Results for "Vocalist"

Ian Shaw

Born: June 2, 1962

“The best jazz vocalist we have” (Time Out), 2007 has been one of Ian Shaw’s most successful years. At the 2006 BBC Jazz Awards (where Shaw was nominated Best Vocalist), Shaw was invited to sing with the legendary Quincy Jones. His recent Linn album, “Drawn To All things, The Songs Of Joni Mitchell” has garnered worldwide praise and was the first successful solo artist tribute to this highly regarded songwriter. Shaw toured the album for a year, taking in the major festivals and making his debut at the prestigious Sunset Sunside Club in Paris. These shows were as a result of Shaw being nominated as Best Vocalist in the Academie du Jazz at the close of the year. In March of 2007 Shaw finally recorded the David/Bacharach Songbook with the HR Big Band following last year’s concerts in Germany with them. Shaw was also invited by labelmate, Claire Martin to compose a song remembering Shirley Horn for her new release, “He Never Mentioned Love”(Linn). The song is “Slow Time”.

Marlena Shaw

Born: September 22, 1942

She's known as a jazz artist, but some only knew her as a disco artist, while others yet think of her in an R&B mode. So who is Marlena Shaw? Well... she is all of these. Ask Marlena and she'll flat out tell you she's a jazz artist, yet there's no denying her R&B sides and her disco undertakings.

Born Marlina Burgess on September 22, 1942 in New Rochelle, New York, she inherited her love of music and jazz in particular from her uncle. After her uncle, Jimmy Burgess, introduced her to the recordings of Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis, she caught the jazz bug, and purchased records by Al Hibbler, a vocalist who had a big influence on her singing style. When she was ten she performed at Harlem's Apollo Theater, and despite the enthusiastic reception she received in front of one of the world's toughest audiences, her mother refused to let her go on the road with her uncle, a trumpet player.

Barbara Sfraga

Born: October 28

Barbara Sfraga is an artist who gathers no moss as she rolls through life, constantly evolving. Jazz Times said “She has never met a genre she didn't like or couldn't assimilate.” Described as “consistently inventive” (Billboard) and “jazz singing at its cutting edge best” (LA Times), she’s been on a musical journey that evolved from church organist to rock keyboardist to ‘voicist’. A classically trained vocalist, Barbara jumped ship to sing rock, pop, R&B and jazz. She throws all those influences into the pot to create and sing the music she feels with no boundaries, as evidenced in her recordings, “Oh, What a Thrill” (1999, Naxos Jazz), “Under the Moon” (2003, A440 Music Group) and the most current “Timelessness Frozen in Time” (2006, SyncTimiCity), a collective effort featuring keyboardist/vocalist Mala Waldron, bass artisan Christopher Dean Sullivan, soundrhythium Michael T.A. Thompson and multi-reedist Allen Won.

Ingrid Sertso

Diane Schuur

Born: December 10, 1953

Nicknamed "Deedles" as a child (her mother's endearment), Tacoma-born Schuur grew up steeped in traditional American jazz, courtesy of both parents: David Schuur was a local police captain and amateur pianist, and Joanie Schuur kept a formidable collection of Duke Ellington and Dinah Washington albums in their suburban-Seattle home. Not surprisingly, Dinah Washington is often listed as Schuur's major vocal influence. She learned the iconic singer's "What a Difference a Day Makes" while still a toddler and began developing her own rich, resonant vocal style. Jazziz Magazine describes her approach as one that encompasses her whole lifetime of singing: "Schuur's vocal chops move from little-girl innocence to bawdy-mama blues in a hair's breadth, but always at the service of the song." Schuur is also an accomplished pianist, accompanying herself onstage as well as on many of her recording projects. Her most recent album is an homage to two of her important mentors, both jazz giants: Frank Sinatra and Stan Getz

Jimmy Rushing

Born: August 26, 1899

“Mr. Five by Five” Jimmy Rushing established a style of singing that epitomized swing: he created a wonderful tension between band and vocalist by singing ahead of or behind the beat and toyed with the rhythm. He was a blues singer and a jazz singer, and his ability to work within both styles had an incalculable influence on succeeding generations of popular music vocalists.

Jimmy Rushing was born on August 26, 1902, in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. His father, Andrew Rushing, and his mother, Cora Freeman, were both musicians, and they were a big influence on him. The first instrument he learned was the violin. While at Douglass High School, he studied music theory. Through the encouragement of his uncle Wesley Manning (who played and sang at a local sporting house), Jimmy took up playing piano. He also sang in school and church choirs and spent his summers traveling throughout the Midwest.

Bobby Rush

Born: November 10, 1933

Bobby Rush...2017 GRAMMY winning blues legend, Blues Hall of Famer, 12x Blues Music Award winner, B.B. King Entertainer of the Year, and Rolling Stone magazine named King of the Chitlin’ Circuit Naming your album after a song entitled “Porcupine Meat” may seem a little unusual unless you’re Bobby Rush, who earned his first gold record in 1971 with a hit entitled “Chicken Heads.” He elaborates on his recent composition: “If a lady won’t treat me right, but she doesn’t want anyone else to have me, that is hard to digest.” Hence the lyric, “too fat to eat, too lean to throw away.” Porcupine Meat is Rush’s debut release for Rounder Records, and one of the best recordings of his astonishing 60-plus year career

Vanessa Rubin

Born: March 14, 1957

Revered as both a torchbearer and a storyteller, jazz vocalist Vanessa Rubin possesses a voice hailed for crystalline clarity, hearth-like warmth and playful lioness sass. The Cleveland native brings a wealth of diverse influences to her vocal performance from both the Trinidadian/Caribbean roots of her mother and traditional jazz by way of her Louisiana-born father. Additional homespun influences include the melodic bell tone clarity of a young Capital Records recording artist, Nancy Wilson, the fire of Lambert, Hendricks & Ross, the sweet sounds of trumpeter Blue Mitchell as well as her love of the Motown Sound…especially girl groups like the Supremes. Rubin’s passion for rich musical stories are evidenced throughout her eight albums thus far plus numerous guest appearances

Dennis Rowland

Born: March 3, 1948

Dennis Rowland is beloved by jazz devotees and theatergoers around the globe.

The Detroit native and Phoenix, Arizona resident was the voice of the world-renowned Count Basie Orchestra between 1977 and 1984, where he shared the stage with Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Joe Williams and Tony Bennett. He is also featured on the Basie Band’s Grammy award-winning record "On the Road".

An electrifying live performer, Rowland's musical tours in recent years have taken him to Germany, Russia, England, Spain, Portugal, Scandinavia, the Czech Republic and Croatia. Stateside, he has performed at major jazz festivals, with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, and at metropolitan Phoenix-area jazz clubs and performing arts venues.

Annie Ross

Born: July 25, 1930

Annie Ross has been an abundant contributor to the art of jazz for over 50 years. Born in the UK, she has been a permanent resident of the USA for many years and a US citizen since 2001. The following are some highlights of what has been a long and illustrious career in jazz: Annie Ross is one of the pioneers of vocalese and the composer of "Twisted", one of the most well known examples of that art, as well as "Farmers Market", "Jackie" and many others. A founding member of Lambert, Hendricks and Ross, considered the greatest jazz vocal ensemble of all time, her influence is present in all subsequent practitioners of vocalese