vocal jazz | Musicosity

vocal jazz

Natalie Cole

Born February 6, 1950, Natalie Cole is the daughter of celebrated crooner Nat King Cole, she was exposed to the greats of , and at an early age and began performing at the age of 11. Her debut album in 1975, Inseparable, won her immediate praise, with the smash single This Will Be (An Everlasting Love) (#1 R&B, #6 Pop) winning her a Grammy for Best R&B Vocal Performance, Female, a category that had been monopolized by Aretha Franklin. She also was named the Grammys' Best New Artist of 1975. She attended the Northfield Mount Hermon School in Northfield, MA.

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Gregory Porter

With a voice that can caress or confront, embrace or exhort, Gregory Porter exhibits such an incredible degree of vocal mastery that no less a jazz luminary than Wynton Marsalis has gone on record to call him "a fantastic young singer," which makes the fact that Water (out now from Motema Music) is his recording debut even more impressive. A debut release it may be, yet Water flows with a sense of timelessness that reflects the seasoned talents of the giants of blues, gospel and soul that have influenced Porter throughout his career.

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Magda Piskorczyk

www.magdapiskorczyk.com MAGDA PISKORCZYK (pronounce: peas-CORE-chick) is a singer with a mature, low and unusual voice timbre. Described in France as "la voix noire et au costume blanc" (Black voice in a white costume). She is a guitar, bass guitar and percussion player, as well as a song writer. Magda performs music of Afro-American and African heritage. She is a two-time Semifinalist of the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, USA. Readers of the Polish blues quarterly chose her the Female Vocalist of the Year 2003, 2004, 2006, 2009 and 2011.

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Claire Martin

Claire was born in Wimbledon in 1967. She attended The Doris Holford Stage School until she was fifteen, singing was her strongest passion with dance coming a close second. Claire studied singing with Verona Chard in London and Marilyn Johnson in New York. For two years she worked on the QE2 and Cunard Princess. Aged 21, Claire formed a quartet which featured Jim Mullen on guitar and Jonathon Gee on piano. In 1991 Claire signed to the Linn label.

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Dianne Reeves

Dianne Reeves, born 23 October 1956 in Detroit, Michigan, is an American jazz singer, known more for her live performances than her albums. Alongside her peers Dee Dee Bridgewater, Diana Krall and Cassandra Wilson she is considered one of the most important female jazz singers of our time. She lives in Denver (Colorado/USA) Dianne came from a very musical family. Her father, who died when she was two years old, was also a singer. Her mother, Vada Swanson, played trumpet. A cousin, George Duke is a well known piano and keyboard player and producer.

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Kym Mazelle

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.

Read more about Kym Mazelle on Last.fm.

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Barb Jungr

With her unique vocal style, critics have compared her to Nina Simone, Peggy Lee and Edith Piaf declaring that Barb Jungr “is one of the best interpreters of Jacques Brel and Bob Dylan anywhere on this angst ridden planet today” (Village Voice, New York). Since 2000, Jungr’s releases on Linn Records have brought her to the world stage and revealed her to be one of Europe’s most exciting voices.

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The Black Sea

The Black Sea was formed from the ashes of Frodus in 2002 when Frodus's Shelby Cinca and Jason Hamacher decided to continue playing together. At the time they recruited Fugazi bassist Joe Lally to play bass. At the time they weren't sure on if the musical endeavor would go beyond just playing music. In February 2002, Hamacher left for a 3 month excursion to Eastern Europe and Turkey after recording drum tracks for the pair.

Read more about The Black Sea on Last.fm.

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