Results for "Ekep Nkwelle"

Introducing Vocalist Tyreek McDole

by Sanford Josephson
December 2, 2023

In 2018, Tyreek McDole, a student at the Osceola County School for the Arts in Kissimmee, FL, was playing classical percussion for a performance of the 1987 Stephen Sondheim/James Lapine musical, Into the Woods. “During rehearsal," he recalled, “one of the actors got sick. I had studied all the music, so I sang the part for ...

The 12th Annual Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition Announces Top Five Finalists

October 12, 2023

As part of NJPAC’s TD James Moody Jazz Festival and Year-Round Centennial Celebrations Honoring Sarah Vaughan Tickets are now on sale. Sunday, November 19 @ NJPAC, 1 Center Street, Newark, NJ. Reserve online at NJPAC.org or by calling 888.466.5722. As part of NJPAC’s TD James Moody Jazz Festival (November 3-19), the New Jersey Performing Arts Center ...

We Shall Overcome

By Connaitre Miller

Label: HUJE
Released: 2020
Track listing: We Shall Overcome; Honeysuckle Rose; Love; The Sad Ones; Sassy Samba; Ribbon in the Sky; St. Louis Blues; Hands Up, Don’t Shoot; Heal Again; We Three Kings; His Eye Is on the Sparrow.

Ekep Nkwelle

The meaning of Ekep Nkwelle’s name (pronounced [Eh-kep In-kweh-leh]) perfectly describes her: a gift. Her rich, soulful voice soars delivering timeless messages to audiences with power and confidence. 

To develop and master her talent, the Washington, DC-born Cameroonian-American vocalist has trained at world-renown institutes, such as Duke Ellington High School of the Arts, Howard University (BA) and The Juilliard School (MM).

At Howard, she trained with master jazz pianist, Cyrus Chestnut. With Chestnut’s guidance, Ekep tapped into the blues as an essential language for story-telling. The two would go on to perform together at Dizzy’s Jazz Club in New York and record a duet of the late DC saxophonist, Buck Hill’s “The Sad Ones” (lyrics written by Nkwelle to Buck Hill’s tenor saxophone solo).