Gretchen Parlato

Gretchen Parlato
Background information
Born (1976-02-11) 11 February 1976[1]
Origin Los Angeles, California[1]
Genres Jazz, pop, Brazilian
Occupation(s) Musician, songwriter
Instruments Voice
Website http://www.gretchenparlato.com/

Gretchen Parlato (born 11 February 1976 in Los Angeles, California, USA) is an American jazz singer. She has performed and recorded with musicians such as Wayne Shorter, Herbie Hancock, Kenny Barron, Esperanza Spalding, Terence Blanchard, Marcus Miller and Lionel Loueke.

Parlato's 2014 CD/DVD release, Live in NYC, received a Grammy Award Nomination for Best Jazz Vocal Album, also receiving 4.5 stars in Downbeat Magazine, the DVD hitting #1 iTunes best music video upon release. Her 2011 release The Lost and Found received over 30 national and international awards including Jazz Critics Poll #1 Vocal Album of 2011 and iTunes Vocal Jazz Album of the Year. Her 2009 sophomore release, In a Dream was Jazz Critics Poll #1 Vocal Album of 2009 and hailed by Billboard as "the most alluring jazz vocal album of 2009."[2]

As of 2013, Parlato is a faculty member at the Manhattan School of Music.

Gretchen Parlato at Jazz at Filoli, Woodside CA 6/21/15

Early years

Parlato was born in 1976 in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of Dave Parlato,[1] bass player for Frank Zappa on many albums including Zoot Allures, also working with Al Jarreau, Don Preston, Barbra Streisand, Henry Mancini, Paul Horn, Gabor Szabo, Buddy Rich, Don Ellis and recording for TV/film.[3][4] Her grandfather was Charlie Parlato, trumpet player in Kay Kyser Big Band, and singer and trumpet player for Tennessee Ernie Ford and Lawrence Welk.[5] Growing up in the 1980s, Parlato says she was a Valley girl.[1] Parlato attended Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, then earned a bachelor's degree in Ethnomusicology/Jazz Studies at University of California, Los Angeles.[1]

In 2001 she was accepted into the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance by a panel of judges including Herbie Hancock, Terence Blanchard and Wayne Shorter. Parlato was the first vocalist ever admitted into the program.

Move to New York City

In 2003, Parlato moved to New York City. A year later, she won first place in the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Vocals Competition at the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. by a panel of judges: Quincy Jones, Flora Purim, Al Jarreau, Kurt Elling, Dee Dee Bridgewater and Jimmy Scott. In 2005 she released her self-titled first album, Gretchen Parlato. It was named No. 5 Best Progressive Jazz CDs of 2005 by Jazz Nation and got 5 stars in Down Beat's Blindfold Test by Richard Bona. In August 2007 she was named No. 3 Rising Star Female Vocalist in Down Beat's 55th Annual Critics Poll. In September 2007 she performed with jazz legend Wayne Shorter at La Villette Jazz Festival in Paris. In June 2008, a live recording of Gretchen performing in New York was aired by Japanese NHK network television.

Relationship with ObliqSound

In July 2008 Parlato signed a recording contract with independent record label ObliqSound. In Spring 2009 Gretchen was featured in The Documentary Channel's 4-part series Icons Among Us: Jazz in the Present Tense. In August 2009 she released her second CD, In a Dream, on the ObliqSound record label, with Lionel Loueke on guitar and vocals, Aaron Parks on piano and Fender Rhodes, Derrick Hodge on acoustic and electric bass and Kendrick Scott on drums. The album was produced by Michele Locatelli. It was No. 1 Best Vocal Jazz Album in 2009 Jazz Critics Poll and in the Top 10 Albums of 2009 in JazzTimes, NPR, Boston Globe, Washington City Paper, and Hot House.

At the Healdsburg Jazz Festival in 2010, Parlato fronted a quartet with Taylor Eigsti on piano, Alan Hampton on bass and Kendrick Scott on drums.

In Spring 2010 she was nominated for Female Singer of the Year by the Jazz Journalists Association. In June/July, Parlato performed at Stockholm and Healdsburg Jazz Festivals, and sold out jazz festival performances in NYC, Montreal, Paris, The Hague, Copenhagen, Stuttgart and Molde, Norway, with Taylor Eigsti, Alan Hampton and Mark Guiliana. In August, she was voted No. 2 Rising Star Vocalist in Down Beat's Annual Critics Poll.

In 2011 she released her 2nd album for ObliqSound, The Lost and Found with Taylor Eigsti, Derrick Hodge, Kendrick Scott, Dayna Stephens, Alan Hampton, with associate producer, Robert Glasper. On this album, she introduced four of her own songs and wrote lyrics to compositions of her fellow musicians and for Wayne Shorter's "Juju." In addition she reinterpreted a samba by Paulinho da Viola and popular R&B songs by Mary J. Blige, Lauryn Hill, and Simply Red. The Lost and Found placed in the top 10 in over 30 polls in the US and Europe.

Awards

2014 Awards

  Live in NYC

2013 Awards

  Live in NYC

2012 Awards

2011 Awards - Some of the most notable

  The Lost and Found

Other work

Parlato has been a guest vocalist on over 70 recordings, including three Esperanza Spalding albums Radio Music Society, Chamber Music Society and Esperanza, Kenny Barron's The Traveler, Marcus Miller's Renaissance, Lionel Loueke's albums Heritage and Virgin Forest, Terence Blanchard's Flow, and Terri Lyne Carrington's The Mosaic Project (Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album), singing lyrics as well as wordless vocals.

Discography

As leader

As featured vocalist

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 Cunniffe, Thomas. "Gretchen Parlato: Finding The Essence". Jazz History Online. Retrieved August 17, 2011.
  2. ↑ Ouellette, Dan (August 25, 2009). "Review: Gretchen Parlato, In a Dream". Billboard. Retrieved August 17, 2011. With her second release, In a Dream, Parlato's time has arrived. So far, the set is the most alluring jazz vocal album of 2009.
  3. ↑ dave parlato. United-mutations.com (March 19, 1970). Retrieved on August 31, 2011.
  4. ↑ SFYSA | Staff. Sfys.org (September 1, 2010). Retrieved on August 31, 2011.
  5. ↑ MUSICAL FAMILY BIOS 5. Welkmusicalfamily.com. Retrieved on August 31, 2011.

External links

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