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LaVon Hardison
LaVon is beyond versatile. She brings her glowing, open heart to every performance and has thrilled audiences all over the world.
“I try to make music that delights me,” LaVon says. “When I first started singing jazz I felt that I had to do it a certain way. I had to be sultry and sophisticated. Now I follow my gut and I follow the song. I am more open musically. Time, mixed with life experience, awakens new depths in songs.”
“Anytime you introduce art or music into the world, it’s going to shift things. It’s either a mirror reflecting reality, or it will break someone’s heart open to see something within themselves. That kind of exposure is considered dangerous. The world is working very hard to keep up the veneer. Art and theater continue to tear down that facade. For some people, that’s troublesome. For me, it’s just perfect. I don’t even think of it as a conscious choice; it’s my natural response to the world.”
Awards
* Earshot Jazz 2017 Vocalist of the Year * Winner of the 2016 Seattle-Kobe Female Jazz Vocalist Audition * Featured Artist at World Festival of Sacred Music, New Delhi, India * Featured Artist at World Sacred Music Festival, Olympia, Washington, USA
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LaVon Hardison: There Will Be Trouble
by Paul Rauch
Vocalist LaVon Hardison has been garnering recognition for her work on stage and in the studio in and around Seattle for several years. Named Jazz Vocalist of the Year in 2017 by Earshot Jazz in Seattle, Hardison 's acclaim is largely relegated to the dynamic and innovative jazz scene in the Pacific Northwest. With a soulful sound rooted in her upbringing in the Baptist church, Hardison made her mark in theatre, before venturing into jazz stylings. Her strength ...
read moreLaVon Hardison: There Will Be Trouble
by Chris Mosey
LaVon Hardison, a vocalist originally from Boston, with roots in gospel, specializes in cover versions. Which is to say that she takes old pop songs and gives them new meaning... sometimes a darn sight more than they deserve. Other times--as Tom Lehrer once put it--she kicks them when they're down. The Rodgers and Hart number My Funny Valentine," which opens proceedings, was written for the long forgotten 1937 musical Babes In Arms." It went on to become a ...
read moreJazz Vocalist LaVon Hardison Celebrates Release of "Choices"
Source:
All About Jazz
Olympia, WA - Jazz vocalist LaVon Hardison will celebrate the release of her debut solo CD Choices with a gala show and dessert party on Dec. 12 at 7:30 p.m.
To be held at the Capitol Playhouse in downtown Olympia, the show will feature Hardison performing songs from her new album along with many of her musical collaborators, including veteran pianist Joe Baque, Steve Luceno (guitar, bass), Lorree Gardener (bass), and others.
Hardison's eclectic CD includes covers of jazz standards ...
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“A stylishly eclectic singer, Hardison is an artist for whom the song is king. She’s the type of interpreter who knows how to put across the emotion and subtlety in a melody without overselling it, and she has a talent for getting inside the story that each song tells.” — Andrew Luthringer, Earshot Jazz
Primary Instrument
Vocals
Location
Seattle
Willing to teach
Intermediate to advanced