Results for "Vocalist"

Angelique Kidjo

Born: July 14, 1960

A powerful singer and tireless performer, Angelique Kidjo has been one of the most successful performers to emerge on world music stages in the 1990s and 2000s. Her music not only draws from African traditions but also interprets the ways those traditions developed after Africans were seized and taken to the New World. Thus elements of American soul, funk, rap, and jazz, Brazilian samba, Jamaican reggae, and Cuban and Puerto Rican salsa all show up on her recordings, along with various African styles Kidjo is a native of Benin, on Africa's Atlantic coast adjacent to Nigeria; the first of her eight languages was Fon

Stacey Kent

Born: March 27, 1968

An American language student visits Europe to study French, Italian and German for a Masters degree in comparative literature. Her life takes an unexpected twist that sees Stacey Kent become one of the world's foremost jazz singers. Stacey, a recent addition to the Blue Note roster of recording artists, now boasts six best-selling albums, a string of awards, including the 2001 British Jazz Award and 2002 BBC Jazz Award for 'Best Vocalist,' the 2004 Backstage Bistro Award and the 2006 "Album of the Year" for 'The Lyric' as well as a fan base that enables her to sell out concert halls around the world. The twist of fate that took her life in this new direction was a chance meeting in Oxford with saxophonist, Jim Tomlinson

Chris Kenner

Born: December 25, 1929

Chris Kenner - R&B vocalist, composer Another New Orleans original whose songs live on forever, Chris Kenner was a hard-drinking longshoreman who pretty much kept to himself. He also happened to be a brilliant songwriter. In 1957 he came to Dave Bartholomew at Imperial Records with a song he had written that was so good he was signed on the spot. “Sick And Tired” climbed to #13 R&B that summer and to #14 when Fats Domino covered it the following year. Kenner brought his next song to pianist/producer Allen Toussaint, and together they worked it up into the phenomenal “I Like It Like That, Part 1.” The record took off, and would spend over 4 months on the charts in 1961, making it to #2 both R&B and Pop charts

Nancy Kelly

Born: October 12, 1950

Nancy Kelly is one of the few blues-based jazz singers working today.

Also active as a songwriter, educator and impresario, Nancy Kelly enjoys a

solid international fan base thanks to her intoxicating swinging style. Ms.

Kelly’s artistry harkens back to a time when jazz – including vocal jazz - was

an authentic expression of genuine emotion.

Kelly has appeared regularly in New York City for decades, at such hallowed

venues as The Blue Note, Birdland, The Rainbow Room and Dizzy’s at JALC.

She also works frequently throughout the USA and abroad, in jazz clubs,

Julie Kelly

Born: October 28, 1947

The late, respected jazz critic Leonard Feather once said of jazz singer Julie Kelly, "Julie Kelly radiates a sense of joy and spontaneity. Listening to her, you are reminded that jazz singing is still alive and well!" Feather's successor at the Los Angeles Times, the veteran critic Don Heckman, referred to Kelly as having, "one of the finest vocal jazz instruments of the '90's". Born in Oakland, California, Kelly grew up absorbing herself in gospel, blues and jazz in addition to pop and classical music. "When I was 13," she remembers, "I was listening to Thelonius Monk, John Coltrane, Ella Fitzgerald, Count Basie, as well as Dave Brubeck, and those wonderful albums with Miles Davis and Gil Evans

Lisa Kelly

Born: March 14

Lisa Kelly’s truly sings from the jazz tradition, classic to modern: it's great vocalists, horn players and bands, with influences that include Ella, Sarah Vaughan, Peggy Lee, Carmen McCrae, Diana Krall, Dianne Reeves, Satchmo, Freddy Hubbard, Clark Terry, the Count Basie Band to Maria Schneider. Lisa's signature sound and seasoned style has earned her many ardent listeners, drawn to her rich vocal timbre and impeccable phrasing in a relaxed, inviting style, and sophisticated stage presence. She conveys am intimate depth of lyric with a horn-like approach to improvisation and a solid ‘in the pocket’ swing feel, artfully creating superb musical lines much noticed by the instrumentalists

Salif Keita

Known around the world as "The Golden Voice of Mali," Salif Keita's unique sound blends the traditional styles of his West African homeland with influences from Cuba, Spain, Portugal, and the Middle East. The instrumentation that accompanies his singing represents a fusion of European and African popular music, ranging from guitar, organ, and sax to traditional African instruments such as the kora, balafon, and djembe, often synthesized and sampled. He has enjoyed a prosperous career not only in his native Mali, where he was awarded the National Order of Guinea, but also in Europe and America, where he became well-known after moving to Paris and collaborating with other African musicians based there. In 1968, in the Malian capital of Bamako, a 19-year-old albino boy scrapped the conventions of his noble ancestry to become a professional singer

Melissa Kassel

Melissa Kassel is renown for her bold and expressive vocal style that has been praised by both music critics and jazz enthusiasts throughout the world. She is an evocative performer whose sensitivity to the nuances of words and phrasing, unique use of microtones, and raw passion, enable her to transcend to the “cutting edge” of jazz vocalization She is a challenging, risk-taking jazz vocalist whose interpretations of standards have inspired comparisons to Betty Carter and Sheila Jordan; at times, she also brings to mind the underrated Jeanne Lee.

Kassel, however, never sounds like she is emulating any of her influences; the singer is fairly original and has a recognizable style of post-bop. While Kassel brings sensitivity and vulnerability to her performances, she isn't the sort of singer who is willing to do anything-and-everything to be accessible. Kassel can be abstract and cerebral, and like Carter, Jordan, and Lee, she is someone who needs to be accepted on her own terms.

Sheila Jordan

Born: November 18, 1928

Sheila Jeanette Dawson, 18 November 1928, Detroit, Michigan, USA. Raised in poverty in Pennsylvania’s coal-mining country, Jordan began singing as a child and by the time she was in her early teens was working semi-professionally in Detroit clubs. Her first great influence was Charlie Parker and, indeed, most of her influences have been instrumentalists rather than singers.

Working chiefly with black musicians, she met with disapproval from the white community but persisted with her career. She was a member of a vocal trio, Skeeter, Mitch And Jean (she was Jean), who sang versions of Parker’s solos in a manner akin to that of the later Lambert, Hendricks And Ross. After moving to New York in the early 50s, she married Parker’s pianist, Duke Jordan, and studied with Charles Mingus and Lennie Tristano, but it was not until the early 60s that she made her first recordings.

Etta Jones

Born: November 25, 1928

Etta Jones - vocalist, recording artist (1928-2001) Etta Jones was a fine jazz singer who made the most of her vocal talents. She retained a loyal following wherever she sang, and was held in the highest regard by her fellow musicians. Her last three decades were her most productive, in both the quantity and artistic quality of her work. She was born in South Carolina, but brought up in Harlem. She entered one of the famous talent contests at the Apollo Theatre as a 15 year old, and although she did not win, she was asked to audition for a job with the big band led by Buddy Johnson, as a temporary replacement for the bandleader's sister. Johnson's band was popular on the black touring circuit of the day, and the experience provided a good grounding for the singer