Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Matt Dusk was born Matthew-Aaron Dusk on November 19, 1978 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada and from an early age wanted to become a performer. At seven, he was accepted into St. Michael’s Choir School and for the next eleven years performed opera and classical music. It wasn’t until hearing Tony Bennett and Sarah Vaughan records at age 17 that he began to change his musical style and direction.
In 1998 Matt won the top spot in the Canadian National Exhibition Rising Star Competition, entered York University for economics but a year later change to music studying jazz theory and jazz vocal, graduating with honors in 2002.
Dusk recorded four independent CDs before his major record deal, making his mark on the MP3 web circuit. This was followed by a 2003 record deal with Decca Records, the next year played Las Vegas at the Golden Nugget, and became the house entertainer for the reality TV show Casino.
Matt has recorded with Capitol Records, worked with a 58-piece orchestra, is the first jazz artist in Japanese history to reach #1 on the pop radio charts, recorded the soundtrack for the TV series Call Me Fitz, and has shot a live DVD concert special with a 17-piece band and has six albums to his credit alongside his independent project. He currently performs, tours and records.
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Diana Jean Krall was born on November 16, 1964 in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada. At age four she was playing piano and playing jazz in a local restaurant at 15. She went to the Berklee College of Music on scholarship before heading out to Los Angeles, California.
In 1993, Krall released her debut album, Stepping Out, with John Clayton and Jeff Hamilton. Her sophomore project hit the stands two years later followed by a third, a dedication to Nat King Cole in 1996. She teamed up with guitarist Russell Malone and bassist Christian McBride on her next release Love Scenes that quickly became a hit recording in 1997.
Diana has been on tour with Tony Bennett, teamed up with Claus Ogerman, incorporated orchestral arrangements by Johnny Mandel, performed closing credit music for the DeNiro film The Score, joined Ray Charles on his Genius Loves Company, featured in a Lexus ad campaign, produced Barbra Streisand’s Love Is The Answer album.
She has been awarded the Order of British Columbia, an honorary doctorate from the University of Victoria, inducted into the Canadian Walk of Fame, has had a plaza named after her, has won two Grammy and eight Juno awards. Pianist and contralto vocalist Diana Krall continues to perform, record and tour.
Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Chris Connor was born Mary Loutsenhizeron November 8, 1927 in Kansas City, Missouri. Her mother died when she was thirteen and her older sister finished raising her. She studied 8 years through junior and high school and became proficient clarinetist. She first sang publicly in 1945, performing “Amor” at the Jefferson City Junior College’s graduation.
Having been well received Chris decided to pursue a singing career full-time, initially working around Kansas City. Her first professional job was with the University of Missouri college band. Moving between local bands from 1946–47; in 1948 she moved to New York City, struggled to acquire work, finally becoming a member of the Claude Thornhill’s vocal group “The Snowflakes”. During her time with the Snowflakes, Connor recorded “There’s A Small Hotel” and “I Don’t Know Why”. She joined Jerry Wald’s big band and recorded more prolifically with songs like “Cherokee” and “Pennies From Heaven”.
Nearing one of her sporadic engagement departures June Christy recommended Connor to Stan Kenton and subsequent recording of Jeepers Creepers, If I Should Lose You, I Get A Kick Out Of You and All About Ronnie, which would become her signature song. Tired of touring by 1953 she left Kenton, she returned to New York, found a manager who got her work at Birdland that eventually landed her a recording contract at Bethlehem Records. Her solo career took flight and a succession of successful albums followed. She moved to much bigger Atlantic label, becoming the first white female signed. She worked with such jazz musicians like Kenny Burrell, Herbie Mann, Lucky Thompson, Hank Jones, Doc Severinsen, Oscar Pettiford and others.
Chris had a long and prolific career through the Sixties and Seventies recording for FM, ABC, Paramount, JVC, Stanyan, Sony Japan, Progressive and Japanese Lobster Record labels. She made her final two recordings in the early 2000s for HighNote Records. Vocalist Chris Connor died on August 29, 2009, from cancer at age 81.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Jane Monheit was born November 3, 1977 in Oakdale, New York on Long Island. As a child, Jane spent her summers as a student at the Usdan Center For the Creative and Performing Arts, and is a recipient of their distinguished alumna award.
She began singing professionally while attending Connetquot High School in Bohemia, N.Y. from which she graduated in 1995. As a student at the Manhattan School of Music she studied voice under Peter Eldridge, graduated with honors. Monheit was the first runner up to Teri Thornton in the 1998 Thelonious Monk Jazz Institute’s vocal competition.
An international artist, Jane has performed at most of the major concert halls, cabarets and jazz venues around the globe. She has released seven albums and two DVDs, and has appeared as a guest artist on many others, as well as soundtracks for the movie “Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow” singing Over The Rainbow.
Monheit has appeared on numerous television shows and also been a featured performer in the nationally televised Christmas at the White House, the Capitol Fourth of July Celebration, and The National Memorial Day Celebration.
Vocalist Jane Monheit has collaborated with artists such as Michael Bublé, Ivan Lins, Terence Blanchard and Tom Harrell and has been nominated twice for her recordings. She spends most of the year on tour with her band but also performs with the major symphonic orchestras throughout the country.
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Daily Dose Of Jazz…
Carmen Lundy was born November 1, 1954 in Miami, Florida and at the age of six began to study the piano. After joining her church junior choir, she decided to become a singer when she was 12 years old. While an opera major at the University of Miami she sang with a jazz band and her decision to sing vocal jazz was cemented.
Moving to New York in 1978 Carmen was hired by the Mel Lewis/Thad Jones Big Band and performed her first engagement at the Village Vanguard in Greenwich Village. Two years later she formed her own trio, performing with pianists John Hicks and Onaje Allan Gumbs. She has also performed with Walter Bishop Jr., Don Pullen, Mulgrew Miller, Terri Lyne Carrington, Courtney Pine, Bill O’Connell, Steve Berrios, Marian McPartland, Kenny Kirkland and numerous others.
Lundy recorded her first album of original compositions Good Morning Kiss in 1985 followed by her sophomore project Night and Day the next year featuring musicians Kenny Kirkland, Alex Blake, her brother Curtis Lundy, Victor Lewis, Rodney Jones and Ricky Ford.
Carmen played the lead role in the European tour of Duke Ellington’s Broadway musical, Sophisticated Ladies. Off-Broadway she portrayed Billie Holiday in Lawrence Holder’s They Were All Gardenias. She made her television debut in 1990 as the star of the CBS pilot-special Shangri-La Plaza in the role of Geneva.
A composer, arranger, producer, actress, painter, and sophisticated vocalist well known for her progressive bop and post-bop styling’s, Lundy has composed and published forty songs with favorites such as Quiet Times, Forgive Me, The Out Crowd, and Never Gonna Let You Go that have been recorded by Kenny Barron, Ernie Watts and Straight Ahead. With thirteen albums to her credit Carmen Lundy continues to focus on original material as she moves her three-decade career forward.
