Primary Instrument: Vocal
Melissa Kassel is renown for her bold and expressive vocal style that has been praised by both music critics and jazz enthusiasts throughout the world. She is an evocative performer whose sensitivity to the nuances of words and phrasing, unique use of microtones, and raw passion, enable her to transcend to the “cutting edge” of jazz vocalization
She is a challenging, risk-taking jazz vocalist whose interpretations of standards have inspired comparisons to Betty Carter
Betty Carter
1930 - 1998
vocal
and Sheila Jordan
Sheila Jordan
b.1928
vocal
; at times, she also brings to mind the underrated Jeanne Lee
Jeanne Lee
b.1939
. Kassel, however, never sounds like she is emulating any of her influences; the singer is fairly original and has a recognizable style of post-bop. While Kassel brings sensitivity and vulnerability to her performances, she isn't the sort of singer who is willing to do anything-and-everything to be accessible. Kassel can be abstract and cerebral, and like Carter, Jordan, and Lee, she is someone who needs to be accepted on her own terms. Kassel's first album came out in 2000, when the standards- oriented Live at the Acton Jazz Café was released on the small, New York-based Muse Eek label.
Melissa Kassel has collaborated with many renown musicians including: Tim Ray
Tim Ray
(Lyle Lovitt, Gary Burton
Gary Burton
b.1943
vibraphone
) , John Lockwood (Joe Henderson, Freddie Hubbard) Bob Gullotti
Bob Gullotti
(George Garzone,Kenny Werner), Tom Zicarelli
Tom Zicarelli
, Phil Grenadier
Phil Grenadier
trumpet
(Kenny Barron, Chris Potter, Kurt Rosenwinkel, Bill Stewart, Ethan Iverson, John Scofield Band) Bruno Raberg (Stockholm Jazz Orchestra, Miroslav Vitous) amoung others.
Influences Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Laura Nyro, Sly and the Family Stone, Billie Holliday, Betty Carter, Joni Mitchell, Sheila Jordan, Shirley Horn, Thelonious Monk, Flora Purim, Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, Ornette Coleman, Louis Armstrong, Carmen McRae, Miles Davis, Rosemary Clooney, Lena Horne and Cassandra Wilson.
Source: Alex Henderson
