Home » Jazz Musicians » Audrey Moira Shimkas
Audrey Moira Shimkas
Audrey is a singer’s singer who takes risks. She surprises and thrills with notes that push a melody to new heights. Her unique style and choice of material is best described as eclectic, pop-jazz fusion. When Audrey interprets a song whether she paints a ballad story or kicks an up tempo variation; laments the blues or grooves a Bossa Nova; swings a standard or wrings out a soul oldie-the experience is always fresh and new.
Long before Audrey thought about being a vocal artist, she recalls that at a young age she was mesmerized by June Christy in concert. That experience remained a cameo, locked in her imagination, until music began to play a more serious part of her life. Although Audrey grew up playing classical piano, she played acoustic and electric guitar in the folk-rock generation of Dylan and the Beatles. She studied dance (ballet and jazz) and acting (ACT, Actor’s Workshop, etc.) and spent several years on stage in New York and in San Francisco.
Bay Area vocal training taught Audrey to blend her clear alto voice with her higher register, thus providing her with the chops to express a full range of musical ideas�"and ultimately, the freedom for jazz interpretation.
Audrey embraces many different styles, singers and songwriters, but the vocal artists that have had a lasting influence on her are Mark Murphy and Madeline Eastman.
Tags
Primary Instrument
Vocals
Location
San Francisco
Willing to teach
Intermediate to advanced
Photos
Music
Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson