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Dara Tucker
Dara co-wrote the title track to, "Oklahoma” the 2020 GRAMMY-winning "Best Americana Album" for singer- songwriter, Keb’ Mo’. Her six studio albums contain an array of unique stories and melodies that evoke a wide range of experiences and musical expressions including standards, spirituals & soul. The most recent, “Dreams of Waking: Music for A Better World,” highlights the call for change that has swept across The United States in recent years. Tucker presents reimagined classic singer-songwriter and soul compositions of the protest era through the lens of jazz. For this project, Dara’s collaborators include pianists Cyrus Chestnut and Sullivan Fortner, bassists Dezron Douglas and Vicente Archer, drummers Johnathan Blake and Joe Dyson along with saxophonist John Ellis and trumpeter Giveton Gelin.
Dara’s eclecticism is guided by the diversity of her narrative. Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma to a family of singers and ministers, Dara Tucker and her siblings traveled across the United States as young children singing with their parents. After moving to Interlaken, Switzerland to further study the German language after graduating college, she was reunited with her passion for music and began writing the first of many original songs. That passion for songwriting and singing led her back across the Atlantic to Nashville, Tennessee as a band leader, songwriter and featured vocalist for many years, and eventually to New York, NY.
As an independent artist and bandleader, Dara has toured nationally with her own bands and with hybrid guitarist Charlie Hunter's group. She's opened for Grammy-winning vocalist Gregory Porter, appeared on NPR's Jazz Night in America and made her national television debut on The Tavis Smiley Show on PBS. As a vocalist, Dara won the Johnny Mercer Foundation Award, the Ben Tucker Jazz Award and the silver medal in the American Traditions Vocal Competition. Dara has also contributed to the Huffington Post as a cultural commentator and essayist. Before leaving Nashville, she captured, "Song of the Year" and "Jazz Vocalist of the Year" awards at the Nashville Independent Music Awards. Source: Dara Tucker
Awards
Cowrote Title Track of Grammy Winning Americana Album of the Year for 2020 — Keb' Mo's "Oklahoma" American Traditions Vocal Competition Silver Medalist, Ben Tucker Jazz Award, Johnny Mercer Award Nashville Music Awards Jazz Vocalist of the Year, Jazz Album of the Year, Song of the Year Nashville Scene's "Best Jazz Vocalist" Award
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Dara Tucker: Seeds of the Divine
by Suzanne Lorge
Rising jazz star Dara Tucker has added three new trophies to a rapidly growing lineup of awards. At this year's Nashville Industry Music Awards (NIMAs) she won Best Jazz Vocalist, Best Jazz Album, and Song of the Year for her April release, Oklahoma Rain (Watchman Music). These three awards follow closely on the heels of her second-place win at the American Traditions Competition in Savannah, Georgia, this past February. And in 2016, not only did she win her first NIMA ...
read moreDara Tucker to perform at New Jersey Jazz Society January Social on January 29th
Source:
All About Jazz
Other jazz musicians appearing on the album, in addition to Chestnut, include pianist Sullivan Fortner, bassist Dezron Douglas, drummer Johnathan Blake, saxophonist John Ellis, and trumpeter Giveton Gelin. Among additional song selections on Dreams of Waking are James Taylor's Secret O' Life," Donny Hathaway's Someday We'll All Be Free," and Wonder's You Haven't Done Nothin.'" As a composer, Tucker collaborated in 2019 with Keb Mo' to write the title track for his Concord Jazz album, Oklahoma, which won a Grammy ...
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Vocalist Dara Tucker Debuts "The Sun Season" At Smoke Jazz & Supper Club On August 20th Featuring Peter Bernstein, Helen Sung And Donald Edwards
Source:
Greg Bryant
Jazz vocalist and songwriter Dara Tucker will celebrate the release of her new CD, The Sun Season, at New York's Smoke Jazz Club (2751 Broadway) on Wednesday, August 20th. The sets will feature pianist Helen Sung, guitarist Peter Bernstein and drummer Donald Edwards, who also appear on the CD. The third of Dara’s studio releases, The Sun Season is a celebration of life, energy and the human experience though the eyes of a unique singer and composer. The performances will ...
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Jazz This Week: Dara Tucker, Chelsea Reed, Farshid Etniko with Sandy Weltman, New Orleans Suspects, and More
Source:
St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
Though the impending holiday weekend has left yr. humble StLJN editor a bit short on time to write a clever lede for this weekly highlights post, there's no shortage of the American art form of jazz on local St. Louis stages over the next few days. Here's what's coming up... Today, you can celebrate Independence Day with the Genesis Jazz Project, who are playing a free late-afternoon concert downtown on Laclede's Landing. Afterward, head west to see singer Joe Mancuso's ...
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Vocalist Dara Tucker Releases "Soul Said Yes"- Examines Common Threads of Soul in Jazz, Gospel and New Originals and Features 7-String Guitarist Charlie Hunter and Drummer Derrek Phillips
Source:
Greg Bryant
Jazz Vocalist and Songwriter Dara Tucker has released her second CD Soul Said Yes, a collection of music that examines the common thread of soul in Dara's gospel roots, jazz standards and in newer classics reworked in distinct arrangements. Soul, to me, is an audible expression of the human experience," Tucker said. As this album reflects a wide range of influences, it represents where we are musically and we are very excited about presenting it to our listeners." In addition ...
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“Dara Tucker is an amazing vocalist. She is brilliant.” – Cassandra Wilson
“Dara reminds me of many of the great singers in that she's able to try different material and her sound always comes through. She makes the listeners feel her soul.” — Dr. Lonnie Smith
Photos
Music
The Nearness of You
From: The Sun SeasonBy Dara Tucker
Time is On Our Side
From: The Sun SeasonBy Dara Tucker