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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!