DECEMBER, 2008JENNIFER NOMINATED FOR CHICAGO MUSIC AWARD!Jennifer has been nominated for Best Female Vocalist of 2008.Click The Link Below To CAST YOUR VOTE!You do not have to be from Chicago to vote!Voting is live online until 12.31.08www.martinsinterculture.com/cma-nominees
OCTOBER 28THJENNIFER FEATURED ON UPCOMING PUTUMAYO RELEASE, WOMEN OF JAZZ.Putumayo’s latest release, Women of Jazz, showcases the originality and artistry of 10 exceptional female vocalists from North America. This collection offers extraordinary artists from several eras – legends who have inspired today’s generation, stars of the contemporary jazz world and young women just now starting to make their mark on jazz history. Women of Jazz captures the depth and diversity of the female jazz experience.
Women of Jazz includes original songs alongside classic 1920s ballads and Broadway show tunes. A true reflection of the creativity of today’s female jazz artists, their songs often combine jazz with unexpected influences such as rhythm and blues and country ballads.
Melody Gardot’s song “Goodnite” showcases her subtly hip and swinging style. Madeleine Peyroux, whose sultry voice resembles that of Billie Holiday, turns Leonard Cohen’s folk song into a jazz classic. Sophie Milman, winner of Canada’s 2007 Juno award for best jazz vocal album, gives an inspired performance that incorporates gypsy violin and klezmer.
Several songs add a contemporary twist to well known tunes. Cassandra Wilson, a world-renowned jazz innovator, provides a modern take on the classic “Lover Come Back to Me”. Hope Waits’ rendition of “I’ll be Satisfied,” a 1950s rhythm and blues hit for crooner Jackie Wilson, sounds as if it had been written today by a contemporary singer-songwriter. Kate Paradise, part of the new generation of jazz musicians, provides her vocal improvisation of the classic tune “Mean to Me.” Jennifer Hartswick, who was a guest vocalist on several of the band Phish’s recordings, offers a new version of Billie Holiday’s “Lover Man.” Also on the collection, rising star Stacy Kent sings “Shall We Dance?” from The King and I.
Della Griffin, who sang with doo-wop and jazz groups in New York in the 1950s and spent most of the 1970s and 1980s as the featured artist at Harlem’s Blue Book Club, offers her interpretation of the jazz standard “It Could Happen to You.” Etta Jones, a jazz and blues legend, closes the album with the classic “Since I Fell for You.” WWW.PUTUMAYO.COM
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Jennifer Hartswick is one of the most exciting, best-kept secrets in jazz today. A skilled trumpeter and versatile vocalist, Jennifer’s soulful, dynamic performances are known to leave audiences breathless. From jazz standards to gospel, funk, pop and R&B, she is a captivating and evocative performer who is graceful, powerful and emotive in any musical terrain.
Her latest album, True, released in 2007 on Rubber Jungle Records, is a lithe collection of lesser-heard jazz standards. The album glides effortlessly from the smooth, mellow tones of Gentle Rain and With Every Breath I Take to the up-tempo swing of That’s All and Nature Boy. Jennifer’s interpretations are always fresh and innovative, informed by a mix of youthful ambition and musical wisdom beyond her years.
Jennifer’s live performances are renowned as joyful and spontaneous. Her natural charisma and sincerity shines through, and each performance is a celebration of musical collaboration; the camaraderie between Jennifer and her band mates is always visible. And whether she is wailing on the trumpet or singing an intimate vocal solo, her performance is all part of a single seamless instrument, one that is played not only with astounding technical proficiency, but also with sensitivity, conviction and heart.
Born in Vermont into a musical family, Jennifer began playing music at the age of 4. As a teenager she became she became infatuated with the sounds of Oscar Peterson, Clifford Brown and Ella Fitzgerald. She lived and studied briefly in New York City before attending the Hartt School of Music in Hartford, CT, where she studied the intricacies of the jazz idiom with Nat Reeves, Steve Davis, Jackie McLean and many other prominent jazz artists.
At the age of 20, after already having recorded on two albums with Trey Anastasio (Story of the Ghost, Phish, 1998, and One Man’s Trash, Trey Anastasio, 1998), Jennifer was asked to join Anastasio’s new band. She played with Trey for seven years, touring internationally and sharing the stage and studio such legends as Carlos Santana, Dave Matthews, The Rolling Stones, Paul Simon and Herbie Hancock. She has also appeared on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, The Late Show with David Letterman, Late Night With Conan O’Brien, Austin City Limits and many more.
Jennifer performs regularly with jazz, gospel and rock ensembles in the Chicago area, and her quintet has been featured several times at the prestigious Blue Note Jazz Club in New York City.
