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Harry Schulz

Harry was born in a suburb of New York City where he first began listening to old jazz and Fred Astaire recordings at home as a kid. As a teenager he taught himself to sing a Louis Armstrong trumpet solo from a track of "Ain't Misbehavin'” and scatted with a Benny Goodman recording of “Crazy Rhythm". He didn’t know it but he was on his way to becoming a bona fide jazz singer.

He went to Swarthmore College where he sang with an the cappella octet “16 Feet” travelling to colleges and Universities on the East Coast to perform and cutting an LP with that group in his senior year, his first recording experience. He received a B.A. in Philosophy and then moved to New York City to pursue an acting career. This was where he first began to study jazz improvisation. He has studied since 1987, first with pianist Liz Gorrill (now Kazzrie Jaxen), then in workshops with Sheila Jordan, Barry Harris and Mark Murphy and finally with pianist Connie Crothers and most lately with Jay Clayton. His musical influences include Louis Armstrong, Billie Holiday, Lester Young, Nat "King" Cole and Roy Eldridge. He had something of a revelation concerning improvisation while listening to one of Charlie Parker's famous tracks of "Embracable You" and has been “having a ball” with jazz singing ever since. He made his debut in a concert at the Greenwich House Music School on Barrow Street in New York City on Flag Day 1991. His CD "Havin' A Ball" was recorded with guitarist Andy Fite, bassist Rich Califano and drummer Roger Mancuso and released in 1998. It includes some original tunes co-written with Andy Fite. He performed at restaurants, clubs and other venues in New York including Smalls, Birdland and the Faust Harrison Piano Studios. Videos of one of his performances at Birdland can be found on YouTube. He now lives in Asheville, NC and works with pianist Bill Gerhardt and singer Sharon La Motte.

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“One of the most remarkable new voices in the great scene of jazz vocals” Joao da Penha “Jazz & Bossa Nova” FM-106, Sao Paolo, Brazil

“Schulz has a way of phrasing that fits the jazz mold quite nicely. While the melody line is always on the surface or lurking just beneath it, he makes subtle alterations to keep the tunes slightly off balance and interesting.” Frank Rubolino, “One Final Note”

“Schulz … shows us that he is a singer with something to say along with other colleagues such as Mark Murphy and Kurt Elling. He has succeeded in creating his own style, intimate, conversational, yet always in tune with his accompanists, and able to improvise on the lyrics at any moment, without a trace of the ‘hipster’ about him.” All About Jazz Italy web site review.

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Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Havin' a Ball

New Artists Records
1998

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Videos

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