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Cocoa Martini

Cocoa Martini Vocalist Trio Lights Up Seattle Jazz Scene

Cocoa Martini is a popular jazz ensemble featuring three exceptional Northwest vocalists -- Kimberly Reason, Karen Shivers, and Kay Bailey -- nominated for Earshot Jazz's prestigious Golden Ear Award for 2009 Northwest Vocalist of the Year.

Backed by Bill Anschell on piano, Bernie Jacobs on the flute and saxophone, Chris Clark on bass, and Greg Williamson on drums, the talented Seattle-area women deliver an engaging, dynamic repertoire of straight-ahead jazz, pop, R&B and gospel music in alluring ensemble harmonies and distinctive solo performances rooted in swing, blues, and bossa nova traditions.

“Our coming together came out of one of those thrilling, ‘big bang’ moments,” says Kimberly Reason. “After performing a solo show to a sold-out crowd one evening, I found myself in a girlfriend huddle dream-building about the possibility of three African American women celebrating our jazz heritage by doing a bigger show together. We spent the rest of the night giving birth to COCOA MARTINI -- our way of paying homage to the creative genius of the African American community, and honoring the profound impact that jazz continues to have on music and people of all walks of life.”

In addition to singing compelling songs from the Great American songbook, COCOA MARTINI uses the Griot's tradition of storytelling to share winsome, personal anecdotes about their musical selections -- what a song means to each vocalist, why the vocalist chose a song, and the bridge between history and life today that each song represents. COCOA MARTINI performances are high-energy, poignant, and entertaining: Audiences are treated to a variety of musical presentations as each vocalist delivers her song pick with her own distinctive phrasing, range, timbre, improvisational style, and personality. The group also performs a selection of ensemble arrangements that highlight rich and engaging harmonies.

“We love each other’s sound,” says Karen Shivers, who opened for Grammy-winner Dianne Reeves in 2006 and was voted 2008 Female Jazz Vocalist by the Seattle-Kobe Sister City. “We sing from that intimate place inside each of us that tells our personal story

Awards

Nominated for Earshot Jazz's Golden Ear Award for 2009 Northwest Vocalist of the Year


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Cocoa Martini: Unique, Elegant Jazz Vocals

Cocoa Martini: Unique, Elegant Jazz Vocals

Source: Seattle Jazz Scene

from The Seattle Times:

The concept behind the vocal jazz group Cocoa Martini seems both familiar and novel, three women who sing songs that most of us know well, backed by a quartet.

When performing, the three singers, who straddle age 50, dress in elegant, evening dresses and take turns singing most of the songs, harmonizing on about a third of them, taking care in between to joke, address the audience and talk about their experience with the music.

Familiar, ...

Cocoa Martini: Unique, elegant jazz vocals by Hugo Kugiya, Seattle Times

Cocoa Martini

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