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Lisa Rich

Lisa Rich was one of the most promising jazz artists of the 1980s, an adventurous jazz singer with a very attractive voice. When bad health knocked her out of action in 1991, putting a stop to her performing career, Lisa became a well-respected and influential vocal teacher. But now, several decades later with the release of her previously unheard and superb third album, 1987’s Highwire, she is poised for a comeback.

Growing up in Baltimore, she remembers, “My Dad played many records by jazz singers (his favorite was June Christy), along with Duke Ellington and classical music. I was really attracted to the vocalists from an early age, When I was eight I started piano lessons and at 13 I got my first guitar. I put together a little group and we used to play at parties singing folk music.”

Attending the University of Maryland was a bit frustrating for Lisa because they did not have any jazz classes, only teaching classical music. “I met Melissa Manchester during a visit to New York and she said that if I moved up there, she would introduce me to her singing and theory teachers and that her husband would help me get gigs. I did that and got the education that I couldn’t get at school where they were ruining my voice!”

For a time, Lisa performed rock in a traveling show band as a backup singer and dancer. “The guy who led the group did not want to do the opening shows, just the two main sets. Because of that, I had a chance to work with a wonderful jazz trio. I discovered that jazz was what I was meant to do and that it was the music where my voice really sounded at its best.” Soon she got off the road, studied jazz, picked up valuable experiences, and made her first record, Listen Here. “I did not want to sing a lot of standards because I thought my forte was picking out unusual songs such as those by Dave Frishberg, Bob Dorough and the type of ballads recorded by Irene Kral and Alan Broadbent.” She used her working band for Listen Here, recorded all of the music in six hours, and put it out on her own label. It sold well.

By the time Listen Here was recorded, Lisa Rich had found her style. A superior scat singer who also interpreted lyrics with sensitivity and deep understanding, she always swung at every tempo. While part of the jazz tradition, she was quite original in her ideas, adding to the legacy of the music,

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Recording

Lisa Rich: There Was A Delay

Lisa Rich: There Was A Delay

Source: Rifftides by Doug Ramsey

In the 1980s the singer Lisa Rich seemed on her way to a long and successful career. She was featured with symphony orchestras and her recordings received enthusiastic reviews from critics including Leonard Feather in The Los Angeles Times. She was on the Jazz Times national airplay chart for fifteen weeks. In 1985, she became one of the rare American jazz artists to perform in China and India. She recorded the successful album Touch Of The Rare with Clare Fischer, ...

“She has often been billed as a cool jazz singer, citing early Miles Davis ballads as a principal influence, but her rich repertory includes many genres. Lisa Rich, an internationally known performer—also seen in area clubs such as Blues Alley and an acclaimed recording artist—is a native Washingtonian of whom the city can be proud. Lisa Rich shares her singing technique and artistic insights with class members, offering a rare glimpse of the professional world and a chance to learn insiders' secrets. Class members study a rich repertory of songs ranging from those of both the great masters and unknown composers to Broadway tunes and classics in various popular genres including jazz. Sessions include instruction in the fundamental techniques of singing  (breathing, tone quality, confidence, etc.), and also expansion of participants' creative possibilities by introducing  and providing varied and imaginative opportunities for self-expression through song in a relaxed setting.” - Smithsonian Institution

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Photos

Music

Recordings: As Leader | As Sideperson

Highwire

Tritone Records
2019

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Touch Of The Rare

Trend Records
1985

buy

Listen Here

Tritone Records
1984

buy

Videos

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