Jordan and worked and recorded with terrific musicians in New York, Texas, Hawaii and South Carolina, culminating in 5 cds: “Wishing on a Star” with Freddie Bryant and Gilad; “Born Under a Wand'rin Star” with Rick Stone, Dick Goodwin, Reggie Sullivan and Jim Hall;”Jazzz...d” with Grammy-award-winning Jeff Peterson, Kit Ebersbach and others;”Cool Standards” with James Balentine and Bill Ginn and Matthew Dorko.

My Jazz Story

I have a love of jazz because my parents exposed me to Ella, Satchmo, Duke, Nat, Count at a young age - through my Dad's record collection and their stories about dancing to the great big bands, going to the Cotton Club, their hearing many greats in person. I've also had the opportunity to meet some of the greats: Ron Carter, Betty Carter, Sheila Jordan (wonderful workshops), Kurt Elling (amazing workshop), Michel Legrand, Quincy Jones, Dave Brubeck (shared his 85th birthday cake with him in Asheville), Bucky Pizzarelli (sang with him), Diana Krall, Tommy Flanagan, George Shearing, McCoy Tyner, Bill Mays, Billy Taylor (great workshop), Marian McPartland, Barry Harris (wonderful workshop), Benny Green, John Pizzarelli, Freddie Bryant (we recorded a cd), Rick Stone (we recorded a cd), wonderful musicians in SC and HI, Turkey and China. The most memorable jazz performance I've seen and heard was in Marseilles, at night, under the stars, listening to the Duke Ellington Orchestra with Duke Ellington himself leading. I saw Ella twice: in Minneapolis and in San Francisco, and Louis Armstrong in Colorado on a military base. My father told my mother to take me to see him. We sat in the front and mother said we could "see his tonsils" when he sang. The first jazz record I bought was something by Stan Getz or Miles Davis. My advice to new listeners is keep listening to the old stuff but keep open to the newbies.