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Jane Monheit

Blessed with “a voice of phenomenal beauty” (Stephen Holden, New York Times), Jane Monheit has had plenty of milestone moments in establishing herself as one of today’s best and most important vocalist-musicians.

With her new album, The Songbook Sessions: Ella Fitzgerald—the first to be released on her own Emerald City Records—the Long Island native has surprised even herself with her artistic leap. Jane had thought about recording an Ella tribute for a long time. Fitzgerald’s beloved songbook albums held “Biblical” importance for her when she was growing up and have never lost their hold on her.

On this new offering, Monheit pays joyous tribute to Ella while sharing a definitive portrait of herself, guided by her producer, arranger, and trumpet great, Nicholas Payton. Once she decided to make the dream project a reality, she had no trouble choosing titles. She jotted down a list of 25 titles “almost immediately.” She and Payton each narrowed the choices to a dozen and settled on the final list together.

“We met in the middle in a lot of ways,” Monheit says. “It all came down to trust. I had no idea what to expect from Nicholas because we had never worked together, but it was evident from the start that he is a sensitive soul and his knowledge and understanding of history was beyond compare. I felt an instant trust in him I had never felt before with any other producer.”

“This record is really different,” she adds. “It’s the first I’ve made a recording without a label and so I was able to make all the decisions myself. Honestly, when I listened back to the takes, I heard a different singer than I’ve heard before—a more mature one. It was a little scary because there’s a certain raw quality to some of the vocals but we gave no thought to fixing them. These were the vocals of a 38-year-old woman with a lot of life experience. These tracks really express who I am.”

“My first priority was to make Jane comfortable, so all she had to worry about was showing up and singing,” says Payton, who first met her in Brazil about five years ago and stayed in touch casually. “But on the other hand, I wanted to make her a little uncomfortable by pushing her into places she might not push herself. She is so multifaceted. I wanted to showcase a lot of different things she loves to do on any given night with her band that haven’t necessarily been brought forth on her recordings.”

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Album Review

Ivan Lins: My Heart Speaks

Read "My Heart Speaks" reviewed by Edward Blanco


Brazilian singer and composer Ivan Lins has recorded about fifty albums since 1970 but has not recorded one in over ten years. Now, this multiple Latin Grammy-Award winner remerges with the superb and inviting My Heart Speaks, perhaps the most impressive and lush recording of his long, distinguished career. An important feature here is the extraordinary collaboration with the 91-piece Tblisi Symphony Orchestra, the most popular orchestra from the Republic of Georgia in Eastern Europe, under the direction of Maestro ...

3
Album Review

Ivan Lins: My Heart Speaks

Read "My Heart Speaks" reviewed by Pierre Giroux


Ivan Lins is a Brazilian music legend and multiple Latin Grammy Award winner who has consistently delivered a unique blend of bossa nova, jazz and pop throughout his career. In this first release in over ten years, entitled My Heart Speaks, Lins performs rare gems from his catalogue backed by the Tbilisi Symphony Orchestra along with guest appearances from vocalists Dianne Reeves, Jane Monheit and newcomer Tawanda, as well as trumpeter Randy Brecker. The eleven songs ...

4
Album Review

Ivan Lins: My Heart Speaks

Read "My Heart Speaks" reviewed by Katchie Cartwright


My Heart Speaks opens with “Renata Maria," the song of a ravishing woman who emerges from the sea then disappears, leaving her would-be lover to yearn eternally. Ivan Lins composed the piece in 2004 with Chico Buarque in mind (punningly calling it a “Buarquiana brasileira"). Buarque invented the narrative later, presenting his lyric to Lins as a gift, upon the birth of his first grandchild. Kuno Schmid's score sets the scene. Warm orchestral waves wash over Lins' impassioned ...

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Radio & Podcasts

New Releases, Holiday Fare Plus A Sampling of Grammy Nominees

Read "New Releases, Holiday Fare Plus A Sampling of Grammy Nominees" reviewed by Mary Foster Conklin


This broadcast presents new releases from Lauren Falls, Becca Stevens, Flora Purim, Steven Feifke and Jane Monheit, with birthday shoutouts to Holly Cole, Maria Schneider and June Christy among others. A smattering of holiday fare in the second hour, but first, a focus on the latest Grammy Nominees, as it's been a better year for women. Thanks for listening and please support the artists you hear by purchasing their music during this time of pandemic so they can continue to ...

3
Album Review

Jane Monheit: Come What May

Read "Come What May" reviewed by Richard J Salvucci


Some reviews should be easy, particularly when the artist is established, celebrated, and universally esteemed. Almost anyone interested in contemporary jazz and pop singing knows Jane Monheit. Quoting SFJAZZ directly, “In 1998, Monheit was a finalist at the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz International Vocals Competition, taking second to the late Teri Thornton. She recorded twelve albums, was a GRAMMY nominee for her 2004 Sony release Taking a Chance on Love, and has worked with Terence Blanchard, Ivan Lins, Michael ...

3
Radio & Podcasts

New Releases, Birthday Shoutouts As Women's History Month Continues

Read "New Releases, Birthday Shoutouts As Women's History Month Continues" reviewed by Mary Foster Conklin


Now in full swing, Women's History Month continues—this broadcast features new releases from Jane Monheit, Rebecca Dumaine, Yelena Eckemoff, Roni Ben-Hur and Kenney Polson with birthday shoutouts to Keely Smith, Shirley Scott, Nicki Parrott, Judy Niemack, Anat Fort, Miki Yamanaka, Bobby McFerrin and Mark Murphy, among others. Thanks for listening and please support the artists you hear by purchasing their music during this time of lockdown.Playlist Nicki Parrott “On Broadway" from From New York to Paris (Arbors) 00:00 ...

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In Pictures

Jane Monheit at The American Theatre

Read "Jane Monheit at The American Theatre" reviewed by Mark Robbins


Vocalist Jane Monheit surprised both the audience and the management at The American Theatre in Hampton, Virginia with her first holiday show of the season on November 30. Though her interpretations of the Great American Songbook and torch songs were missed, Monheit and her trio— pianist Michael Kanan, bassist Neal Miner, and drummer Joe Strasser—still moved the room. Monheit is known for pulling the audience into sad songs of unrequited love. That evening, she threw her head back in joy ...

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Performance / Tour

Jazz this week: Jane Monheit, Douglas Ewart and the STL Free Jazz Collective, Battle Trance, holiday jazz begins, and more

Jazz this week: Jane Monheit, Douglas Ewart and the STL Free Jazz Collective, Battle Trance, holiday jazz begins, and more

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

This week's busy calendar of live jazz and creative music in St. Louis includes a return engagement from one of the most popular female vocalists in jazz; a couple of shows featuring adventurous woodwind players; the first few of what will be many holiday-themed concerts for the season; and more. Let's go to the highlights... Wednesday, November 29 Singer Jane Monheit returns to St. Louis for the first of four nights at Jazz at the Bistro. Monheit last performed here ...

Performance / Tour

Jane Monheit digs Ella - and plans to keep on digging

Jane Monheit digs Ella - and plans to keep on digging

Source: Ken Franckling's Jazz Notes

Jazz singer Jane Monheit's musical home is the Great American Songbook. She showed a Naples, Florida audience on Friday, February 24, that with sensible bits of personal redecorating, it is still in very good hands. She performed two 75-minute sold-out shows at Artis Naples' Daniels Pavilion, sharing her love for “First Lady of Song" Ella Fitzgerald. Material from Monheit's recording Songbook Sessions: Ella Fitzgerald (released last year on her own label, Emerald City Records) made up half of the night's ...

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Recording

"The Songbook Sessions: Ella Fitzgerald," Jane Monheit's First CD On Her New Emerald City Imprint, Due For April 8 Release

"The Songbook Sessions: Ella Fitzgerald," Jane Monheit's First CD On Her New Emerald City Imprint, Due For April 8 Release

Source: Terri Hinte Publicity

Vocalist Jane Monheit had long thought about recording an Ella tribute. Fitzgerald’s beloved songbook albums held “Biblical” importance for her when she was growing up and have never lost their hold on her. Those dreams have come to fruition with Monheit’s new album, The Songbook Sessions: Ella Fitzgerald. It was the perfect maiden project for her new label, Emerald City Records, which will release the disc April 8, on the cusp of the Ella Fitzgerald centennial. On this new offering, ...

Performance / Tour

Jane Monheit Joins Jimmy Webb on October 11 At Landmark On Main Street

Jane Monheit Joins Jimmy Webb on October 11 At Landmark On Main Street

Source: Reva Cooper

Landmark on Main Street, one of Long Island’s premier concert venues, and Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts, the renowned summer arts day camp, will co-present Jimmy Webb and Jane Monheit on October 11th at 8:00 PM. The concert, Landmark’s 2014-15 opening night event, will for the first time team Jimmy Webb, the multi- Grammy winning composer and performer with Jane Monheit, the Grammy-nominated jazz singer and Usdan Center alumna. Tickets are available at landmarkonmainstreet.org, or by calling ...

Festival

Jazz This Week: Jane Monheit, Miles Davis Jazz Festival with Russell Gunn, New Music Circle Showcase, Tammy McCann, and More

Jazz This Week: Jane Monheit, Miles Davis Jazz Festival with Russell Gunn, New Music Circle Showcase, Tammy McCann, and More

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

This week's menu of jazz and creative music offerings in St. Louis includes a number of special events, most notably the annual Miles Davis Jazz Festival in Alton, plus the long-awaited return of one of the more popular female vocalists in jazz. That would be singer Jane Monheit, who's back in St. Louis to perform in a four-night engagement beginning this evening and continuing through Saturday at Jazz at the Bistro. It's Monheit's first visit here since 2010 and this ...

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Video / DVD

STLJN Saturday Video Showcase: The Return of Jane Monheit

STLJN Saturday Video Showcase: The Return of Jane Monheit

Source: St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman

Today, let's check in on singer Jane Monheit, who will be back in St. Louis for the first time in several years to perform Wednesday, May 14 through Saturday, May 17 at Jazz at the Bistro. Monheit last sang at the Bistro in December 2010, and she also visited this area in November 2011 to do a holiday concert at McKendree College in Lebanon, IL. Since then, she's put out one album, 2013's The Heart Of The Matter, and has ...

Birthday

Jazz Musician of the Day: Jane Monheit

Jazz Musician of the Day: Jane Monheit

Source: Michael Ricci

All About Jazz is celebrating Jane Monheit's birthday today!

“I\'m one of those people who go just a little too crazy over Christmas," Jane Monheit cheerfully admits. “So in my head, I\'ve been planning and conceptualizing this album for years. I was just waiting for the right time." The “right time" now has arrived for The Season- acclaimed jazz singer Jane Monheit\'s first holiday- themed collection, her first co-production, her Epic label debut, and the fifth studio album of her ...

Education

Usdan, with Expanded Jazz Program, Holds Open Houses 2/20 and 2/24; Jane Monheit to be Visiting Faculty for 2013 Season

Usdan, with Expanded Jazz Program, Holds Open Houses 2/20 and 2/24; Jane Monheit to be Visiting Faculty for 2013 Season

Source: Reva Cooper

Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts, the renowned summer arts day camp with an expanded Jazz Dept. for 2013, will hold free Open Houses on Wednesday February 20 and Sunday February 24, each from 11 AM to 2 PM. Attended annually by more than 1500 students ages 6-18 from New York City and throughout the Tri-State Area, transported by air-conditioned buses, Usdan is located on a magnificent 200-acre woodland campus in the Huntington area of Long Island. About ...

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Performance / Tour

Jazz Vocalist Jane Monheit and Special Guest Mark O'Connor Take the Annenberg Center Stage This Spring

Jazz Vocalist Jane Monheit and Special Guest Mark O'Connor Take the Annenberg Center Stage This Spring

Source: AAJ Staff

Philadelphia, PA—The Annenberg Center continues its jazz series with a performance by Grammy nominee and audience favorite Jane Monheit. Known for a smoky, romantic jazz tone, Monheit is “endowed with improvisatory skill and a voice of singular plushness” (New York Times). She will be joined by Grammy®-winning fiddler, Mark O’Connor, the man dubbed “one of the most talented and imaginative artists working in music—any music—today” (New York Times). This performance will take place on Saturday, March 16 at 8 PM. ...

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Recording

New Jane Monheit CD Set For Release April 16th

New Jane Monheit CD Set For Release April 16th

Source: Muse Media

CELEBRATED VOCALIST JANE MONHEIT TO RELEASE HER 11TH CD, “THE HEART OF THE MATTER,” APRIL 16TH VIA EMARCY/DECCA RECORDS CD Traverses The Spectrum Of Popular Music Ranging From The Beatles To Broadway And Everything In-between Los Angeles, California. “The Heart Of The Matter” the 11th CD from critically-acclaimed Grammy-nominated vocalist Jane Monheit, will be released by Emarcy/Decca Records on April 16th, 2013. An homage to great songwriters and voices from across a variety of musical genres, Monheit has crafted a ...

Photos

Concerts

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

My Heart Speaks

Resonance Records
2023

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My Heart Speaks

Resonance Records
2023

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The Songbook...

Emerald City Records
2016

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Songbook Sessions:...

Emerald City Records
2016

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2 In Love

Concord Records
2015

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Videos

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