Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Kemba Cofield was born on August 2, 1972 in and grew up in Frankfort, Kentucky. As a young girl she  sang in talent shows, beauty pageants, musicals and church. It was only after seeing Sarah Vaughan perform at age 12 that she knew she wanted to sing jazz. However,  it wasn’t until she moved to Atlanta, Georgia that opportunity knocked, allowing her to learn the technical aspects of jazz.

Former Freddy Cole drummer, Bernard Linnette, heard Kemba sing during a Tuesday night jam session and was impressed by her voice. She  soon began gigging with his sextet and Linnette became her mentor. She taught chorus and piano lessons to students during the day, absorbed jazz during the night and completed her Masters in Music at Northern Illinois University in 2006 and a Masters of Education in 2013 from Cambridge College on summer breaks.

Meeting trombonist Wycliffe Gordon in 2003 earned her an invitation to sing with his ensemble as well as to appear on his album, In The Cross. Her relationships with Linnette and Gordon exposed her to new audiences and provided her with an entrée into the broader jazz scene.

Whether singing in the church choir, teaching scales to students, gigging with the likes of Wycliffe Gordon, Don Braden or Bernard Linnette, she leads her own ensemble.

Vocalist Kemba Cofield, who sings with a soulfulness that wraps itself around the song, continues to  She reminds us of how music transforms and how the essence of jazz transcends.

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