 |
Alexis Cole | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 28, 1976 Queens, New York, U.S. |
| Genres | Jazz, swing |
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Years active | 1999–present |
| Labels | Venus, Motéma, Chesky, Zoho |
| Website | www |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance |  United States |
| Service/ |  United States Army |
| Years of service | 2009–2015 |
| Unit | USMA Band |
Alexis Cole is an American jazz singer.
Cole was born in Queens, New York. Her father and grandmother were both popular music singers and pianists. Her mother was interested in business and helped her learn business skills and get music education and performance opportunities as a young person. She grew up in South Florida, where she studied Musical Theater at the New World School of the Arts in Miami. While in her senior year there, she began her professional career performing at a hotel in South Beach. This got her interested in singing Jazz. She attended the University of Miami but in her Junior year transferred to William Paterson University [1] where she received her Bachelors of Music in 1998
Directly after college, she was an AmeriCorps volunteer for one year, and then went to study music in Mumbai, India with the Jazz India Vocal Institute.
In 2001 she lived and worked for a year aboard the Carnival Victory performing nightly with her quartet on piano and voice.
From 2002 to 2005 she traveled extensively in Europe, busking and hitchhiking, and participating annually in the Montreux Jazz Festival Vocal Competition which she eventually won as a runner up.
Her debut album, Very Early (1999), was recorded with Harry Pickens and independently released, and her second album, Nearer the Sun (2004) was recorded with Ben Stivers.
In 2006, she received a Masters of Music from Queens College. She taught for one semester at a program in Quito, Ecuador, run by the Berklee College of Music. [1]
Cole spent most of the next two years singing and playing piano at a lounge in Tokyo, Japan.
In 2009 she enlisted in the U.S. Army to become the lead singer for the West Point Band's Jazz Knights Big Band until 2015.
In 2016, she released a tribute to Paul Simon entitled Dazzling Blue, [2] which debuted at No. 24 on the Billboard jazz chart. [3]
After leaving the Army she became the Jazz Voice Professor at the State University of New York at Purchase. [4] [5]
In 2021 she took on a second position as Jazz Voice Professor at her alma mater William Paterson University.
In May 2020, amidst social distancing due to the Coronavirus Pandemic, she founded an online educational website to connect vocalists and students for virtual learning opportunities. Some of the singers teaching on the site include Karrin Allyson, Tierney Sutton, Cyrille Aimée, Kate McGarry, Jane Monheit, John Proulx, Jay Clayton, Dena DeRose and Catherine Russell.
In April 2021 along with Zeiders American Dream Theater www.thez.org, she co produced the first annual Virginia Beach Vocal Jazz Summit www.vocaljazzsummit.org Now occurring in person and virtually every first weekend of June, notable past performers include Samara Joy, Kurt Elling, Jane Monheit and Catherine Russell
In November 2021 she released Sky Blossom: Songs From My Tour of Duty, a Big Band album composed of the arrangements by Scott Arcangel that were written for her during her time in the West Point Band.
In May 2023 she resigned from her teaching positions at SUNY Purchase College and William Paterson University to work on a new enterprise, a website to help emerging musicians find long and mid term performing jobs. www.MusicAuditions.com
In 2024 she released her second big band album Jazz Republic: Taiwan, the United States and the Freedom of Swing, with the Taipei Jazz Orchestra conducted by Dr. Gene Aitken
Kurt Elling is an American jazz singer and songwriter.
Jane Monheit is an American jazz and pop singer.
Margrethe Blossom Dearie was an American jazz singer and pianist. She had a recognizably light and girlish voice. Dearie performed regular engagements in London and New York City over many years and collaborated with many musicians, including Johnny Mercer, Miles Davis, Jack Segal, Johnny Mandel, Duncan Lamont, Bob Dorough, Dave Frishberg, and Jay Berliner.
John Paul Pizzarelli Jr. is an American jazz guitarist and vocalist. He has recorded over twenty solo albums and has appeared on more than forty albums by other recording artists, including Paul McCartney, James Taylor, Rosemary Clooney; his father, jazz guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli; and his wife, singer Jessica Molaskey.
Chris Potter is an American jazz saxophonist, composer, and multi-instrumentalist.
Karrin Allyson is an American jazz vocalist. She has been nominated for five Grammy Awards and has received positive reviews from several prominent sources, including the New York Times, which has called her a "singer with a feline touch and impeccable intonation."
Jay Leonhart is an American double bassist, singer, and songwriter who has worked in jazz and popular music. He has performed with Judy Garland, Bucky Pizzarelli, Carly Simon, Frank Sinatra, and Sting. Leonhart is noted for his clever songwriting, often laced with dry humor. His compositions have been recorded by Blossom Dearie, Lee Konitz, and Gary Burton. His poetry is published both in, and outside of, the venue of song.
Taking a Chance on Love is an album by American jazz singer Jane Monheit that includes cover versions of standards and songs from musicals. The album was released on September 7, 2004, via Sony Classical label.
Romero Lubambo is a Brazilian jazz guitarist.
Look Around is the third studio album by Sérgio Mendes and Brasil '66. It was released in 1967. Following this album, Mendes dismissed the musicians and singer Janis Hansen and brought in Karen Phillip to sing with holdover Lani Hall.
Never Never Land is the debut album by jazz singer Jane Monheit, recorded when she was 22 years old. At AllMusic, critic David Adler wrote that her voice on this album was "as close to flawless as a human can get". She was accompanied by jazz musicians Bucky Pizzarelli, Ron Carter, Hank Crawford, and Kenny Barron. The album includes cover versions of the standards "More Than You Know", "My Foolish Heart", and "Twisted".
Duduka Da Fonseca, born Eduardo Moreira Da Fonseca is a Brazilian jazz drummer who is a founding member of Trio da Paz with Romero Lubambo and Nilson Matta. He leads the Duduka da Fonseca Trio, with David Feldman and Guto Wirtti. Duduka is a resident of New York City.
BeatKaestli is a Swiss singer, songwriter, arranger, and producer.
Roseanna Elizabeth Vitro is a jazz singer and teacher from Arkansas.
Motéma Music is a jazz and world music record label in the United States. It was founded in 2003 in San Francisco Bay Area by label president and recording artist Jana Herzen. The label has received Grammy recognition more than 25 times for albums in jazz, Latin jazz, reggae, and R&B. Motema's roster includes Gregory Porter, Joey Alexander, Deva Mahal, Pedrito Martinez, Randy Weston, Geri Allen, David Murray, Monty Alexander, and Charnett Moffett, Donny McCaslin, Mark Guiliana, and Terri Lyne Carrington and many other respected artists in jazz, world and soul music.
Tessa Souter is a jazz singer, songwriter and writer.
Gregory Porter is an American singer, songwriter and musician. He has twice won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album: first in 2014 for Liquid Spirit and then again in 2017 for Take Me to the Alley.
Water is the debut studio album by American jazz musician Gregory Porter. It was released under the Motéma Music label on May 11, 2010.
Afro Blue is an album by pianist Harold Mabern. It was released by Smoke Sessions Records.
Nicki Parrott is a jazz vocalist and bass player from Australia.
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| Artists | |
