Home » Member Page
Lisa Kelly
National Jazz Vocal Artist/Clinician, Mentor, Composer, Band Leader, & Guest Artist (solo, small group, big band)
About Me
Lisa Kelly’s singing reflects the influences of
the many legendary jazz vocalists; from Ella
Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan, Peggy Lee and
Carmen McCrae, to favorite contemporaries
Diana Krall and Dianne Reeves, but with a
seasoned signature sound and style all her
own. She has earned many ardent listeners,
drawn to her rich vocal timbre, her impeccable
sensitivity of phrasing, and her inviting,
sophisticated stage presence. With an intimate
delivery of lyric, Lisa conveys the depth of the
meaning in the words she sings, with her horn-
like approach to improvisation and a rock solid
‘in the pocket’ swing feel, she artfully creates
musical lines & heartfelt delivery of the lyric.
From jazz clubs to major festivals, small groups
to big bands, the Classic American Songbook
to Modern Jazz, Lisa Kelly has established
herself among the continued legacy of true jazz
vocal song stylists.
With B.M. and M.M. Degrees in Jazz Studies
from the University of North Florida, Lisa
studied jazz with legendary jazz
artist/educators, saxophonist, Bunky Green and
guitarist Jack Petersen. The vocalist with the
top UNF JE 1 big band, she was featured on 4
highly recognized UNF CD recordings, winner
of an unprecedented 8 “DownBeat Magazine
Student Awards” (6 vocal, 1 best original
composition, 1 best jazz arrangement), and
was the 2000 vocal winning member of the
esteemed “IAJE Sisters In Jazz Combo,”
performing at the IAJE Convention in New
Orleans, the Mary Lou William's Jazz Festival
at the Kennedy Center, and the “Festival Vien”
and Vienna State Opera House in Austria. Lisa
has been featured with many ensembles,
including the famed Larry Elgart Orchestra, the
St. Johns River City Band, and the Chris Riddle
Orchestra, and has performed with such jazz
luminaries as Bunky Green, Jack Petersen, Bill
Prince, Bill Allred, Arturo Sandoval, Ed Calle,
Don Menza, Slide Hampton, Dave Brubeck,
Eddie Metz, Lynne Arriale, Danny Gottlieb, John
Lee, Yotam Silberstein, Terry Myers, Bob Draga
and many others. She has performed for
numerous national and international festivals,
clubs and jazz societies as a guest solo artist
and as a co-leader of several small groups and
big bands with her husband, renowned
Warburton Signature Trumpeter, JB Scott.
Lisa is a frequent guest artist/clinician and
adjudicator for both vocal and instrumental
competitions and festivals, teaches voice, music
theory and combo for jazz camps, and has
taught formally at the middle school, high
school and collegiate levels. Well known for
her mentoring, Lisa has presented vocal jazz
clinics for various schools and in-service
teacher’s conferences, for Jazz Educators
Network (JEN) National Conferences, for
Florida Jazz Educators (FJE), and since 2007, for
the Florida Music Educators Association
(FMEA) Convention in Tampa, Florida, where
her Lisa Kelly Quartet received a standing
ovation for their performance at the prestigious
2012 FMEA Opening Session. Since 2000, she
has been the featured vocalist with the
FMEA/FBA Band Directors Reading Band
Session, and in 2012, served as the mentor for
the first student vocalist to ever perform with
the FMEA All-State High School Jazz
Ensemble. In 2013, Lisa initiated the first state-
wide high school “High School Jazz Vocal
Soloist Competition,” selecting 3 vocalists to
mentor at the annual FMEA music conference
in Tampa, Florida, then presenting them in a
conference clinic, each performing a prepared
piece with a professional rhythm section. One
of the students selected also sang with the
2013 All-State Jazz Band, directed by Dr. Bill
Prince. Since her 1997 CD, By Request,
debuted at the Montreux Jazz Festival, Lisa has
been featured on numerous radio and TV
commercials and jingles, on many CD
recordings, and has co-produced five
successful CD's with JB Scott. In 2010, Lisa
Kelly was among 320 international jazz artists
profiled in the book, The New Face of Jazz. In
May 2013, she was the first vocalist
and UNF alumni to be inducted into the
Jacksonville Jazz Festival Hall of Fame.
My Jazz Story
I love being an extension of jazz history, our true American musical art form. I love the musical challenge of its discipline and the freedom found in its accomplished self- expression. I love the intimate musical conversation with fellow musical artists on the bandstand and with the listening audience. It is an art form rooted in tradition yet constantly evolving in new ideas. I was first exposed to jazz as a child by my grandparents. The best show I ever attended was Freddie Hubbard at the 200 North Sea Jazz Fest. The first jazz record I bought was by Ron Carter. My advice to new listeners is to become an educated jazz listener, read its history, take college courses (especially in history and in harmony), watch videos, listen to recordings & support live jazz performances, jazz societies, festivals. I've spent time with many jazz notables: Betty Carter, Joe Williams, Joe Henderson, John Hendricks, Diana Krall, Jimmy Cobb, Kurt Elling, Shirley Horn, Diane Schuur, Dave Holland, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Horace Silver, Marian McPartland, Herbie Hancock, Wynton, Ellis and Jason Marsalis, Jon Faddis, John Clayton, Billy Taylor, Bill Watrous, Cassandra Wilson, Claudio Roditti, George Benson, and many others. I've sung with Arturo Sandoval, Bunky Green, Dave Brubeck, Maceo Parker, Yotam Silberstein, Jack Peterson, Larry Elgart, John Lee, Chris Riddle, Mulgrew Miller, Slide Hampton, Cyrus Chestnut, Ed Calle, Michael Abene, Carmen Bradford, the Jensen Sisters, Jane Monheit, Lynne Arriale, Danny Gottlieb, Dave Steinmeyer, Bill and John Allred, Dianne Reeves, and many others.