Results for "Vocalist"

Cinzia Spata

CINZIA SPATA is regarded as one of the finest jazz vocalists in the world, as well as an innovative composer and lyricist. Now based in New York City, CINZIA SPATA is already a major name in the rich legacy of jazz in Italy, and this year she’s bursting onto the jazz scene in the United States and worldwide with the release of her new CD, “Into the Moment” (Koiné / Dodicilune Records.) Anticipating that she will be one of 2011’s breakout artists, this is indeed her moment. Cinzia’s live performance calendar includes a tour with her current working unit, the CINZIA SPATA QUARTET FEATURING STEVE SWALLOW, with Adam Nussbaum and Giovanni Mazzarino. “Into the Moment” features Cinzia leading a band of jazz all-stars (George Garzone, Bruce Barth, Ken Cervenka, Yoron Israel and Dave Clark) in an exciting mix of original and classic material, including Cinzia’s original lyrics for compositions by Mal Waldron, Bill Evans, Kenny Wheeler and Ralph Towner. Jazz Times Magazine, in a rave review of “Into the Moment,” heralded the CD as one that “should establish her as one of the best singers on the jazz scene,” and went on to note Cinzia’s “superb command of her voice” and that “Spata improvises melodies with spontaneity and ease.” Italy has enjoyed the good fortune of witnessing the first phase of Cinzia’s career, which has included high-profile appearances on Italian television, film, festivals, jazz clubs and concert halls, with the Umbria Jazz Festival, annual appearances at the Villa Celimontana Jazz Festival, and Rome’s top jazz club, Alexanderplatz, among her career highlights. Cinzia’s vocal mastery encompasses a full range from state-of-the-art scat singing to a style of ballad interpretation that has an undeniably cinematic quality

Paul Anka

Born: July 30, 1941

Born July 30, 1941, in Ottawa into a tight-knit Canadian family, Paul Anka didn’t waste much time getting his life in music started. He sang in the choir at Church and studied piano. He honed his writing skills with journalism courses, even working for a spell at the Ottawa Citizen. By 13, he had his own vocal group, the Bobbysoxers. He performed at every amateur night he could get to in his mother’s car, unbeknownst to her of course. Soon after, he won a trip to New York by winning a Campbell’s soup contest for IGA Food Stores that required him to spend three months collecting soup can labels

Amy Banks

Amy Banks spent two decades performing as a professional singer, actress, and television personality. Originally from Minnesota, she has appeared on stage and screen all over the world, but calls Lancaster, Pennsylvania home after relocating there to perform at the American Music Theatre. Since then, she has self-published and produced five music CDs, of which her third CD, When the Sun Comes Out, reached Chartbound status at JazzWeek. Her latest, Amy Sings Aretha: A Motown Love Story is a cabaret-concert-dance party highlighting classic and current Motown-inspired songs. The album was funded by generous fan donations raised by a Kickstarter campaign, and recorded live to a sold-out house at The Ware Center, Millersville University, in Lancaster. Amy's performing career began while living in Atlanta, Georgia where she first appeared in productions with the top stage companies including The Alliance Theater, Jomandi Productions and The Horizon Theater

Spider Saloff

She’s been heard around the world as the host/ star of the syndicated public radio series Words and Music, but for thousands the most familiar way to enjoy the jazz stylings of Spider Saloff has been through live performances. The Chicago –based jazz vocalist has won accolades around the world for her introspective approach to the genre, most profoundly through her one-woman tribute to George Gershwin, The Memory of All That, conceived with the blessing of the Gershwin estate and headlining the Gershwin Centennial in St. Petersburg, Russia. With full symphony orchestras or intimate jazz groups, Saloff is acclaimed as one of the great interpreters of the American Songbook

Julia Biel

Tipped as ‘the best British vocalist to emerge in an age’ by The Independent, the MOBO-nominated jazz vocalist and singer-songwriter’s self-titled album ‘Julia Biel’ was released earlier this year to reveal twelve more exquisite songs to add to the artist’s growing catalogue. Delivered with unique warmth and drawing on the spirituality of gospel music, the joie-de-vivre of soul, the sorrow of blues and the freedom of jazz, her voice evokes all this and more whilst poetic lyrics reveal a sharp perspective on life and love against a magical backdrop of music to lose yourself in. The sound of an intense inner musicality paired with a defiant passion and a burning and individualistic creative spirit, this is music with the kind of impact that is unattainable without intense emotional experiences – and the many comparisons with some of the most celebrated greats of jazz testify to this. “I was always fascinated by musicians such as Nina Simone, Miles Davis and Billie Holiday and how they each succeeded in expressing their strong personalities in the music,” says Julia

Barbara Lusch

Barbara Lusch has a unique and compelling way with a song that goes straight to your heart. Her new recording, "Rock Me Sweet" (Slim Style Records), is a surprising and magnetic reinterpretation of some of the best loved rock anthems of the 80's. Well-known hits of male rock icons such as Bruce Springsteen, Bon Jovi and Bono have been transformed by Barbara into sophisticated, sexy, and soulful songs. You can hear "Dancin' in the Dark" sparkling with seductive style and U2's "Where the Streets Have No Name" becoming a cry of despair that evolves into a statement of triumph. "I wanted to do these songs my way, and bring out the vulnerability and emotional depth of the lyrics", Barbara explains

Maucha Adnet

Jimmy Scott

Born: July 17, 1925

The life of Jimmy Scott is not one of meteoric stardom but a journey that has taken nearly seventy years to find its much deserved success. One of ten children, James Victor Scott was born in Cleveland, Ohio on July 17, 1925. The f irst time Jimmy sang on a public stage was at school when the teacher had him sing the lead in a play "Ferdinand the Bull", after that she always had him do the leads. He was only 12 years old when he became known as a singer around Cleveland. While in his teens a Comedian saw the potential in Jimmy, he was Tim McCoy from Akron. Whenever Tim got a "gig" around Northeast Ohio, he would take Jimmy along with him on the bill

Dionne Warwick

Born: December 12, 1940

It is easier to define Dionne Warwick by what she isn't rather than what she is. Although she grew up singing in church, she is not a gospel singer. Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan are clear influences, but she is not a jazz singer. R&B is also part of her background, but she is not really a soul singer, either, at least not in the sense that Aretha Franklin is. Sophisticated is a word often used to describe her musical approach and the music she sings, but she is not a singer of standards such as Lena Horne or Nancy Wilson. What is she, then? She is a pop singer of a sort that perhaps could only have emerged out of the Brill Building environment of post-Elvis Presley, pre-Beatles urban pop in the early '60s

Sinikka Langeland

Sinikka Langeland is a folksinger, kantele player and composer who lives in Finnskogen, Norway. Due to her remarkable vocal and concert-kantele technique, she has been described as sounding like a whole orchestra all by herself. She is now recording her own compositions with the legendary record company ECM. She was born in Kirkenær in southeastern Norway in 1961, and studied piano, guitar and contemporary folksong. In 1981 she discovered the instrument kantele, which would become her primary musical interest along with singing. In the 1980s she also devoted time to theatre work and to studies at Ecole Jacques Lecoq in Paris, in search of additional approaches to developing her creativity