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Linda Kosut

Linda Kosut, San Francisco song-stylist blends jazz, pop & folk into unexpected & fresh renditions

About Me

Backstage Magazine’s Bistro/BMI award winner, Linda Kosut, with an easy listening style swings jazz, pop and folk, sings a repertoire from the standard to the obscure with fresh interpretations. Linda has performed across the country from San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York and Seattle.

Kosut grew up in The Bronx, NY, and as she tells it, had a lifelong dream of singing and performing - yet she did not make that into reality until “later in life.” But, since making that shift in her life, and “putting one foot in front of the other, I have created opportunities and achieved a success with my music that I did not think was possible.” Her first two CDs received national acclaim. “Life is but a dream”, a selection of jazz, pop and folk tunes was named one of the Top 10 CDs of 2003 by Cabaret Hotline; and, “Long As You're Living: the songs & poetry of Oscar Brown Jr.”, paid tribute to the late jazz singer, songwriter, and activist, and received both Backstage Magazine’s prestigious Bistro Award – the BMI Award for Outstanding Recording, and two MAC nominations (Manhattan Association of Cabarets & Clubs) for Best Female Jazz Singer and Best Jazz Recording.

And in 2014, her 3rd CD was released - a tribute to composer, arranger, musical director Johnny Green, whose tune “Body And Soul” remains number one on the Jazz Standards charts, 84 years after it was first recorded.

A mainstay in the San Francisco Bay Area music community, Linda is also a singers’ coach, providing innovative ways to coach vocalists, either in performance technique, learning how to record, or providing showcase opportunities for aspiring performers. First and foremost, Linda is committed to inspiring and encouraging other singers to grow as performers.

Linda, recently widowed, lives in San Francisco with 2 Borzoi, Augie and Tomie.

“ [A]mazing Bay Area canary — brings her skills as an actress to her insightful interpretations of songs underscored with a fusion of jazz, pop and folk.” - Don Heckman, The International Review of Music

“A singer of great ability – conveys romance combined with an earthy heat!” Maxwell Chandler, Jazz Review

“A new female jazz singer who commands one’s attention ... a vocal performance which deserves mention” Scott Yanow, LA Jazz Scene

“The best of such artists renowned for their superior ability to act, particularly one as gutsy as Kosut” Christopher Loudon, Jazz Time

My Jazz Story

I have been singing my whole life. Starting with sitting at the piano bench with my Daddy, who, as a young man, was in a street-corner barbershop quartet in New York City. He could play anything, by ear. He would play for me and transpose for me and taught me to harmonize. My mom was the trained musician in the house - a lyric soprano who could read any piece of music put in front of her. And although they were convinced I could do anything, I didn't believe them until much later in life. Although they are gone, they still "speak to me" and would be very proud of my accomplishments in music and the pursuit of my dream. It is that background which leads me to my music - inspired by the lyric, by the composers' lives, by the stories that make a song worth singing - I sing and perform and entertain! And yes, I am living my dream!