Alwin Lopez Jarreau (born March 12, 1940 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin), known popularly as Al Jarreau, is an American, Grammy Award–winning jazz singer. Versatile in his singing style, Jarreau is a twelve-time Grammy-nominated vocalist and the only vocalist in history to win a Grammy Award in three separate categories: jazz, pop, and R&B. As the son of a vicar, he had his first singing experiences in a church choir.
Carol Kidd has been known in jazz circles throughout the UK since she was 15, and she became a full time professional singer after singing with Frank Sinatra at Ibrox Stadium, Glasgow in 1990. Sinatra later wrote in his fan magazine, 'Perfectly Frank', expressing that "Carol Kidd is the best kept secret of British Jazz". This endorsement from Old Blue Eyes gave Kidd the confidence to make singing her career.
Kym Mazelle (born Kimberley Grigsby in 1960, in Gary, Indiana, U.S.) is an American soul music singer. She was brought up and lived on the same street as the Jackson family and knew Michael Jackson's mother and uncle. Early in her career, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, she enjoyed major success in the European house music scene, and performed as a member of Soul II Soul. However she is probably best known as the singer of the cover version of the song "Young Hearts Run Free", in the 1996 Baz Luhrmann film, William Shakespeare's Romeo + Juliet.
Ken Nordine ( January 1920) is an American voiceover and recording artist. Born in Chicago, Illinois, Ken Nordine is the son of an architect. He attended Lane Technical College Prep High School (Chicago) and the University of Chicago. He has three sons with his wife Beryl whom he married in 1946. Nordine's deep, resonant voice has been featured on many commercial advertisements. One critic wrote that "you may not know Ken Nordine by name or face, but you'll almost certainly recognize his voice."
Over the last two years Katie Noonan and her new band
Melody Gardot is an American musician in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She was disabled at 19, after being struck by a car while atop her bicycle. This event, though tragic, led to her recognition as a remarkable musician. Her musical beginning was prompted by a tending physician who was concerned with her cognitive impairment as a result of head injury sustained in the accident. He believed music would help her brain injury drastically improve, as it has been known to show remarkable results in improving people's cognitive ability after such trauma.
Kim Weston (born Agatha Natalie Weston, December 30, 1939, in Detroit, Michigan) is an African American soul singer, and Motown Records alumna. She was signed to the record label in 1963, scoring a minor hit with "Love Me All the Way" (R&B #24, Pop #88). Her biggest solo hits with Motown were "Take Me in Your Arms (Rock Me a Little While)" (R&B #4, Pop #50, 1965; later covered by The Isley Brothers, Blood, Sweat & Tears and The Doobie Brothers) and "Helpless" (R&B #13, Pop #56, 1966; previously recorded by The Four Tops on their Second Album LP).
Mario Biondi is an Italian singer. Born in Catania, son of a popular song singer, still young sings in various small choruses. Years after he follows Califano, di capri, Bongusto, Fiorello and others in their tours. After a long series of participations with Italian and international artists and a small production of disco music, during 2006 he hits the success with the Schema Records album "Handful of Soul". His deep and warm voice recalls the great interpreters soul and rhythm and blues music.
Carla Cook is a Grammy-nominated jazz vocalist. A Detroit, Michigan native, music seized hold of Cook at an early age. As a student at Cass Technical High School she played string bass in the school orchestra, studied piano and voice on weekends, and sang in her church’s choir. An elder brother introduced her to jazz, Cook chose voice as her instrument of choice, and she became a disciple of jazz icon Eddie Jefferson, founder of a singing technique called ‘vocalese’ where a singer sings lyrics to a famous instrumental solo.
Madeleine Peyroux is a jazz singer who was born in 1974 in Athens, Georgia (USA), and raised in New York City and Paris. She is noted for her vocal style, which is highly reminiscent of Billie Holiday. Madeleine also has qualities similar to Ella Fitzgerald. Like Holiday, Peyroux was marketed as a jazz singer, when what she seems to do best is sing blues music. Though Peyroux may remind some listeners of Holiday, there are differences, and she has her own sense of phrasing and interpretation.