Home » Jazz Musicians » Milton Suggs

Milton Suggs

Music has been an integral part of Milton’s life from an early age. As a child he played various instruments including the bass, the alto saxophone, and the drums. From these experiences Milton developed a love of, and discovered an intuition for, music that has aided in his growth and development as a musician.

In 2001 Milton began learning to play the piano under the tutelage of his godfather, renowned pianist Willie Pickens. In 2003 he enrolled at Columbia College Chicago where his passion for performance and arranging began to take shape. It was here where he first began to develop his skills as a vocalist and pianist, as well as a composer/arranger. Shortly after receiving his B.A. from Columbia he chose to attend DePaul University where he received a Masters degree in Jazz Studies. It was while attending DePaul that he received a Downbeat Magazine Student Music Award for outstanding vocal performance.

Thus far, Milton has had the pleasure of sharing the stage or recording with such notable musicians as Roy Hargrove, Wycliffe Gordon, Sean Jones, Vincent Gardner, Winard Harper and Wynton Marsalis. It was Marsalis’s encouragement that led him to pursue singing more seriously. As a result, in 2010 he had the honor of being selected to participate in The Kennedy Center’s Betty Carter's Jazz Ahead residency program. This intensive two week program allowed him to work side by side with legends such as Dr. Billy Taylor, Curtis Fuller, and Dr. Nathan Davis as well as the iconic vocalist, Carmen Lundy along with other great musicians from around the globe. He has become a mainstay at popular Chicago venues such as the Jazz Showcase, Andy’s Jazz Club, the now closed Velvet Lounge, and a frequent performer in the programs of the Jazz Institute of Chicago including the Chicago Jazz Festival. He also ventures outside of the city to perform at places such as Cliff Bell’s and Baker’s Keyboard Lounge in Detroit on a regular basis and has performed at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.

Milton’s voice is a reflection of the many great male and even female voices in Jazz, soul, and R&B from the past century and beyond. Louis Armstrong, Nat King Cole, Joe Williams, Oscar Brown, Jr., Donny Hathaway, Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, and Marvin Gaye, are just a few of the influences that shape his sound. It is the music, the history, and the culture of the generations that preceded him that makes up the foundation upon which his own music is built. It is with this mentality that he approaches every word and note he writes.

Read more

Tags

Album Review

Ulysses Owens, Jr. and Generation Y: A New Beat

Read "A New Beat" reviewed by Jack Bowers


The rhythms presented on award-winning drummer Ulysses Owens Jr.'s latest album are not exactly A New Beat, as they have been heard in various configurations for at least eighty years or more, but they do provide a plausible indication of the path that Art Blakey's legendary Jazz Messengers would presumably have followed had Blakey lived into the twenty-first century. Owens, who teaches at the Juilliard School in New York City, has a knack for spotting and encouraging ...

13
Album Review

Ulysses Owens, Jr. and Generation Y: A New Beat

Read "A New Beat" reviewed by Glenn Astarita


A New Beat, crafted by the multi-Grammy award-winning drummer Ulysses Owens Jr. and his Generation Y outfit, materializes as a vivid emblem of jazz's evolving dynamics. This album, an amalgamation of nine tracks, epitomizes the fusion of classic jazz standards with inventive perspectives. Among its highlights, “Bird Lives" notably shines for its technical brilliance and tribute to jazz icons, striking a harmonious balance between honoring the past and embracing the new. This track, alongside the production's repertoire, demonstrates the ensemble's ...

18
Album Review

Anthony Wonsey: Lorraine's Lullabye

Read "Lorraine's Lullabye" reviewed by Jack Bowers


As it “takes a village" to raise a child, writes Anthony Wonsey, it also takes a village to raise a jazz pianist, and Lorraine's Lullabye is Wonsey's way of saying “thank you" to many of those who have helped and nurtured him throughout his journey including New York educator and social worker Lorraine Tiezzi, the album's namesake. As we come into this world alone, cared for by our parents and others, so Wonsey begins the musical odyssey ...

1
Album Review

Milton Suggs: Lyrical, Volume 1

Read "Lyrical, Volume 1" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey


Vocalist/composer Milton Suggs released Things To Come to certain positive acclaim. In an arid male jazz vocals landscape, Suggs recalls a simpler time ruled by the likes of Joe Williams and Johnny Hartman. His voice is deep and rich, with Betty Carter's pliability and Jon Hendricks' smokiness. On Lyrical, Volume 1 he fronts a larger-than-average band for a set of originals and adaptations that are both inventive and enjoyable. Suggs also brings a spiritual dimension to his music, reflecting his ...

317
Album Review

Milton Suggs: Things to Come

Read "Things to Come" reviewed by C. Michael Bailey


There is a warm wind blowing in from Chicago and his name is Milton Suggs. With male jazz vocalists an endangered species, any new discovery is noteworthy, but Suggs is something special. Suggs is a brilliant throwback-bring-forward combination of Joe Williams's grace, Johnny Hartman's sensuality, and representing the singer's anima, Betty Carter's electric elasticity. Things to Come boasts the singer's embarrassment of talent as composer, lyricist, and singer. He is equally competent in all band formats, from ...

615
Take Five With...

Take Five With Milton Suggs

Read "Take Five With Milton Suggs" reviewed by AAJ Staff


Meet Milton Suggs:The remarks of those who hear him for the first time often go something like this: “I didn't know he could talk, let alone sing!" or “That voice does not belong to that body!" That's because Milton prefers to let his talent speak for itself.

Music has been an integral part of Milton's life from an early age. While in elementary and middle school, he played various instruments including the bass, the ...

Read more articles
10

Recording

Chicago-based Jazz Vocalist Milton Suggs Releases “Lyrical, Volume 1” New CD On Skiptone Music Label, July 24

Chicago-based Jazz Vocalist Milton Suggs Releases “Lyrical, Volume 1” New CD On Skiptone Music Label, July 24

Source: Milton Suggs

In 2010 with his debut album as a leader, Things to Come, vocalist Milton Suggs established himself as an artist to be aware of and watch closely. He cements that idea with a strong showing in 2012 with the first volume in an anticipated series of albums simply and appropriately entitled, “Lyrical.” Lyrical, Volume I was recorded in late 2011 and early in 2012 with some fine instrumental talent out of the midwest. Detroit pianist Michael Jellick, bassist Joshua Ramos, ...

337

Recording

Chicago Jazz Vocalist Milton Suggs Releases "Things to Come," New CD on His Skiptone Label, Sept. 28

Chicago Jazz Vocalist Milton Suggs Releases "Things to Come," New CD on His Skiptone Label, Sept. 28

Source: Terri Hinte Publicity

Simply put, Milton Suggs's new CD, Things to Come, marks the arrival of a major jazz vocal talent. Blessed with a sumptuous baritone, the 27-year-old Chicago native also displays his prodigious skills as arranger and composer on the disc, which his Skiptone Music label will release on September 28. Things to Come was recorded in November and December of 2009 with some of Chicago's finest young instrumentalists, including trumpeter Marquis Hill, trombonist Vincent Gardner, and pianist Willerm Delisfort. The album's ...

On Things To Come: "This is a killer, next wave male jazz vocal date. Hot stuff from a young lion that's doing it all on his own and doing a damn fine job doing it." -Midwest Record

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

A New Beat

Cellar Records
2024

buy

Lorraine's Lullabye

Cellar Records
2021

buy

Lyrical, Volume 1

Skiptone Music
2012

buy

Things to Come

Self Produced
2010

buy

Zoning

Smithsonian Folkways Recordings
1974

buy

Videos

Similar

Get more of a good thing!

Our weekly newsletter highlights our top stories, our special offers, and upcoming jazz events near you.