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Early Childhood Music & MusikGarten |
Kelley Johnson ranks high internationally among the new generation of jazz singers. With her romping version of "Tea for Two," from her recently completed album Music is the Magic, Johnson won first place in the 2002 International Jazzconnect Vocal Jazz Competition. Music is the Magic features first-rate songs and musicians, including Brian Lynch, John Hansen, Geoffrey Keezer, Essiet Essiet, Jon Wikan and Steve Wilson and inspired arrangements written largely by Kelley. The Cd is likely to have a lasting appeal for those awaiting its release. Johnson's debut recording, Make Someone Happy, was produced by and features pianist Fred Hersch among others. Released and distributed by Chartmaker Jazz, a Los Angeles-based record company, Make Someone Happy charted in the top-50 jazz recordings. More than 4500 copies were sold before yet another struggling jazz label left the planet - or at least, Los Angeles. Kelley Johnson fell in love with and studied jazz music in the Midwest's bebop hub in Milwaukee. Inspired by players like Manty Ellis, Brian Lynch, Melvin Rhyne, David Hazeltine, "Killer" Ray Appleton and Berkeley Fudge, she carried this aesthetic and love of first-rate musicianship into her own music. Johnson graduated from the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music and developed the first stages of a jazz career in Milwaukee. While in Seattle on vacation in the late 1980s, Kelley was hired to work with Seattle legends Buddy Catlett and Clarence Acox and the Roadside Attraction Big Band during the heyday of the city's old-school jazz club, Lofurno's. In such great company, she chose to make the city her home. In 1988, Kelley sought out jazz vocal legend Mark Murphy during his frequent bouts from San Francisco to teach at Bud Shank's Jazz Workshop in Port Townsend, Washington. Murphy became a real mentor and friend, and later recommended Kelley's first album to the jazz world, saying, "Good news for jazz vocal fans. Listen to her sureness of pitch, imaginative song selection, and her ability to lyricize to a Joe Henderson theme. Many treats here, my friends. In a world of noise, yahoo and recorded B.S., the first thing you hear here is none of that. It's because this girl knows she is a jazz singer and doesn't have to do anything else!" Ten years after meeting Mark, with an established career as a jazz vocalist and educator, Kelley was invited to Port Townsend to teach that same workshop. Currently an instructor at both Cornish College of the Arts and Musicworks Northwest, Kelley helps students understand the art and develop the musicianship necessary for playing jazz. She tours occasionally and can be heard regularly at Seattle's finest jazz venues. An improvising singer who values lyrics, Kelley is known for her tasteful, understated phrasing and relentless swing. As an arranger, she reworks standards creating modern jazz out of classics while keeping the stories intact. Johnson has been awarded "Best Northwest Jazz Vocalist" by Earshot Jazz and the Northwest jazz community. She and husband John Hansen, one of the Northwest's finest jazz pianists, own a home together in Seattle where they work as full-time musicians and provide a home for Nana, the cutest kitty on earth. Visit Kelley Johnson's website. Music Works is proud to offer individual vocal jazz lessons with Kelley Johnson. Call 425-644-0988 to register. |
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Music Works Northwest
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