Melissa Morgan | |
---|---|
Born | 1980 (age 41–42) New York City |
Genres | Jazz |
Occupation(s) | Singer |
Instruments | Piano |
Labels | Telarc |
Website | www |
Melissa Morgan (born 1980) is an American jazz singer.
Morgan was born in New York City, and grew up in Teaneck, New Jersey, where she attended Teaneck High School. [1] [2] She began studying piano at age four. During high school she began singing with local choirs and was soon performing with vocal groups across the country and abroad. A highlight of her choir experience was a seven-country tour of Europe in 1996 with the U.S. Youth Chorale. As a student she was recognized with numerous awards, including three gold cups in the New Jersey Federation of Music solo piano competition, top ranking in the New Jersey all-state choir, and runner up for the New Jersey Governor's award for vocal music. [3]
In 1998, Morgan entered SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Music and studied with Yolande Bavan of jazz vocal group, Lambert, Hendricks & Bavan, Jon Faddis, Mark Murphy and Roseanna Vitro. While attending Purchase, she appeared with the conservatory's jazz and Latin jazz orchestras and was featured vocalist with the Purchase Jazz Band during a tour of Spain in 1999. In May 2002, she received a degree in jazz vocal performance.
Since graduating from Purchase, Morgan has been a regular performer at some of New York's top jazz room such as Cleopatra's Needle, Flute, G Bar, Smalls, Smoke and St. Nick's Pub. She has appeared with her own trio as well as other artists including Harold Mabern, David Hazeltine, and Sam Yahel. In 2001 she was featured in performances with Jon Faddis and the Dizzy Gillespie Alumni All-Stars at the Blue Note in New York. She performed at the New York Women of Jazz Festival in 2002 at Smoke jazz club, and that same year was a guest on the TV program Where to Hear Jazz in New York City. [4]
In September 2004, Morgan was named a semi-finalist in the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition in Washington D.C., hosted by Billy Dee Williams and Herbie Hancock. Judges for the competition were Quincy Jones, Al Jarreau, Kurt Elling, Jimmy Scott, Dee Dee Bridgewater, and Flora Purim. [5]
Her album, Until I Met You (Telarc, 2009), featured Gerald Clayton and Randy Napoleon.
Year | Album details |
---|---|
2009 | Until I Met You
|
Michel Camilo is a Grammy-award winning pianist and composer from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. He specializes in jazz, Latin and classical piano work. Camilo lists some of his main influences as Chick Corea, Keith Jarrett, Oscar Peterson, Bill Evans, and Art Tatum.
Jon Faddis is an American jazz trumpet player, conductor, composer, and educator, renowned for both his playing and for his expertise in the field of music education. Upon his first appearance on the scene, he became known for his ability to closely mirror the sound of trumpet icon Dizzy Gillespie, who was his mentor along with pianist Stan Kenton and trumpeter Bill Catalano.
John Carl Hendricks, known professionally as Jon Hendricks, was an American jazz lyricist and singer. He is one of the originators of vocalese, which adds lyrics to existing instrumental songs and replaces many instruments with vocalists, such as the big-band arrangements of Duke Ellington and Count Basie. He is considered one of the best practitioners of scat singing, which involves vocal jazz soloing. Jazz critic and historian Leonard Feather called him the "Poet Laureate of Jazz", while Time dubbed him the "James Joyce of Jive". Al Jarreau called him "pound-for-pound the best jazz singer on the planet—maybe that's ever been".
Michael Cain is a pianist and composer.
The Monterey Jazz Festival is an annual music festival that takes place in Monterey, California, United States. It debuted on October 3, 1958, championed by Dave Brubeck and co-founded by jazz and popular music critic Ralph J. Gleason and jazz disc jockey Jimmy Lyons.
Lambert, Hendricks & Ross were an American vocalese trio formed by jazz vocalists Dave Lambert, Jon Hendricks and Annie Ross. From 1962 to 1964, Ross was replaced by vocalist Yolande Bavan.
Roland Pembroke Hanna was an American jazz pianist, composer, and teacher.
Harold Mabern Jr. was an American jazz pianist and composer, principally in the hard bop, post-bop, and soul jazz fields. He is described in The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings as "one of the great post-bop pianists".
John Lee Clayton Jr. is an American jazz musician, classical double bassist, arranger, and composer.
Ted Rosenthal is an American jazz pianist. He was featured on David Sanborn's series Night Music, and has performed worldwide, both as a leader and as a sideman with many jazz greats, including Gerry Mulligan, Art Farmer, Phil Woods, Bob Brookmeyer, and Jon Faddis. Rosenthal has released 15 CDs as a leader, which include Great American Songbook standards, jazz classical compositions, and Rosenthal's own original compositions. In addition to his career as a performing artist, Rosenthal holds faculty positions at the Juilliard School, Manhattan School of Music, and The New School.
James Moody was an American jazz saxophone and flute player and very occasional vocalist, playing predominantly in the bebop and hard bop styles.
Sean Jones is an American trumpeter and composer featured on the 2007 Grammy Award-winning album Turned to Blue by Nancy Wilson. As a bandleader, Jones has released seven albums under the Mack Avenue Records label. He performs with his own groups both nationally and internationally. Jones often plays at music venues and jazz festivals such as the Monterey Jazz Festival, Detroit International Jazz Festival, the Vail Jazz Festival and Montreal International Jazz Festival.
Yolande Bavan is a Sri Lankan singer and actress.
Carlos Alberto Franzetti is a composer and arranger from Buenos Aires, Argentina.
The Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz is a non-profit music education organization founded in 1986. Before 2019, it was known as the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, but was then renamed after its longtime Board Chairman, Herbie Hancock.
Gerald William Clayton is a Dutch-born American jazz pianist and composer.
Havin' a Ball at the Village Gate is the last album by the reformed jazz vocal group Lambert, Hendricks & Bavan, of Dave Lambert and Jon Hendricks with Yolande Bavan. The group was formed after Annie Ross left the vocal group in 1962. The album was recorded live at the Village Gate club in New York City on December 20 and 21, 1963.
At Newport '63 is an album by the jazz vocalese group Lambert, Hendricks & Bavan recorded at the 1963 Newport Jazz Festival. The album features the group who had re-formed in 1963 featuring Dave Lambert and Jon Hendricks, with Yolande Bavan replacing Annie Ross who had left the group in 1962.
Jack Aloysius Reilly was an American jazz pianist.
Karen Asatrian is an Armenian jazz pianist and composer. His music is a synthesis of contemporary jazz and Armenian folk music. The recent album “Noor” with Karen Asatrian & Armenian Spirit band is an expression of Armenian traditional songs rearranged with a contemporary jazz style.