Elisa Fiorillo

Elisa Fiorillo began singing at the tender age of six. Her first professional performance was at age eleven where she was paid to sing the song “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling” at a St. Patrick’s Day Country Club party. The crowd adored her. She graciously accepted the “huge” fifty dollar payment and officially ventured into the world of professional singing. Elisa recalls “...most of my childhood was spent performing in musical theater like “The Sound Of Music”, “A Christmas Carol” and “The Music Man” ... “I remember going to all these auditions with my mom in New York city, it was hard work for a young girl !” Eventually for Elisa and her mom the hard work would pay off. She was hired to sing and even act in television commercials for big companies like Duncan Hines Cookies, Aquafresh Toothpaste and Kiddie City Toy Store. Elisa recalls one of her favorite auditions for Blues singer Linda Hopkins ...” the club almost didn’t let me in to audition because of my age, but apparently Linda got word that there was a young girl upstairs who really wanted to sing ... I got my wish and auditioned with the song “Birth Of The Blues” ... Linda freaked out and hired me on the spot to open up for her at New York’s legendary Jazz/ Blues club Sweetwater’s Café... I remember Linda asking me “Where does a little girl like you get so much soul?”

Elisa credits that “soul” to several things “... growing up in a fabulous city like Philadelphia with a rich musical history and of course my parents ... my mother Betty was a great singer and my father Alexander Fiorillo is an incredible concert pianist and Professor of Music at Temple University in Philadelphia ... I remember when I was just a little girl sitting under the piano while my dad played the most beautiful classical pieces ... I know that helped me musically in ways I probably do not even realize.”

Soon after her stint with Linda Hopkins and while still in New York Elisa did the Broadway show “The Three Musketeers.” Later that year her and her mother decided to move to sunny California and “pound the pavement” in search of fame and fortune. Again the hard work would eventually pay off. Still only 16 years of age, Elisa won best female vocalist on the huge hit television talent show “Star Search” (yesteryears equivalant to American Idol). Winning brought with it a major recording contract with Chrysalis Records. Her first album entitled “Elisa Fiorillo” debuted in 1988 and wielded many accolades including Best New Artist at the Tokyo Music Festival, beating out multi-platinum selling artists like Tiffany, Debbie Gibson and Richard Marx. That same year Elisa sang lead on the Top 10 dance hit “Who Found Who” with Madonna’s super-producer Jellybean Benitez at the helm. Elisa toured all over the United States and Europe promoting both Jellybean’s hit single and her own album. Her second album on Chrysalis Records entitled “I Am” had her working with yet another hit record producer ... David Z. (responsible for producing hits for artists like The Jets/Fine Young Cannibals/Jody Watley). While recording with David in Minneapolis at Paisley Park Studios, Elisa recalls how she met Prince and eventually began working with him ... “Well, I was taking a break from singing and went to the bathroom. When I got back Prince was sitting there with David Z. intently listening to my vocal. He loved what he heard but did not believe it was me singing ...he said “Is that really you ?”, I said yes, I’ll prove it to you ... I began singing on the sp ot ... he paused then said “meet me in studio B in two hours” ... I showed up as instructed two hours later and sang on the 12” inch version of Partyman from the Batman soundtrack ... that was the beginning, and from there Prince ended up producing 1/2 of my album ... I even co-wrote the first single “On The Way Up” with him ... this is when I really began gaining confidence as a songwriter”. The song “On The Way Up” eventually made it to the top of the Billboard Hot 100 chart, peaking at #26. Prince liked Elisa’s voice enough to have her sing on many of his albums, including the Grafitti Bridge soundtrack singing lead vocals on “Love Machine”, and on the Diamonds and Pearls album singing backgrounds on “Daddy Pop” and “Walk”.

With an exceptional ear for harmony, great pitch and rhythm, many other successful artists and producers besides Prince have also sought out Elisa’s talents as a background vocalist ... Savage Garden, David Cassidy, Belinda Carlisle, Dave Koz, Billie Myers and La Toya Jackson to name a few. Even t.v. “jingle” producers became interested in hiring Elisa. You can also hear her distinct voice on numerous television commercials including: “The Address is CBS”, “Planet Reebok”, “Hawaiian Punch” and “Fox TV”. As a touring background vocalist, Elisa worked with the mega-platinum selling pop duo “Savage Garden” for their “Affirmation Tour 2000” and with trendy British pop rock diva “Billie Myers.” These sold out world tours took Elisa around the globe and afforded her a great deal of arena-concert stage experience. One such arena gave her the opportunity to even open up for Bob Dylan!

No matter how busy Elisa was singing background vocals or touring with other artists, she would look for any opportunity to sing the music she had so come to love ... JAZZ ! In 2003, Elisa recorded a Jazz album for King Records/Japan entitled “Teach Me Tonight”. Producer Rika Muranaka who produced the album “Teach Me Tonight” then hired Elisa to record the theme song for Metal Gear Solid (X-Box/Video Game). In 2000, Elisa and her trio had the opportunity to be the opening act for legendary Jazz/Blues singer Nina Simone at the Wiltern Theater in Los Angeles. For Elisa the high pressure, trendy nature of pop music had been losing it’s appeal for years. Elisa knew that the only logical direction for her as an artist and songwriter would be Jazz . She formed her own band and began doing night club performances to eager and enthusiastic Jazz audiences in and around Los Angeles. Knowing Elisa’s discontent with the “Pop” world and having known and worked with Elisa on numerous musical projects over the years, close friend and musician/ producer Nyalle Iameh www.lightwise.net suggested to Elisa that they record a full album of original Jazz songs at his studio. Elisa agreed in a heart-beat! Elisa emotionally comments on the making of this album saying “...It was a project that I had wanted to work on for so long with Nyalle and we finally did it ! ... creating this album was truly a ‘Labor Of Love’ from beginning to end, not only because I love singing Jazz, but the musicians that played on it breathed so much life into my songs ... also, Nyalle and I got to follow through on our vision, to create an album inspired by the pure love for music and Jazz without pressure from anyone.” What made the whole process even more inspiring and special for Elisa was the fact that while she was recording this album she was pregnant with her very first child Olivia. She goes on to say “ ... I wrote the song “Bun In The Oven” about being pregnant, after I heard it back for the first time, I realized that every mother in the world was going to relate to this song and love it !”

Now happily residing in Las Vegas, Nevada with her husband Michael and daughter Olivia (and two Maltese dogs Ella and Keno), Elisa has set her sights on the European Jazz scene. She looks forward to the release of the aforementioned album “Labor of Love” throughout Europe and the U.S. Show less