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Marianne Solivan

Quickly becoming one of the most buzzed about jazz singers on the New York scene, Marianne Solivan does not remember an “ah-ha” moment that brought her to the music she has devoted herself to: “I don’t recall having a big moment that made me like jazz. I just dug it.”

It is that same simplicity of statement with its intrinsic honesty that characterizes Solivan’s style. The infallible swing of Ella, the daring of Betty Carter, the matter-of factness of Carmen McRae…They can all be found in the voice of Marianne Solivan, whom trumpeter Jeremy Pelt has called “the modern-day paradigm to which all singers should aspire.”

It is no coincidence that the 2009 Jazzmobile Vocal Competition finalist has graced recital halls, jam sessions and club stages with such noted musicians as Roy Hargrove, Steve Lacy, Jeremy Pelt, Ray Gallon (Ron Carter, Art Farmer, Lionel Hampton, T.S. Monk), Ugonna Ukegwo (Tom Harrell, Jacky Terrason) and Jane Monheit’s sidemen Neal Minor and Michael Kanan.

Born in Queens, New York, Solivan’s family lived in Venezuela and New Jersey before settling in Massachusetts, where she attended high school. Already an alto sax student, it was in secondary school that she began singing seriously, studying classical voice and appearing in musical theater productions. Upon graduating, she entered Boston Conservatory on scholarship with a concentration in musical theater. After her first year in college, Solivan took time off from school and drifted away from singing, not returning for three years. The urge to resume singing lessons and go back to school coincided with her discovery of the voice that would become her greatest influence: Ella Fitzgerald.

She recalls, “I purchased the four oddest recordings for a jazz newcomer: one of those Ella Fitzgerald songbook compilations, a Dominique Eade recording, Nina Simone Sings The Blues and At the Village Vanguard: Betty Carter.” Fitzgerald, especially, made a great impression on her: “There’s such tremendous hopefulness in all her music. No matter how sad the ballad, no matter how bad the break-up song, there’s always a silver lining.”

Solivan was singing pop when she entered Berklee College of Music, but quickly decided she wanted to learn this music called jazz. Earning a dual degree in Music Performance and Education, she taught music for a year before entering New England Conservatory and graduating with a Master’s degree in Jazz Studies.

Armed with two prestigious degrees and formidable talent, Solivan moved back to the city of her birth in 2007, placing in the Jazzmobile Vocal Competition, appearing as the only featured vocalist on clarinetist Darryl Harper’s The C3 project recording, Stories in Real Time, and touring France as the lead vocalist in an innovative staging of Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar.

Marianne Solivan: Spark

Read "Spark" reviewed by Angelo Leonardi

by Angelo Leonardi
June 25, 2015

Marianne Solivan si connette alla grande tradizione di cantanti di jazz come Ella Fitzgerald, Betty Carter e Carmen McRae. La forma vocale esuberante, lo spessore timbrico, la tensione bluesy, la fantasia interpretativa ne fanno un'interprete di primo piano sulla scena musicale di New York. Questo secondo disco da leader -dopo il debutto del 2012 con Prisoner of Love -ce ne dà la piena conferma. Accompagnata da un ottimo trio, la cantante interpreta con sincera partecipazione un repertorio di suoi originals ...

Recording

Debut Release of Vocalist/Composer Marianne Solivan's "Prisoner of Love" Out March 20th on HiPNOTIC Records!

Source: Kim Smith Public Relations
February 28, 2012

HiPNOTIC RECORDS releases the debut recording of Vocalist/Composer Marianne Solivan's “Prisoner of Love" produced by Jeremy Pelt and featuring Christian McBride, Peter Bernstein, Ben Wolfe, Johnathan Blake, Michael Kanan, Xavier Davis “She is the modern day paradigm to which all singers should aspire." —Jeremy Pelt “She's sensitive, she's powerful, she's funky, she's subtle, she's Marianne Solivan have mercy!" —Christian McBride New York, NY: On March 20, 2012, HiPNOTIC Records, will release the debut recording of vocalist/composer Marianne Solivan' PRISONER OF ...
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Prisoner of Love receives 4 STARS -Downbeat Magazine September 2012 issue

"This is it. Marianne Solivan’s Prisoner of Love is probably the best vocal jazz record of the year. The exquisiteness, expression and sentiment of her singing are supreme " - Blinded by Sound

"If this is, indeed, Solivan's initial dalliance into the jazz recording arena, better days for the art form, as a whole, certainly are ahead!" - Jazz Inside Magazine

"Solivan’s expression of classic jazz feeling and values is so room-filling and personal, you really can’t fault her disc one bit." - Ottowa Jazz Citizen

Prisoner of Love receives 4 STARS -Downbeat Magazine September 2012 issue

"This is it. Marianne Solivan’s Prisoner of Love is probably the best vocal jazz record of the year. The exquisiteness, expression and sentiment of her singing are supreme " - Blinded by Sound

"If this is, indeed, Solivan's initial dalliance into the jazz recording arena, better days for the art form, as a whole, certainly are ahead!" - Jazz Inside Magazine

"Solivan’s expression of classic jazz feeling and values is so room-filling and personal, you really can’t fault her disc one bit." - Ottowa Jazz Citizen

"When she sings "All Or Nothing At All" as a duo with bassist Christian McBride, there’s a genuine give-and-take, because she has the harmonic grasp and precise intonation to trade improvised phrases."

“…among the most promising distaff jazz singers to emerge in the new millennium…a rare ability to pick repertoire so as to avoid the overdone to cliché standards that keep reappearing on every new album by aspiring jazz singers.” – THE NYC JAZZ RECORD “…sweetly candid, delves beneath the familiar. A delicately intent sculptress, she reshapes but never distorts. Bending notes, breathing verbal cadences into new, convincing speech, Solivan creates powerful, rhythmic music…she honors yet illuminates jazz standards. Solivan’s art is emotive but never melodramatic, strong yet never harsh. – HOTHOUSE “Solivan is a musician's singer, knowledgeable, hard working and accessible.”- OsPLACEJAZZ “…reserve and taste, concentrating on melody and the meaning of lyrics. She refrains from scatting, the downfall of young vocalists who want to be hip. It’s a fine debut.” - RIFFTIDES “The singers who stand behind her are (among others) Sinatra and Betty Carter, but she has managed to make her own path around the intense pathos of one and the sharp dismissive edginess of the other.” - JAZZLIVES “Marianne Solivan unleashes a powerful debut recording that should quickly propel her prolific talents to the top of the jazz vocal food chain.” -CRITICALJAZZ.COM “She's a singer who's got a brawny but nimble approach, and sensitivity in spades. Whether singing a standard or an original, Solivan stamps every syllable with a deep-digging sincerity.” – CAPITALBOP.COM

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Primary Instrument

Vocals

Location

New York City

Willing to teach

Intermediate to advanced

Credentials/Background

BA Music Ed & Performance from Berklee College of Music MA in Jazz Studies from The New England Conservatory Available for: Private lessons Workshops and Clinics Weekly Jazz Vocal Workshop in Brooklyn NY Experience teaching grades K-12 in the public schools for over 9 years College level voice, ear training, sight reading and performance classes 10 years private studio experience

Clinic/Workshop Information

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Marianne Solivan

Tags

Marianne Solivan: Spark