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Katie Bull

Katie Bull is a jazz vocalist and multi-media writer/performer living in New York City since birth. Her premiere CD Conversations with the Jokers (with Michael Jefry Stevens, Lou Grassi, Joe Fonda) was released in March 2003 and received excellent critical notices. Conversations was on 12 Top Ten CMJ Radio charts culminating in an invitation to sing at Jazzweek’s kick-off to the Rochester International Jazz Festival, at the Montage. In 2005 she released LOVE SPOOK (with Michael Jefry Stevens, Joe Fonda, & Frank Kimbrough, Martin Wind - two trios with Matt Wilson as the drummer for both; and THE BULL FONDA DUO: CUP OF JOE, NO BULL, with Joe Fonda, bass. In 2009 She released THE STORY, SO FAR with Michael Jefry Stevens, Frank Kimbrough, Joe Fonda, Harvey Sorgen, Matt Wilson, and Jeff Lederer. All these albums were on Corn Hill Indie, Katie's indie label. In June 2011 the Innova Label released Katie's album FREAK MIRACLE with Frank Kimbrough, Landon Knoblock, Joe Fonda, Harvey Sorgen, Jeff Lederer, and Ayelete Rose Gottlieb (guest vocals). .

Over the years Katie has appeared with numerous musicians including pianists Landon Knoblock, Michael Jefry Stevens, Frank Kimbrough, and Joshua Wolf; percussionists Lou Grassi, Matt Wilson, Derick Dickins, Harvey Sorgen, George Schuller, and Jon Wikan; bass players Joe Fonda, Martin Wind, Hilliard Greene, John Menegon, and Cameron Brown. and various reed players - most regularly with Jeff Lederer. Recently Katie collaborated with Ras Moshe, in his Large Unit, at the Brech Forum. She sang regularly at The Local 269 during the Evolvoing Music Series, curated by Fay Victor, and has been singing lately at the Arts for Arts Vision Festival venue the Clemente Soto Velez, as well as The University of the Streets, both in NYC, Manhattan.

She has sung with her divine mentors—jazz vocalist/composer Jay Clayton, and Jay Clayton’s Voices & and jazz singer Sheila Jordan. Other musicians Katie has worked with include pianist and composer Kirk Nurock in his Natural Sound; and composer Julius Eastman.

The Bull-Fonda Duo: Cup of Joe, No Bull was released in March '05 to stunning critical response and features Joe Fonda on bass; recorded and engineered by David Baker. Her albums are independently produced on the Corn Hill Indie label, distributed by North Country Distributors, and can be purchased on cdbaby.com, and in selected stores.

Background

Katie was born in New York City, and raised in the West Village on McDougal Street, and Westbeth. Her jazz piano playing-dancer father used to let her tag along to gigs and various jam sessions, as well as run around on the edges of the dance floors where he was teaching modern dance at NYU. He also snuck her in to hear extraordinary singers and musicians in various village venues including the Village Vanguard and Folk City, long before she was of legal age! She remembers Joni Mitchell, Bob Dylan, Bill Evans, and Elvin Jones, to name just a few.

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Album Review

Katie Bull: All Hot Bodies Radiate

Read "All Hot Bodies Radiate" reviewed by Franz A. Matzner


A raucous concoction, Katie Bull's All Hot Bodies Radiate bursts with energy, its verbal and musical contortions devoted to a deceptively cacophonous mix of levity, seriousness, playfulness, and avant abstractions. Artfully balanced, Bull merges spoken-word delivery and singing to deliver her poem-lyrics in a style that cleverly evokes the best coffeehouse traditions, without being overtly retro. The words themselves are evocative, often pointedly erotic, and when fused to her bandmates appropriately shifting styles, fashion clearly envisioned sound and ...

Album Review

Katie Bull: All Hot Bodies Radiate

Read "All Hot Bodies Radiate" reviewed by Alberto Bazzurro


Quinto album per la cantante e autrice newyorchese Katie Bull, le cui coordinate espressive spaziano da una vocalità jazz non eccessivamente ortodossa a infiltrazioni di matrice contemporaneo-colta (quella sorta di recitarcantando che segna quasi tutte le sue sortite), senza eludere del tutto refoli di ascendenza per così dire prog-song. L'interlocutore privilegiato della voce, posta sempre molto al centro delle operazioni, è il sax, più spesso tenore, di Jeff Lederer, che sfoggia una sonorità piena, corporea, che qua ...

292
Album Review

Katie Bull: Freak Miracle

Read "Freak Miracle" reviewed by Florence Wetzel


Katie Bull is a highly original talent, a vocalist steeped in tradition who fearlessly rocks the boundaries of the known. Freak Miracle is a wonderfully expressive and free-flowing CD, a fresh and unpredictable mix that highlights Bull's gift for approaching music and songwriting from her own unique angle. Eleven of the fourteen tracks on Freak Miracle are Bull originals, and no two songs are alike, whether it's an homage to mentor Sheila Jordan on “Back to Square One," ...

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Opinion

Jazz Is Obama

Read "Jazz Is Obama" reviewed by Katie Bull


The musicians I am drawn to are players who “open up." They carry the torch for the freedom of infinite possibility. They have unbounded imagination. They see a musical chart as a map into unknown territory. Not unlike healthy law, the form of a jazz vocal chart can make or break the democracy of an improvisation. It can liberate a community dialogue with firm, clear, yet spacious structure or it can lock everyone in the band into pre-meditated isolation. The ...

358
Album Review

Katie Bull: The Story, So Far

Read "The Story, So Far" reviewed by Jim Santella


A genuine jazz singer, Katie Bull pulls no punches when it comes to interpreting original material. She tosses in a few classic songs on The Story, So Far while portraying lyrics convincingly, scat singing with natural ease, adding a sincere blues texture to each selection, all of it coming from the bottom of her heart. Her voice remains strong and accurate as she relates memorable stories in the pure jazz idiom. She and bassist Joe Fonda describe ...

151
Album Review

Katie Bull: Love Spook

Read "Love Spook" reviewed by Donald Elfman


There seem to be more singers today than ever before, but along with that development come a few who are turning around the notion of just what a singer does and can do. Katie Bull is called a multimedia artist, and that notion informs her every note here. She knows the repertoire and she knows the vocabulary but she also has the sense of drama and choreography that speak to the expansion of the whole field of singing.

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Album Review

Katie Bull: Love Spook

Read "Love Spook" reviewed by Michael P. Gladstone


This is my second experience in hearing jazz singer Katie Bull. Her debut album, Conversations With The Jokers, fully established her as both a mainstream interpreter of the Great American Songbook and a downtown New York City cutting-edge vocalist exploring the more abstract styles of Jay Clayton or Sheila Jordan. The twelve tracks of this new album (the final track is hidden) present a singer who is poised at the threshold of dissonance and deconstruction of established melodies. It leaves ...

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Performance / Tour

Katie Bull Tonight 6PM @ 55 Bar No Cover

Katie Bull Tonight 6PM @ 55 Bar No Cover

Source: Jim Eigo, Jazz Promo Services

TONIGHT 6pm NO COVER CHARGE 55 Christopher Street, NYC 55Bar 6:00 p.m. Thurs. Dec. 13th Katie Bull, vocals Frank Kimbrough, piano Joe Fonda, bass Harvey Sorgen, drums Jeff Lederer, tenor saxophone Songs from the CD/DVD The Story, So Far, AND new songs, timeless jazz standards, holiday spirit observed “...in perfect pitch and tone the singer mixes the freedom of Betty Carter with the soul of a bohemian street singer..." --George Harris, All About Jazz NY Times Listings pick -- “The ...

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Performance / Tour

Katie Bull @ 55bar Thursday, November 1st 7PM

Katie Bull @ 55bar Thursday, November 1st 7PM

Source: Jim Eigo, Jazz Promo Services

KATIE BULL Thursday, November 1st, 7pm, 55 BAR - CD Release Night katie bull - vocals frank kimbrough - piano martin wind - bass harvey sorgen -drums jeff lederer - saxophone Sat & Sunday Nov. 3 & 4th- “Sitting-In" with Canadian piano player Dave Haney. There will be more CD/DVD release events this winter, including the full band, a multi- media event with DVD viewing, the full DVD company of ...

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Performance / Tour

Katie Bull Group Project '07 Thursday April 5th at 55 Bar

Katie Bull Group Project '07 Thursday April 5th at 55 Bar

Source: Jim Eigo, Jazz Promo Services


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Performance / Tour

The Katie Bull Group Project '07 Thursday, November 16th 7:00 P.M. At 55 Bar

The Katie Bull Group Project '07 Thursday, November 16th  7:00 P.M. At 55 Bar

Source: Jim Eigo, Jazz Promo Services

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 16th 7:00 p.m. 55BAR no cover no minimum for the listening crowd THE KATIE BULL GROUP PROJECT '07 Katie BULL, vocals Frank KIMBROUGH, piano Martin WIND, bass, Jeff LEDERER, saxophones, Harvey SORGEN, drums “Progressive cadence meets classic skill..." AllAboutJazz.com Hi Fellow Jazz Buffs, LOOK who's playing on this gig! These are some of the guys I just recorded with in August! They amazing jazz veterans and I am honored to play with ...

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Recording

Katie Bull "Love Spook" Free Download at All About Jazz

Katie Bull "Love Spook" Free Download at All About Jazz

Source: All About Jazz

The following track, Katie Bull “Love Spook" is now being featured as a Download of the Day at All About Jazz.

Click here for free download.

CATCH KATIE BULL LIVE Thursday June 22 @ 7:00 p.m. at the 55 BAR 55 Christopher Street NYC, NY www.55bar.com No Cover Charge KATIE BULL - vocals DAVID PHELPS - guitar JOE FONDA - ...

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Performance / Tour

The Katie Bull Group Tu Eres Mi Vida! at the 55BAR Thursday June 22 @7:00 p.m.

The Katie Bull Group Tu Eres Mi Vida! at the 55BAR Thursday June 22 @7:00 p.m.

Source: All About Jazz

The Katie Bull Group Project '06-'07: Tu Eres Mi Vida! (in the blink of an eye)

Thursday June 22 @7:00 p.m.

at the 55BAR 55 Christopher Street NYC, NY www.55bar.com No Cover Charge

KATIE BULL vocals DAVID PHELPS guitar JOE FONDA bass HARVEY SORGEN drums The Katie Bull Group Project '06-'07: Tu Eres Mi Vida! (in the blink of an ...

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Performance / Tour

Katie Bull Valentine's Night Gig 55 Bar 7PM

Katie Bull Valentine's Night Gig 55 Bar 7PM

Source: All About Jazz

“EDITOR'S CHOICE - BEST of 2005: Katie Bull, Love Spook" Cadence Magazine Jan '06 Valentine'sNight Gig Tuesday, Feb. 14th 7pm NO COVER CHARGE! Be (at) My Valentine (gig) 55BAR 55 Christopher Street, NYC www.55bar.com KATIE BULL - vocals DAVID PHELPS - guitar BEN ALLISON - bass HARVEY SORGEN - drums songs from the Love Spook album, an eclectic mix of ...

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Performance / Tour

Katie Bull Thursday Oct 27 at 55 Bar -- 7pm

Katie Bull Thursday Oct 27 at 55 Bar -- 7pm

Source: All About Jazz

October 27, 2005 To: Listings/Critics/Features From: JAZZ PROMO SERVICES Press Contact: JIM EIGO, [email protected] THURSDAY OCT 27 GIG at 55BAR -- 7pm featuring Katie Bull - vocals Joe Fonda - bass Frank Kimbrough - piano Harvey Sorgen - drums Music from the recently released LOVE SPOOK album, and new originals. “...cutting edge..." JAZZWEEK Free spirited jazz vocalist Katie Bull expands the view of her distinctive talent on Love Spook, her second album for Corn Hill Indie (Street Date March 1, ...

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Performance / Tour

Katie Bull Thursday Oct 27 at 55 Bar -- 7pm

Katie Bull Thursday Oct 27 at 55 Bar -- 7pm

Source: All About Jazz

October 11, 2005 To: Listings/Critics/Features From: JAZZ PROMO SERVICES Press Contact: JIM EIGO, [email protected] THURSDAY OCT 27 GIG at 55BAR -- 7pm featuring Katie Bull - vocals Joe Fonda - bass Frank Kimbrough - piano Harvey Sorgen - drums Music from the recently released LOVE SPOOK album, and new originals. “...cutting edge..." JAZZWEEK Free spirited jazz vocalist Katie Bull expands the view of her distinctive talent on Love Spook, her second album for Corn Hill Indie (Street Date March 1, ...

"Katie Bull likes to pick you up with her SuperSonic Trailways bus and then drop you off in a very wild part of town. You may be disoriented and perhaps a bit scared but you know you are going to have a groovy time. You always meet nice folks also."

~ Matt Wilson

go to www.katiebull.com for press quotes on all albums

Primary Instrument

Vocals

Location

New York City

Willing to teach

Advanced only

Credentials/Background

vocal production for the speaking and singing voice www.katiebull.com over 15 years of teaching experience freelance and at various studios; currently on faculty at NYU/Tish School of the Arts Atlantic Studio. Founder of Whole Body Voice.

Clinic/Workshop Information

Vocal Production & Ensemble Improvisation for the Jazz Singer Ensemble Improvisation: Instrumentalists are singers & Singers are instrumentalists - the art of playing with a singer A whole body, multi-sensory, playful approach to ensemble improvisation that engages the musicians in listening as primary. Four years of teaching clinics at La Plata EMU EDU Stageworks Tish Jazz Cabaret Workshop NYU Tish School of the Arts; culminated in performance at Joe's Pub, NYC

Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

All Hot Bodies Radiate

Ashokan Indie
2016

buy

All Hot Bodies Radiate

Ashokan Indie
2015

buy

Freak Miracle

Innova Recordings
2011

buy

Cup of Joe, No Bull

Innova Recordings
2011

buy

The Story, So Far

Corn Hill Indie
2008

buy

Love Spook

Corn Hill Indie
2005

buy

The Crazy Poet Song

From: All Hot Bodies Radiate
By Katie Bull

Videos

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