Results for "Vocalist"

Kurt Elling

Born: November 2, 1967

GRAMMY winner Kurt Elling is among the world’s foremost jazz vocalists. He won the DownBeat Critics Poll for fourteen consecutive years and was named “Male Singer of the Year” by the Jazz Journalists Association on eight occasions. An international jazz award winner, he has also been GRAMMY nominated a dozen times.

Elling's rich baritone spans four octaves and features both astonishing technical mastery and emotional depth. His repertoire includes original compositions and modern interpretations of standards, all of which are springboards for inspired improvisation, scatting, spoken word and poetry.

Billy Eckstine

Born: July 8, 1914

By the time he reached his peak popularity in 1950, he rivaled Frank Sinatra as the country's most popular vocalist. In fact he was dubbed "the sepia Sinatra," although he was known most often as "Mr. B." Billy Eckstine was a smooth singer also noted as a premier jazz bandleader in the 1940s, gathering many of the performers in the innovative bebop style into a unique large band. Born William Clarence Eckstein in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in 1914, Eckstine had the spelling of his name changed early in his career by a club owner. The family moved to Washington, D.C. Eckstine's parents stressed education, and he graduated from Washington's Armstrong High School

Madeline Eastman

Born: June 27, 1954

DOWNBEAT MAGAZINE: Twice voted one of the Top Female Jazz Vocalists DOWNBEAT INTERNATIONAL CRITICS POLL: Voted Talent Deserving Wider Recognition A fearless improviser who seeks out equally intrepid collaborators, San Francisco jazz singer Madeline Eastman strips a lyric bare to reveal unspoken secrets and unanticipated meanings. With the intensity of a torch singer and the chops of a post-bop saxophonist, she’s forged a singular approach unlike any other vocalist on the scene, in what the Los Angeles Times describes as “a consummate, inventive, endlessly entertaining artist at work…a prime example of what jazz singing in the 21st century can be.” Her new collection of ballads, A Quiet Thing, a ravishing duo album with pianist Randy Porter, captures an artist rising to new heights, offering a master class in the art of improvisational storytelling

Dominique Eade

Born: June 16, 1958

Poetic and passionate, American vocalist, composer and improviser Dominique Eade blends musical virtuosity with a songwriter’s straightforward emotional sensibility, creating music that has garnered critical acclaim, inspired audiences, and served as a creative signpost for generations of singers.  The New York Times called Eade “an exceptional singer” with a “wide vocal range and a grasp on the intricacies of style,” one “who weighs a chanteuse’s coolness against a jazz musician’s exploratory instincts.”  The Atlantic Monthly recognized Eade for her “rich voice and effortless delivery” while the Boston Phoenix called her music “sublime and daring.” Eade’s performances throughout the United States, Latin America and Europe include the Buenos Aires Jazz Festival, the Bell Atlantic Jazz Festival, Mountain Stage, the Rigas Ritmi Jazz Festival, the Panama Jazz Festival, the Molde International Jazz Festival, and the What is Jazz Festival, and clubs such as Los Angeles’ The Jazz Bakery, New York’s The Blue Note, The Five Spot and The Jazz Standard, D.C.’s Jazz Alley and Boston’s RegattaBar.  Eade was signed to RCA Victor in 1998, recording with jazz luminaries Dave Holland, Victor Lewis and Benny Golson.

Urszula Dudziak

Born: October 22, 1943

Urszula Dudziak is a world-renowned Polish jazz vocalist with an extraordinary freedom and perfection of intonation coupled with original technique. In childhood she learned to play piano, began singing in high school, influenced by the voice of Ella Fitzgerald. She began her career in the '60s with the team of Krzysztof Komeda, also sang and recorded with the orchestra of Edward Czerny. Originally performed mainly jazz standards, but then teamed up with future husband Michal Urbaniak and changed the nature of Polish jazz. In 1973, together with Michal Urbaniak she went to New York and did extensive recording

Lee Dorsey

Born: December 24, 1926

Lee Dorsey is highly regarded in the annals of soul singers which have come out of New Orleans. Bursting upon the national charts in 1961 with his #1 hit “Ya Ya,” and subsequent songs, he was able to achieve success and recognition throughout the ‘60’s which has sustained his reputation. An ex-boxer nicknamed "Kid Chocolate" turned singer, Dorsey first recorded for the Instant label. One song, "Lottie Mo" became a regional hit and led to a contract with the Fury label.. The infectious "Ya Ya" (1961) was a number 1 US R&B and pop Top 10 single

Angela DeNiro

Angela DeNiro, jazz vocalist, voiceover artist, and composer, is a native New Yorker.  In addition to Angela's jazz singing and scatting abilities, she has also done extensive studio work, with various jingles to her credit. She is currently performing with saxophonist husband Ron Aprea. Their quintet includes Angela scatting along with Ron's alto saxophone.  Angela is also featured with Ron's 16-piece Big Band, performing at Birdland Jazz Club in NYC, and Trumpets Jazz Club in New Jersey.  Ms. DeNiro has also appeared at the Rainbow Room,  and in major concerts and festivals

E. J. Decker

Born: September 20

E. J. Decker grew up the youngest in a musical household: his mother played piano; his father was a big band singer who sang briefly with the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. His dad often played Big Band records at home, teaching E. J. the unique qualities of the various bands, and how they swung. He also taught his number-three son how to sing at an early age. At the same time, E. J.'s older brothers were playing '50s and '60s rock, R&B and jazz without stop. In his teens, E. J. caught many of the great artists playing live in New York area clubs and concerts: Duke Ellington, Thelonious Monk, Leonard Cohen, Oscar Brown, Jr., Jimmy Smith, Alberta Hunter, Leon Russell, Richie Havens, Tom Rush, the original Dave Brubeck Qrt., Genya Ravan, Tom Paxton, the Jefferson Airplane and Sammy Davis, Jr

Doris Day

Born: April 3, 1922

One of America's most prolific actresses was born Doris Mary Ann Von Kapplehoff on April 3, 1924, in Cincinnati, Ohio. Her parents divorced while she was still a child and her mother gained custody. Like most little girls, Doris liked to dance. She would sometimes dance with friends and, sometimes, just by herself. She had dreamed of being a ballerina, but an automobile accident ended whatever hopes she had of dancing on stage. It was a terrible setback, but after taking singing lessons, she seemed to find a new vocation, and began singing with local local bands. It was while on one singing engagement that she met Al Jordan, whom she married in 1941

Sammy Davis Jr.

Born: December 8, 1925

Recognized throughout much of his career as "the world's greatest living entertainer," Sammy Davis, Jr. was a remarkably popular and versatile performer equally adept at acting, singing, dancing and impersonations — in short, a variety artist in the classic tradition. A member of the famed Rat Pack, he was among the very first African-American talents to find favor with audiences on both sides of the color barrier, and remains a perennial icon of cool. Born in Harlem on December 8, 1925, Davis made his stage debut at the age of three performing with Holiday in Dixieland, a black vaudeville troupe featuring his father and helmed by his de facto uncle, Will Mastin; dubbed "Silent Sam, the Dancing Midget," he proved phenomenally popular with audiences and the act was soon renamed Will Mastin's Gang Featuring Little Sammy