On Thursday last week 2014 Earshot Jazz Festival presented Johnaye Kendrick at Cornish College.
Frequently seen on prestigious New York stages, vocalist Johnaye Kendrick has enriched the Seattle jazz community and mentored many other vocalists since becoming Associate Professor of Jazz Voice at Cornish College of the Arts in recent years.
Kendrick is respected for intelligent, soulful, and highly personal original compositions as well as fresh interpretations of beloved jazz and blues classics. Focusing on graceful renditions of originals and jazz standards Kendrick often accompanies herself on harmonium, violin, viola and percussion, playing and recording in the company of pianist Dawn Clement, bassist Chris Symer, and drummers Byron Vannoy and D’Vonne Lewis.
Kendrick earned a Bachelor of Music from Western Michigan University (2005), where she received a DownBeat Student Music Award for Outstanding Jazz Vocalist and was featured in an honors recital with pianist Fred Hersch. She then earned an
Artist’s Diploma from the prestigious Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, having worked with jazz masters including Terence Blanchard, Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Danilo Perez, and Brian Blade. She received a master’s degree in jazz studies from Loyola University in 2009.
Kendrick has performed at numerous festivals, concert halls and jazz clubs, traveled extensively with the Nicholas Payton SEXTET, and has also been a featured vocalist with the Ellis Marsalis Quartet and the New Orleans Jazz Orchestra (a collaboration that won a Grammy Award for Best Large Jazz Ensemble Album for their release Book 1).
In 2013, she was nominated for an Earshot Jazz Golden Ear Award as Northwest Vocalist of the Year. In 2014, she recorded, produced and released her debut CD of original compositions, Here, for the johnygirl label.
Here is a link to the 2014 Earshot Jazz Festival Schedule
