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Alison Crockett

Alison Crockett has paid her musical “dues” in full… She is perhaps the quintessential nu jazz/progressive soul singer of her generation and yet you may not have heard of her—but you’ve no doubt heard her voice… On seminal recordings by King Britt, Blue Six, Us3, Landslide, John Wicks, Mathematics and a whole host of others, Alison’s voice has provided the velvety, sensual sound of tomorrow’s yesterday’s…a captivating tone which evokes both the music of the past and that yet to come. A voice dripping soul with generous helpings of jazz, gospel and blue, Alison has taken the baton from divas of the present and past such as Lizz Wright, Rachelle Farrelle, Erykah Badu, Jill Scott, Donna Summer, Diana Ross and Sarah Vaughn and forged a uniquely personal and singular musical vision.

Alison decided early in her life to pursue a music career. Piano was her first love. “It just called to me. I still feel like a pianist who sings.” However after winning several local vocal talent showcases during her high school years, it quickly became apparent that her voice was a rare gift. Alison honed her vocal skills at Temple University in Philadelphia, PA and then a masters degree at the prestigious Manhattan School of Music in New York City. As she says, “I set out to be a craftsman; someone who could mold and shape music like sculpture.”

Upon graduating, she settled in Philadelphia, where she met superstar DJ/producer King Britt (formerly of Digable Planets.) Britt summarily gave Alison the nickname “Diva Blue” and together they recorded the classic, “Season’s Change” for his groundbreaking Sylk 130 album, “When the Funk Hits the Fan” (Ovum/Sony Music). She was also featured on four other genre bending tracks on the album including the single, “Gettin’ Into It”. Billboard Magazine loved her “throaty, diva-styled vocals.”

After touring the US as a member of Sylk 130, Alison relocatedto Brooklyn, NY, where she introduced herself to the vibrant New York music scene by fronting hiphop/jazz pioneer Greg Osby’s band. Only a few months later she was approached by Geoff Wilkenson, founder of the pioneering UK based acid jazz outfit Us3 (best known for their 1994 world-wide smash “Flip Fantasia (Biddy Biddy Bop)” ) who’d heard “Season’s Change” and became convinced he was hearing a young legend on the order of his heroes Shirley Bassey, Dianna Washington and Dianne Reeves. In this pre-You Tube, pre-Facebook era, Wilkenson had embarked upon a feverish, months long search to track Alison down and request that she became Us3’s first lead singer. Upon her acceptance, Alison traveled to London to write and sang on the album “An Ordinary Day in an Unusual Place”. The first single, “Get Out“, immediately shot to the top 10 within a few weeks of its release in Japan. In support of the album, Alison experienced her first world tour, as Us3 headlined stadiums and festivals throughout Europe, the US and Japan.

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Album Review

Anthony Branker & Imagine: What Place Can Be for Us? - A Suite in Ten Movements

Read "What Place Can Be for Us? - A Suite in Ten Movements" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi


L'avventuroso post-bop del compositore Anthony Branker, ben espresso dall'album Beauty Within del quintetto Imagine, trova nuovi e più articolati sviluppi in questo What Place Can Be for Us?. Il gruppo conferma il chitarrista Pete McCann e la coppia Fabian Almazan e Linda May Han Oh ampliandosi fino a un medio organico con alcuni dei massimi giovani strumentisti di New York: il trombettista Philip Dizack, i sassofonisti Walter Smith III e Remy Le Boeuf, il batterista Donald Edwards e la vocalist ...

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Liner Notes

Anthony Branker: What Place Can Be for Us? - A Suite in Ten Movements

Read "Anthony Branker: What Place Can Be for Us? - A Suite in Ten Movements" reviewed by Michael Ambrosino


Ma Rainey channeled music as her ritual of “singing to understand life." Congressman John Lewis leveraged music towards the “good trouble" he created fighting for civil rights in an uncivil land. Anthony Branker understands music as the calculus of his life's work—the art of weaving words and sound into transcendent tapestries that explore the rich, complex, and nuanced aspects of intolerance, beauty, prejudice, spirituality, gender, equality and social justice. The composite of this artistry exists within the remarkable ...

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Performance / Tour

The Jazz At The Mural Concert Series Features The Eric Byrd Trio, Paul Carr, Sol Roots, And Alison Crockett on January 27, 2024

The Jazz At The Mural Concert Series Features The Eric Byrd Trio, Paul Carr, Sol Roots, And Alison Crockett on January 27, 2024

Source: 9th Floor Music

The “Jazz at the Mural" 2024 concert series includes The Eric Byrd Trio, Paul Carr, Sol Roots, Alison Crockett, and more. On Saturday January 27, The Harriet Tubman Museum and Dorchester Center for the Arts kick off the “Jazz at the Mural" concert series, with the world traveled funk/soul guitarist Sol Roots. This live music series takes place at Harriet Tubman Museum and Educational Center, and at the Dorchester Center for the Arts, both located in Cambridge, Maryland. Recording artists ...

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Event

Women In Jazz: How To Jump Start Your Career

Women In Jazz: How To Jump Start Your Career

Source: Jazz Beyond Borders

Montpelier Arts Center in Laurel, Maryland, halfway between Washington DC and jny: Baltimore, has become a leader in hosting community cultural events. One of the most talked about is the Women in Jazz Panel Discussion held annually in March. The topic for the March 31, 2019 panel is entitled “Women in Jazz: How to Jump-Start Your Career.” Topics include education and training, branding, and booking. Panelists include three dynamic females who are trendsetters, decision makers and educators in the world ...

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Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

What Place Can Be for...

Origin Records
2023

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The Door of No Return

From: What Place Can Be for Us? - A...
By Alison Crockett

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