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Debbie Orta
Born to her Puerto Rican parents in the Bronx, New York, and raised in Miami, Debbie discovered her musical gifts as a child, constantly singing to records privately until she began to perform in public as a teen, winning first place in a city vocal competition. Debbie’s early life included lessons in dance, acting, guitar and flute. She studied Music Theory at Miami Dade College and the University of Miami. Growing up Debbie explored her parents’ LPs – the swinging arrangements and great voices of Nancy Wilson, Nat King Cole, and Frank Sinatra - her initiation to The Great American Songbook; soul music, dance music, the great Latin Jazz artists like Cal Tjader and Tom Jobim. Her professional life was based in South Florida with nightclub tours around the U.S., and she spent a few years back in the chilly northeast, performing at private functions and corporates in the Catskills, Atlantic City, and venues in the tri-state area around the Big Apple.
Since establishing herself in the South Florida jazz scene in 2007, she has performed in Ft. Lauderdale supper clubs, concerts, and jazz festivals, such as Palm Beach County’s SunFest Jazz Festival, Boca Raton’s Jazziz Nightlife, The Deering Estate in Miami, The Arts Garage in Delray Beach, The Banyan Bowl at Pinecrest Gardens, The Blue Martini Live, and many venues from Key West to Palm Beach.
Debbie produced and performed in a multi-media concert, “Jazz Gals,” in Miami and Ft. Lauderdale. She is a Founding Member of the Miami Jazz Cooperative and the Sunshine Jazz Organization. Debbie says, “Jazz is America’s greatest export. I believe all jazz musicians should teach the next generation about this music and promote it in our families and throughout the world.”
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“She scored as my favorite vocalist of 2014, Debbie Orta, from her album, “Chld’s Play.” ~ JazzTimes
"... her ability to add swing and warmth to everything she sings makes Child’s Play an impressive debut." ~ Scott Yanow, Jazz Historian
"She shows her affinity for bop on the nifty 'You're Mine, You' and her ability to go intimate with Ed Maina's tenor and Mike's piano on a gentle 'A Song for You'..." ~ Jazz Weekly
“…(Orta) displays an effortless command of the jazz idiom, spiced with Latin and R&B flavors