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Michelle Latimer

Michelle Latimer has been playing and singing jazz professionally in the San Francisco Bay Area for the past five years, and has quickly become an in-demand soloist and ensemble player. In her classical education (University of Illinois - David Hickman, Ray Sasaki, William Warfield), Latimer grew bored quickly and left her performance major after 2 1/2 years for a career in newspaper journalism. In the midst of getting burned out over several years in the trade, she listened to more and more Jazz, and, getting hooked on it, she began pursuing playing and education opportunities shortly after arriving in San Francisco. Today she is a draw for both classical and jazz audiences, and has performed as soloist in concert frequently with the Contra Costa Wind Symphony, the American Musical Ambassadors and the Golden Gate Park Municipal Band, as well as keeping a regular schedule of SF club gigs. In addition, she has steadily built a discography including guest artist work on Flugelhorn on Benny Velarde's 2002 release "Viva Velarde," as well as compositional and solo vocal and horn work on the SF rock band Fightmaster's 2001 release "Closer Now" and several recordings for the International Japanese Anime/Spaghetti Western bands El Greco and Siamese Sex Show.

Her first CD as a Jazz leader, "Michelle Latimer Sings and Plays" was released August 20, 2004, and features many of the finest Jazz musicians in the Bay Area, including: Vince Lateano, drums (Woody Herman, Vince Guaraldi, Cal Tjader); Grammy-award nominated pianist Mark Little (Steve Allen, John Dankworth and Cleo Laine, Pee Wee Ellis); Jon Evans, bass (Kenny Werner, Kitty Margolis, Tori Amos); and Alex Candelaria, guitar (Graham Connah, Scott Amendola, Ben Goldberg). Latimer radiates West Coast Cool on this date, especially in the combo setting, adding a full horn section and strings on several tunes to reveal an estimable arranging and compositional talent. In her original tunes Latimer simultaneously paints pictures of melancholy and hope through her musical devices, which include the unexpected melodic turns and cadences of Bill Evans, the lush orchestrations of Don Sebesky and even a bit of the pop sensibility of Quincy Jones, most evident on her imaginative Flugelhorn rendition of the Beatles tune "(The) Fool on the Hill."

Latimer plays a rich-sounding, relaxed horn in the style of Lee Morgan, Chet Baker and Louis Armstrong, and although her clear but infrequently whisky-tinged voice in fits and starts brings a group as diverse as Elis Regina, Doris Day, June Christy, Frank Sinatra, Joni Mitchell and Diana Krall to mind, one walks away from this outing understanding that it's all Michelle Latimer.

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127
Album Review

Michelle Latimer: Sings & Plays

Read "Sings & Plays" reviewed by Eric J. Iannelli


"If youth is a fault," wrote Goethe, “it is one that one gets rid of soon enough." On Michelle Latimer's debut as leader on her own Cool Note label, her youth is not exactly a fault, but it is a liability all the same, a quality that cries out to be either tamed or overcome. Her confidence and gusto know fewer limits than her emerging talent; much of the disc finds the Bay Area musician/singer/songwriter moving out of her present ...

158
Album Review

Michelle Latimer: Michelle Latimer Sings and Plays

Read "Michelle Latimer Sings and Plays" reviewed by Dan McClenaghan


It seems odd that there aren't more horn-man/vocalists out there--or horn-woman/vocalists, in this case. Louis Armstrong broke the ground and set the standard; Chet Baker, in his cool way, kept the plow moving. But if you want to talk about the ladies tilling this fertile soil... well, I came up with a blank.On her debut, Michelle Latimer Sings and Plays, the San Francisco-based trumpeter/vocalist enters this hallowed territory with a cool panache, a distinctive and assured style of ...

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97

Performance / Tour

West Coast Cool Meets New York Hip: Trumpeter/Vocalist Michelle Latimer and Pianist David Hazeltine in NYC 1/12/06

West Coast Cool Meets New York Hip: Trumpeter/Vocalist Michelle Latimer and Pianist David Hazeltine in NYC 1/12/06

Source: All About Jazz

COOL NOTE RECORDS and RHOMBUS RECORDS are pleased to announce a performance by emerging talent Michelle Latimer and renowned neo-bop pianist David Hazeltine on Thursday, January 12 at Danny's Skylight Room in NYC. The one-hour concert performance begins at 9:15pm.

MICHELLE LATIMER caught the attention of audiences and industry alike in 2005 with the release of her debut effort Michelle Latimer Sings and Plays (Cool Note/Rhombus), which showcased her lyrical playing style, retro-tinged vocals and critically acclaimed original compositions. Following ...

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Michelle Latimer...

Cool Note Records
2005

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Sings & Plays

Cool Note Records
2005

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