Diane Hubka

”A singer who deserves a listen . . . she is a lady with an adventurous soul!” “ George Benson

Diane Hubka's newest release, I Like It Here/Live in Tokyo , (SSJ 2009) was recorded while on tour by invitation of the Sinatra Society of Japan's SSJ Records, and was nominated for a Jazz Disc Award by Swing Journal. With recent tours in Turkey & Japan, and regular appearances in Los Angeles, she continues winning the international acclaim that began when her first CD, Haven't We Met , was released by the Dutch Challenge/A-Records label in 1999. Featuring alto legend Lee Konitz, it garnered a Jazz Award Nomination for “Best Recording Debut.” Whether singing with a group, or accompanying herself on seven-string guitar, All Music Guide calls her “one of the top jazz vocalists of her generation.”

A vital member of New York City's jazz scene for two decades, Diane led two more CDs before moving to LA in 2004. To celebrate her move to “Hollywood”, she collaborated with pianist Christian Jacob (Maynard Ferguson, Tierney Sutton,) to record Diane Hubka Goes to the Movies, (18th & Vine, USA; SSJ Records, Japan; 2007.) JazzTimes heralded its “winning results” while Japan's Swing Journal gave it a Five-Star review, calling her “arguably the biggest discovery since Roberta Gambarini.” All About Jazz declared, “Hubka has created an entirely new songbook all her own.”

Diane's third CD, You Inspire Me, (VSOJAZ 2002) was a personal tribute (and testament) to her love of jazz guitar, with seven of the world's top virtuoso guitarists playing on alternate cuts. In Dec. 2007, SSJ Records released the CD in Japan, renaming it Nuages, and including a bonus track of the singer with Concord Jazz recording artist Howard Alden. Diane also accompanies herself on guitar, and in September 2002 she began playing the 7-string guitar. Alden, who is one of the world's foremost 7-string players, says: “I think voice plus seven-string guitar are an ideal combination. It's rare to find someone who can perform with both single-handedly, but Diane does just that - beautifully!”

Diane Hubka has recorded and/or performed with jazz luminaries Bucky Pizzarelli, Gene Bertoncini, Joe LaBarbera, Harold Danko, John Hart, Frank Kimbrough, Bruce Barth, John Pisano, Carl Saunders, Larry Koonse, and the Brazilian Trio Da Paz. She has appered in major jazz clubs across the US, in New York's Blue Note, Birdland and Knitting Factory, the Central PA Jazz Festival, the Philadelphia Guitar Show, Washington D.C.'s Blues Alley, Jazz Corner in Hilton Head, SC, and LA's Jazz Bakery, Steamers and LACMA. Returning to her home town, she was “Featured Soloist” with the Western Maryland Symphony. Her recent tours in Tokyo, Yokohama and Osaka, Japan, included appearances at JZBrat, Tokyo TUC, Cotton Club, and Jazz on Top. In March 2008 she headlined at Nardis Jazz Club in Istanbul, Turkey.

This Blue Ridge Mountain-bred artist grew up in Western Maryland in a musical family and learned violin, trombone and guitar from an early age. After college she moved to Washington, DC where she frequented jazz clubs Blues Alley, One Step Down and Mr. Y's Soul Kitchen, absorbing the sounds of local legends Charlie Byrd and Shirley Horn, national acts, and honing her own skills in those rooms. In 1986 Diane moved to New York and was awarded a jazz fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts. She studied voice, piano and guitar with some of New York?s premier jazz artists including: Anne Marie Moss, Sheila Jordan, Jay Clayton, Barry Harris, Connie Crothers, John Hart, Howard Alden and Harold Danko.

Diane Hubka accepts students for private instruction and conducts workshops on jazz improvisation. In January 2005 she moderated a panel at the International Association of Jazz Educators (IAJE) Converence, titled “The Voice / Instrument Connection.”