I started singing at an early age, and always had ambitions to sing professionally. From the mid-1960’s on, I sang in choirs, folk groups, lounge groups and rock bands, and did session work for commercial jingles and as a back-up singer. I began writing songs at seventeen, and had several of my songs published and recorded locally in the mid-1970’s. I had long considered myself a better songwriter than singer, but in the last ten years I have gradually become a much better vocalist, performing ... view more »
I started singing at an early age, and always had ambitions to sing professionally. From the mid-1960’s on, I sang in choirs, folk groups, lounge groups and rock bands, and did session work for commercial jingles and as a back-up singer. I began writing songs at seventeen, and had several of my songs published and recorded locally in the mid-1970’s. I had long considered myself a better songwriter than singer, but in the last ten years I have gradually become a much better vocalist, performing standards and oldies for senior centers, restaurants, and wine bars. I had a “tux” trio from 2002 to 2004 that played numerous private events, doing our own sort of “cocktail jazz,” with me on guitar. I realized that I had a good feel for the old-school jazz and swing of Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett. With the emergence of Michael Bublé, also, there has been greater public interest in that kind of material, and I decided I wanted to become a “real” jazz singer. I expanded and refined my repertoire, and studied sheet music for the original lyrics, melodies and chords to many standards traditionally played in jazz. I worked on vocal technique, fine-tuning my intonation and breath support, gaining better pitch in the process. I found pianist Ken Fary, who worked with me on a CD of standards that we released early in 2007. We did a CD release show at the Jazz Kitchen, and have performed three times at the Chatterbox Jazz Club, as well as the IMA’s A.M.P. Series (co-sponsored by NUVO).
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