Primary Instrument: Vocal
With influences ranging from Rosemary Clooney and Carmen McRae to Patsy Cline and k.d. Lang, Laura Hull delivers an extraordinary combination of rich, sultry, and expressive vocals with music drawn from an extensive repertoire of American popular songs, jazz standards, and her original songs.
A native of New York City, it all began for Laura at the age of seven when she took the first steps of her musical journey in an all-girls summer camp production of The King and I. Through her formative years, the road led her to the resorts of upstate New York's fabled Catskill Mountains, where she learned to sing in a variety of genres and styles. She spent time as a versatile session and jingle singer and show-cased her singing at clubs in and around New York City. After a 24-year hiatus from music to pursue a business career, and returned to live performance in 2004. In her many performances since, she has emerged as a melodic jazz singer who has a real feel for the Great American Songbook.
In 2006, she recorded and executive produced “Hullabaloo,” her debut CD of original music, which garnered several songwriting awards and received major radio play around the U.S. Her original tunes reflect her diverse musical interests and run the gamut from swing to well-crafted ballads and Bossa nova rhythms. Her music has been licensed and played in both domestic and international markets.
Joined by an all-star band of top-rated New York musicians including Hullabaloo co-producer, arranger and pianist Pat Firth, bassist Jon Burr and drummer Tony Jefferson, the strong success of Hullabaloo continues on the same high level with her new release, “Take Me Home.” Noted jazz critic and author Scott Yanow writes: “Laura Hull pays tribute to ten standards by adding subtle creativity, a real feel for the lyrics, and swing. Throughout this very pleasing set, she inhabits the songs and serves them well. All of the individual composers would be pleased with her tasteful treatments, as will listeners who enjoy superior material and classy singing.”
Laura performs with her jazz ensemble and has appeared at a variety of venues including Trumpets Jazz, Metropolitan Room, Gettysburg Festival. She is a member of Manhattan Artists and Cabarets and its 2009 Best Jazz Vocalist nominee, the Recording Academy, and New Jersey Jazz Society, where she serves as a director. In addition to performing and composing, Laura produces, coaches, speaks and writes on the topic of vocal jazz. Visit her on the web at LauraHull.com.
“Laura Hull has chosen to name her new CD after a song from the unique Mr. Tom Waits, Take Me Home, and once you have heard it, take it home is exactly what you will want to do. Laura has an immediately engaging voice, and a nice jazz feeling, with a steady sense of swing always present. This is Laura Hull’s first full album of standards, and it should be the first of many.” -- Joe Lang, NJ Jazz Society
“Laura Hull's dynamic new album is a solid mix of flawlessly arranged tunes sung with a contagious flair by a savvy jazz stylist who, like Daryl Sherman and her ilk, are passing the torch of the great American songbook.” -- John Hoglund, Cabaret Scenes
“Laura Hull's new CD “Take Me Home,” is an exquisite collection of old favorites made new again. She chose exciting selections and performs them in a tasteful style that enhances the work of each songwriter. Music buyers will not only want to take one home, but buy two to share this great album with a friend.” -- John Russell Ghrist, Midwest Ballroom, WDCB Radio, Chicago, IL
“We’re lucky to have a performer such as Laura Hull who has the style and grace to keep this great American music alive. So, add “Take Me Home” to your collection and enjoy. I did.” -- John Bohannon, WRHU Radio, New York
“Laura Hull sings with a sense of truth and reality--a rare talent indeed.” -- Stan Myers, Jazz Historian and Radio Host, WPSC 88.7 FM Wayne, NJ
“She wisely chooses to find the nuances in songs. She gently draws the meaning out of each song.” -- Donna Kimura, JazzReview.com
“She can nail any note with good pitch and air.” -- Zan Stewart, Newark Star Ledger
Hullabaloo (2006)
Here I Go Again (2004)
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