The Revue Singers
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Growing
up listening to music; country to Bach, Sandy was enamored with
Ella Fitzgerald, Lena Horn and Blossom Dearie. In her teens Sandy
was crazy for Doris Day and Shirley Bassey, then Cleo Lane. In her
twenties, her sister Loretta, convinced her to sing professionally
and her career was on it's way!! Sandy studied with some of the
best teachers in the Delaware Valley, including voice and stage
presence under the watchful eye of Bucky Harris and voice with Lenny
Payton, former music coordinator on several New York based television
shows.
After working the circuit for eight years, including radio and TV, Sandy left the music business to raise her family, never thinking to sing, professionally, again. Twenty-five years later, after having spinal surgery behind her voice box, and wearing a neck brace for 3-1/2 months, there was concern that she would not be able to sing again. It was a very long 3-1/2 months! Once the brace was off, the work began; get the voice back!! A year later, Sandy was working clubs in Portland and 2-1/2 years later Darrell Grant produced and arranged her premier CD. Sandy performs at Spirit Mountain Casino, Portland Art Museum, Nick's Italian Cafe, Dolce Skamania Lodge, the Pearson Air Museum, the Portland Spirit, Duck Pond Cellars, Wilf's at Union Station, to name a few. She also performs at festivals, art openings, business and private functions. |
Sandy Dennison |
As
a singer coming up in her native St. Louis, Karla Harris earned
a reputation as an engaging performer able to capture an audience
with her versatile vocals, a voice that can alternate between
soul-tinged power and quiet vulnerability.
Karla began her career as a young vocalist with the St. Louis Jazz Quartet, singing alongside one of the Midwest’s most recognized jazz singers, Jeanne Trevor, and sharing the stage with many of the area’s best players. Her voice, strong, expressive and wide-ranging, swings easily between musical styles, and she soon established herself as a popular lead vocalist who delivers her performances with authenticity and a sense of sophisticated fun. As her reputation grew, she worked with several leading bands, expanding her skills and repertoire to include a variety of music. In 2004, Karla was invited to team with Tom Kennedy, an accomplished jazz bassist with a long list of international credits. As the featured vocalist with the Tom Kennedy Trio, Karla delved more deeply into her jazz beginnings. Her classy vocals, in tune with the music’s many moods and seductive melodies, were well matched with Tom’s multi-faceted, emotive playing. The band quickly gained a reputation as one of the area’s finest. In 2005, Karla moved to Portland, Oregon, and is enjoying meeting and working with musicians there and in Seattle. Most recently, she was invited to be a featured singer at "Jazz for the Holidays," a debut event in Newport, Oregon, home of the popular Newport Jazz Festival. Karla is grateful to the musicians and listeners who have welcomed her to the Portland area. |
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Karla
Harris |
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Marilyn
brings a special magic to the stage with her charming presence and
flawless vocal stylings. Her musical roots are diverse. She joined
Black Swan in 1997, quckly establishing a loyal following in the
Dixieland and Ragtime scene. She has also remained active in a wide
variety of other performance ensembles and styles: The Don Latarski
Group, Darrell Grant, Thara Memory, Tall Jazz, Tom Grant, Michael
Allen Harrison, Disciples in Song, and the Augustana Jazz Quartet
to name a few.
Marilyn's formative jazz training was as a member of the Mt. Hood Community College Vocal Jazz Ensemble and as the vocalist fronting the award-winning MHCC Jazz Lab Band. She is featured at the Jazz Worship Service at Augustana Lutheran Church every Sunday and can be seen frequently at restaurants, clubs, festivals and holiday events throughout the Pacific Northwest. |
Marilyn Keller |
dapipes@aol.com |
"Mesmerizing",
"Expressive" and "Effortles" are some of the
adjectives used to describe Nancy Curtin's singing of Brazilian
music. "She has spent the last four years exploring Brazilian
songs, and her CD is ripe with the fruits of this exploration.
A line or two of translated lyrics helps the listener understand
each song (sung in Portuguese), but the real connection is in
the emotions conveyed by her effortless delivery."
—Victory Music Review Nancy was raised in a musical family and has been singing all her life. Her interest in jazz began in college, where she began performing with local bands. She has always been drawn to a variety of music from around the world, and in 1998 the "Brazilian bug" bit hard and it has been her focus ever since. Nancy's recordings and performances cover a variety of styles, from Antonio Carlos Jobim's jazzy bossa novas to the passionate Afro-Sambas of Baden Powell and Vinicius de Moraes. Nancy performs her unusual repertoire with top-caliber musicians including guitarist Alfredo Muro and pianists Tom Grant and Steve Christofferson. Performances often include Lions of Batucada founder Brian Davis playing traditional percussion instruments of Brazil. |
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| website | Nancy
Curtin |
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A
singer in the tradition of Frank Sinatra. An entertainer with the energy of Louis Prima. If the event you’re planning needs music and style to make it memorable, don’t settle for any other band. As Mr. Martin himself puts it, “I try to demonstrate in a relaxed and amusing way, that jazz can be fun and that love never goes out of style.” An affable musician with an unforgettable voice, Mr. Martin honors the past performers of radio and stage, with just the right amount of humor. With blue eyes and bold emotion, Johnny takes the lyrics of the past and makes them swing like new ! It takes talent and he’s got it. His reputation hangs on every song. |
| Johnny Martin |
Tobáj is an international Latin/Jazz singer, guitarist, songwriter, and recording artist who lives in Portland, Oregon (USA). Tobáj has performed internationally in Spain, Mexico, Japan and the Caribbean, as well as on the West Coast, Hawaii and Alaska. He has also been featured on many radio and television programs in the U.S. and abroad. Tobáj performs solo with guitar, with small jazz ensembles, and with larger jazz and Latin bands. His most recent CD – self titled, “Tobáj”, received a review in the August 2005 issue of JAZZIZ MAGAZINE that reads: “Tobáj (Tobáj Music) – The Portland-based singer/guitarist blends easy and romantic vocals in Spanish and English with spirited acoustic accompaniment that tackles numerous genres, from flamenco to samba. The smoldering seduction is broken up, joyously, by the Santana-like electric fire of “Sensacional.” Tobáj is also an accomplished “straight ahead standard-jazz” singer – specializing in vocal improvisation (scat singing). |
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| website | Tobáj |
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The
Barbara Lusch story begins and continues in Portland, Oregon with
many a musical adventure in between. She learned to love the jazz
standards from her grandmother, and grew up singing with her sisters.
As a student of music and performing arts in New York and Los Angeles
for over a decade, Barbara gained experience and nationalexposure
in network television series, daytime soaps, sitcoms, films and
commercials, as well as in the theater.
Back in Portland, her solo career was preceded by a stint as vocalist with a popularLatin band which appeared with the Oregon Symphony Pops and in venues like Portland’s historic Crystal Ballroom. Barbara went solo in 2002, and now her career finds her performing throughout thePacific Northwest, with regular engagements at local, high-profile clubs, like the world renown Jimmy Mak’s. Recent credits include Portland’s Cathedral Park Jazz Festival, the Portland Jazz Festival, and Astoria’s Historic Liberty Theater |
| Barbara Lusch |
Ms. Michelet sings in the tradition of the great female jazz vocalists of the 50’s and 60’s. While her admiration for the music and vocal styling of Peggy Lee is in evidence on many cuts, her performances clearly reflect her own unique flair. As you listen you are swept into the era of the great supper clubs. You can imagine the room filled with people dressed in evening clothes, diamonds and fur. Sinatra, Martin and Davis are probably sitting at a table with a good view of the stage but away from the center of attention. The audience is mesmerized by the talent of the vocalist and outstanding combo. You are intrigued with her presentation: a beautiful gown, long velvet gloves and dazzling jewelry. Her sophistication and glamour sets her apart from the typical cabaret singer. |
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| website | Linda
Lee Michelet |
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After over 20 years of performing for private events, I started to find my own voice and style. That is really just a synthesis of everything that I've listened to and loved. Some vocalists are fortunate enough to discover who they are early in their careers, and bypass the stage of trying to imitate others. It took me many years to develop the confidence to present myself as an artist and not just another 'band guy' trying to get over with someone else's sound. I hope to continue recording and writing. I have done some club work here in Portland and love that. I really like the intimacy that small venues afford and enjoy working with a trio or quartet, and of course the opportunities to work the larger group with horns and percussion are always exciting! I am having the time of my life as a performer, and feel as though the best is yet to come. |
| Michael Winkle |
Robert Moore has evolved a sound uniquely his own, mixing his Southern roots influences of soul and gospel into his own distinct interpretations of bebop and swinging jazz. Shadings of King Pleasure, Mark Murphy, Mose Allison, & Ella are heard alongside those of Otis Redding, Roger Miller & classic blues shouters. Whether leading with his horn into familiar standards, scatting imaginative lines straight from the heart, blowing creative lines on the harmonica, or exposing listeners to interspersed originals, Moore cuts to the heart of a song, opening up sounds in new ways & winning fans with his frequent wry notes of humor. A long-time resident of Birmingham, Alabama, Moore has been heard in Southern jazz clubs from New Orleans to North Carolina, and has recently moved his base to Portland, Oregon, where he performs regularly. In Japan, where American jazz is particularly revered, his tours have been received with wild appreciation and enthusiasm. |
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| website | Robert
Moore |
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| Toni Lincoln | website |
Thea came to Portland in 1994 from small town California and began getting together with a group of friends to sing original arrangements of close harmony music from the 40s through the 60s. The group became By Night, an a cappella sextet, and was soon performing professionally in the Portland area. She also started performing as the featured singer with members of a local instrumental group, Hamilton Street, and developed a large and growing repertoire while performing her own gigs and fronting HS. Soon after, she joined members of HS to form Mosaique, seeking songs that move an d groove the band (and the audience!). She has added several numbers sung in French and is constantly adding “nouveaux chansons.” Her songs highlight her soft, lilting sound and some delightful behind-the-beat phrasing. Her delivery effectively projects a wide range of moods by distinct, but perceptive, changes in the emotional flavor of her voice to complement the lyrics. In this way she is like a talented actress, whose subtle shadings, scene to scene, underscore the script, while avoiding unnecessary melodramatics. Listeners repeatedly describe Thea’s vocals as warm and soothing with just the right sassy kick, like a perfect cup of cinnamon hot chocolate. |
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| website | Thea
Enos |
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Carolyn has performed at the Brasserie Montmartre, The Heathman, Lounge, Jazz de Opus, Wilfs and LV’s with pianists Tony Pacini, George Mitchell, Randy Porter, and Dave Frishberg. Carolyn performs as the featured vocalist for many private events with Sammy Epstein’s Mazel Tov Orchestra, performing both Klezmer and Latin jazz numbers in Yiddish, as well as well known jazz standards. She has performed with MTO at Jimmy Mak’s, and at numerous local outdoor concerts and festivals. Sometimes
referred to as one of Portland’s “best kept secrets”
on the jazz scene, Carolyn is sure to garner a new moniker with
the release in fall of 2007of her debut jazz CD, “This is
Carolyn Joyce”, featuring the Tony Pacini Trio. |
| Carolyn Joyce |
“My passion and goal is to draw out the emotion in a song, and communicate it to the audience in such a way, that they feel the song was written with them in mind.” As an up and coming Jazz Artist, Brian Dorsey, has a reputation for bringing an infusion of passion and heart into his music, a sound that stirs the soul and lifts the hearts of his listeners. With a background in everything from Gospel to Folk, Classical to Soul, he brings a range of styles, creating unique vocal arrangements to present his audiences. His soulful stamp is readily seen and heard, on his very popular version of Georgia, a song that also displays his clear mastery of his falsetto and upper registry. Born in Philadelphia, but raised in Portland, he contributes his talents to God, his musically gifted parents, and exposure to great artists throughout his early years. He currently performs with The Portland Jazz Revue, most recently sharing the stage at Jimmy Mac’s, the premier Jazz Club in the Northwest located in the Pearl District of Portland. |
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| website | Brian
Dorsey |
