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Melissa Morgan

Melissa Morgan - vocalist

Melissa Morgan is a newcomer with an old-school pedigree. Her earliest exposure to jazz was by way of her grandmother’s record collection when she was growing up. Some of the first jazz voices she ever heard from among those old LPs �" Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughan, Nancy Wilson �" were also some of the greatest.

Two decades after first hearing those classic voices, Morgan’s tastes still run to that heyday of the great jazz divas. Her debut recording, “Until I Met You” for Telarc, captures that organic, old-school sensibility and reintroduces it to an entirely new generation of listeners.

Melissa Morgan was born in New York City and grew up in Teaneck, New Jersey. She began studying piano at age four. During high school Melissa began singing with local choirs and was soon performing with select classical vocal groups across the country and abroad. A highlight of her choir experience was a seven-country tour of Europe in 1996 with the U.S. Youth Chorale. As a student Melissa was recognized with numerous awards including 3 gold cups in the New Jersey Federation of Music solo piano competition, top ranking in the New Jersey all-state choir, and runner up for the New Jersey Governor's award for vocal music.

Outside of school, she furthered her studies with renowned choir director Dr. Maredia Warren and soprano Katherine Harris of the Metropolitan Opera. Melissa's love of jazz blossomed upon her discovery of classic recordings by Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington, Nancy Wilson and Sarah Vaughn.

In 1998, she entered SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Music and studied with many prominent artists including Yolande Bavan of jazz vocal group, Lambert, Hendricks & Bavan, Jon Faddis, Mark Murphy and Roseanna Vitro. While attending Purchase, Melissa appeared with the conservatory's Jazz and Latin Jazz Orchestras and was featured vocalist with the Purchase Jazz Band during a 1999 tour of Spain. In May 2002, she received a B.A. in jazz vocal performance.

Since graduating from Purchase, Melissa has been a regular performer at some of New York's top jazz room such as Cleopatra's Needle, Flute, G Bar, Smalls, Smoke and St. Nick's Pub. She has appeared with her own trio as well as other artists including Harold Mabern, David Hazeltine and Sam Yahel. In 2001 she was featured in performances with Jon Faddis and the Dizzy Gillespie Alumni All-Stars at the Blue Note in New York. Melissa performed at the 2002 New York Women of Jazz Festival at Smoke jazz club, and that same year was a guest on the Metro TV-NY program "Where to hear jazz in New York City".

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8
Live Review

Melissa Morgan Quartet at the Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society

Read "Melissa Morgan Quartet at the Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society" reviewed by Bill Leikam


Melissa Morgan Quartet Bach Dancing & Dynamite Society Half Moon Bay, Ca. May 11, 2014As is often customary, vocalist Melissa Morgan did not immediately appear on stage while her trio of Los Angeles based musicians, pianist Sam Hirsh,bassist Katie Thiroux, and Matt Witek on drums, opened the show with an old standard, “Satin Doll." It was the first time these musicians played the Bach. To a person, they were thrilled at the opportunity to join ...

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Album Review

Melissa Morgan: Until I Met You

Read "Until I Met You" reviewed by Woodrow Wilkins


Many young jazz vocalists reach into the book of standards for their first recording. Melissa Morgan follows the tradition, but in a way that works to her advantage. Morgan, 29, grew up on Teaneck, N.J. She became a jazz fan upon hearing her grandmother's old records--the music of such inspirational vocalists as Nancy Wilson, Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington and Sarah Vaughan. A 2004 semi-finalist in the Thelonius Monk International Jazz Competition, Morgan performed before a panel of judges ...

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Recording

Melissa Morgan Signs with Telarc

Melissa Morgan Signs with Telarc

Source: All About Jazz

Telarc announced yesterday that it has signed New York-based jazz vocalist Melissa Morgan.

Morgan will make her recording debut in March 2009 with the release of Until I Met You.

Trained in classical music at a young age, Morgan shifted toward jazz in her teen years, due in part to her grandmother's extensive collection of Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughan and Nancy Wilson LPs. At SUNY Purchase Conservatory of Music, she studied with artists like Yolanda Bavan, Jon Faddis ...

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