Updated: November 24, 2021
Unique jazz vocalist, composer, and arranger, Kaylé Brecher (Kay-La BrecKer) is a singer who is at once completely distinctive and an amalgamation of her great musical influences. Showcase Magazine described her sound as "a supple voice that suggests the pairing of Sheila Jordan and Sarah Vaughan." One could accurately add Morgana King and Ella Fitzgerald to that description. Hers is a versatile and flexible instrument with wide range, which can move from silky, smooth and subtle to bold and bluesy; refined to brash and raw. Her instrumental and compositional approach to singing leads to explorations of the mood, texture and style in each individual tune, which results in exciting variety. Imaginative, versatile and eclectic, she has performed in settings ranging from traditional jazz through bop, free jazz and experimental music.
Kaylé is a native New Yorker who began her career as a very young teen, singing blues and standards in the clubs of Greenwich Village. She has opened for Maynard Ferguson, Freddie Hubbard, the Preservation Hall Jazz Band, and Doc Severinsen, and has shared the stage with Mel Lewis, Lee Konitz, Red Rodney and others.
Her varied and active career has included concerts, festivals, live radio performances, a TV documentary soundtrack, clubs and other fine venues, studio production work and seven acclaimed recordings. 'Kayleidoscope', Kaylé's eighth CD was released in January 2020 and 'Bredux: collected edges' is her ninth recording, released in early June 2021.
After graduating Summa Cum Laude from Temple University with a double major in performance and composition/arranging, Kaylé was a long time member of the BMI Jazz Composers' Workshop in New York City, as well as pursuing private studies in composition and arranging with both Jim McNeely and Michael Abene. Three of her original compositions and two of her versions of Freddie Hubbard tunes have been published by Freddie Hubbard's publishing company Hubtones and two of her versions of Herbie Hancock tunes have been published by Hancock Music. Her compositional skills have also garnered several awards in the jazz category of the Billboard Song Contest, including one major prize.
Originally from New York City, Kaylé is now based in the Philadelphia area. Her regional work has included performances at many current and past well known area venues, such as Cornelia St Cafe, Chris' Jazz Cafe, The Painted Bride Art Center, World Café Live, The Rotunda at U. of PA, the old Zanzibar Blue, The Academy of Music, Rutgers University, Philadelphia University and Temple University, as well as festivals, clubs and a live radio broadcast on WRTI FM of one of her performances at the old Blue Moon Jazz Cafe.
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Kaylé Brecher: Bredux: Collected Edges
by Geannine Reid
Vocalist Kaylé' Brecher has continuously honed her skills as a creative composer and arranger. A Summa Cum Laude graduate of Temple University with a double major in performance and compositions/arranging, she has always pushed for continued growth. Brecher studied composition and arranging privately with Jim McNeely and Michael Abene, a vehicle to polish her creative writing. The fruits of her fertile ideas afforded three original compositions and two of her versions of Freddie Hubbard tunes to be published by Freddie ...
read moreKayle Brecher: Kayleidoscope
by Geannine Reid
Vocalist, composer, and stylist Kaylé Brecher has long been a part of the jazz fabric. A Summa Cum Laude graduate of Temple University with a double major in performance and composition/arranging, Brecher has long been a member of the BMI Jazz Composers' Workshop in New York City. Her private studies include tutelage by Jim McNeely and Michael Abene. Brecher is a published composer with three original compositions, two of her versions of Freddie Hubbard tunes published by Freddie ...
read moreKayle Brecher: This is Life
by Jerome Wilson
Kayle Brecher is in the lineage of jazz singers like Sheila Jordan and Lisa Sokolov who use their voices as a serpentine instrument that slides through and around melodies as deftly as any jazz instrumentalist. On this CD she does her thing on a number of jazz standards, improvisations and original songs. She performs in a variety of instrumental settings. On Not Alone," Moon Dreams," and African Dream" she works with a simple accompaniment of guitar, bass ...
read moreKayle Brecher: Spirals And Lines
by Hrayr Attarian
Kaylé Brecher's 2012 Spirals and Lines is a brass-rich, dramatic exploration of the vocalist, arranger and composer's various influences, with an understated yet solid political and social leitmotif.A delightfully original trio interprets singer/songwriter Bob Dylan's Paths of Victory" as a New Orleans-style marche. Propelled by drummer Erik Johnson's precise and rumbling beats, Brecher delivers the lyrics with exuberant humor with an undercurrent of dark satire. Her lilting vocals mirror sousaphonist Jimmy Parker's surprisingly nimble and thrilling solo.
read moreKayle Brecher: Spirals And Lines
by Dan Bilawsky
Sheila Jordan's name often comes up as a comparative reference point for those who are unfamiliar with the work of vocalist/composer/arranger Kayle Brecher; this link is an audibly obvious one on Spirals And Lines, but the connection goes deeper than sound. Jordan's uncompromising and creative voice, even more so than her literal voice, helped to put her on a pedestal in the eyes of the jazz vocal community, and Brecher taps into this spirit in her work. ...
read moreKayle Brecher: Spy Music
by Todd S. Jenkins
The remarkable Kaylé Brecher ranks among Philadelphia's finest jazz singers; nay, among the best the East has to offer. Over the past decade she has distinguished herself as a fearless interpreter of song, a subtle stylist with an instrumentalist's creativity. On this, her fourth album, she presents the best evidence yet that she is ready to burst onto the main stage of American jazz. Spy Music is rife with the sort of creative wisdom that has characterized ...
read moreKayle Brecher: Urban Objects
by Todd S. Jenkins
As we press on into the new millennium, the art of vocal jazz often appears to be in sad stagnation, a dull morass of worn-out standard rehashes and textbook lounge-lizard delivery. Thankfully, most thankfully, there is Kayle.
Pennsylvania diva Kayle Brecher breaks more new ground with her exquisite third album. As always, the vivacious Ms. Brecher injects bold new spirit into familiar material and conjures up some exciting, original surprises. She is a master at finding the hidden potential in ...
read moreMatchless Vocalist Kaylé Brecher Treads New Ground On Her Fifth Album, 'spirals And Lines'
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Kaylé Brecher
"Kaylé Brecher is an individualist artist, a one of a kind, and she manages to perform her art and make it very approachable for the listener. Recommended." John Peters, The Borderland A little Carla Bley meets the Saturday Night Live Band is the underpinning that makes this set fire on all of its cylinders. Wild stuff that takes you far away from the usual jazz diva fare." Chris Spector, Midwest Record A skilled arranger and composer, Kaylé is more than ...
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Vocalist/Composer Kayle Brecher Releases "Spy Music"
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All About Jazz
With a foot in tradition, a hand stretched toward the future and a clear sense of statement, Kayle Brecher is at once completely distinctive and an amalgamation of her great musical influences. Start with hints of Morgana King and Sheila Jordan, add equal parts Ella and Sarah; stir briskly with vision, intelligence, passion, authenticity and a good sense of self; add a healthy dose of irony and humor; wrap in a supple instrument; blend perfectly into the fabric of each ...
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"Brecher's skills are many and varied, but her greatest stregnth may be her ability to balance the offbeat with the accessible." -Dan Bilawsky, All About Jazz
"A serious jazz triple threat with mad creative skills and the ability to take her creative energy anywhere she wants to go. The real deal. -Brent Black, Critical Jazz
"Aptly titled, 'This is Life', offers the listener a deeper journey, but don't expect the cutely packaged standards album that is most associated with vocal jazz. Brecher is poetic to the core and not afraid to take chances and challenge your ear with jazz tensions and releases, challenging your senses and bending your ear with each twist and turn." H. Allen Williams -JazzTimes
Primary Instrument
Vocals
Location
Philadelphia
Willing to teach
Beginner to advanced
Credentials/Background
Conservatory of Musical Arts, Audubon, NJ 215-850-4162 accepting intermediate through advanced, beginners by audition only Online teaching available as well
Sony Holland
vocalsAmanda Carr
vocalsRobert Sabin
bassGreg Tardy
saxophoneJuliet Kelly
vocalsDiane Hubka
vocalsKerry Politzer
pianoSheila Jordan
vocalsSathima Bea Benjamin
vocalsTerry Plumeri
bass, acousticMatthew Von Doran
guitarAndrea Wolper
vocalsThe Moutin Reunion Quartet
band / ensemble / orchestraPaul Bollenback
guitarNancy Kelly
vocalsJoy Bellis
vocalsArtists who share similar musical characteristics to Kaylé Brecher.