Seattle vocalist Jennifer Kienzle The setting is Shuga Jazz Bistro. The occasion is a special jam session celebrating the birthday of Seattle pianist Eric Verlinde. Jennifer Kienzle has stepped up to the mic. I’m always struck by her cool finesse and sophisticated ease. She exudes a classic jazz singer aura, all the way down to the little black dress, which she rocks hard I might add. But beneath this impeccable elegance is an underlying sassiness, with a nip of growl. Within…
A few weeks ago, I was hanging out at Tula’s, chatting it up with a jazz musician pal. We were talking about jazz venues around the area. The name of one particular club came up and he dismissed it because “they only book chick singers.” Chick singers. And he said it as if it were a bad thing. While I don’t want to jump back into the conversation about the curious relationship between jazz vocalists and musicians, I will say that I respectfully disagree with…
Hoo-rah! Tonight is the first meeting of a four week scat workshop with my much beloved teacher and jazz musician extraordinaire Greta Matassa. I signed up for this well over a month ago and am happy and excited to get started tonight. When it comes to scat singing, Greta is a nuclear missile. She’s also one of the sharpest teachers around, and there’s no doubt in my mind that this is going to be a great workshop. Scat singing mesmerizes me. Throughout the years, I…