Jeanie Bryson

Sultry, soulful, hypnotic, rare---there is no shortage of adjectives to describe Jeanie Bryson, whose extraordinary singing voice is at once reminiscent of Billie Holiday and Peggy Lee, and uniquely modern, original and inviting.

It is her unerring sense of swing that most defines Jeanie's style. She is best known for her warm, velvety sound and impeccable phrasing - “She has created a performance language rare in its ability to portray desire and humor”, writes Peter Watrous in the New York Times. When he says “the effect is intimacy”, he's right on. It feels like being cuddled in front of a smoldering fire when Jeanie Bryson sings.

Hardly surprising given her musical pedigree; she's the daughter of legendary jazz great Dizzy Gillespie and gifted songwriter Connie Bryson. Learning from her mother how a song is crafted, Jeanie acquired a strong sense of lyricism and storytelling that she brings to her music. Her enthusiasm for performance and the sense of joy that it brings to both performer and audience bespeak the many nights she spent in the company of her father and his band, taking it all in both off stage and on.

Jeanie, who earned a degree in anthropology from Rutgers University, found her life's passion by taking full advantage of the world-class jazz department on campus. She began to develop her uniquely personal singing style, and, with her father's legacy and the influence of one of her professors, Kenny Barron, her love of jazz singing happily blossomed into a career.