(Jane Monheit will teach and perform over 3-day event focused on jazz vocalists)
By Jerome Langston
It is quite early in my highly enjoyable, recent phone chat with Jane Monheit, when the acclaimed jazz singer pays me a particularly flattering compliment. “You have a beautiful voice actually, like really beautiful,” she says, after I’d apologized for sounding a little raspy. It was quite a generous thing to say…and that generosity of spirit, quickly underscored in part — why she is such a popular jazz vocal instructor. A Long Island native, who has been residing in Los Angeles for the past 7 years, Jane is one of the most successful jazz artists of the past two decades. She will be in Hampton Roads later this month for Virginia Beach’s Vocal Jazz Summit, where she will both perform with her trio, and teach a vocal masterclass.
“Teaching is something I really do a lot of. And I think in jazz, it’s a really important tradition for us,” Jane says. “It’s just part of the culture of this music.” She has been teaching almost since the beginning of her professional career, which has included the release of a dozen or so, Billboard charting studio albums, collaborations with music legends like Ron Carter, Terence Blanchard, Ivan Lins, and Vince Mendoza, and concert dates at esteemed venues from Carnegie Hall to The Hollywood Bowl. The wife and mother of a young son, has also performed on many popular television shows, such as The Tonight Show, and her music has been included on several popular film soundtracks. And yet, she is clearly quite humble about her career accomplishments, and enjoys passing on her considerable knowledge to students, and emerging, young jazz artists.
“It’s a love fest. It’s something we’re all really, really excited for,” Jane says, regarding the opportunity to teach masterclasses, as a respected jazz artist and educator. “Masterclass teaching is fun.” Her main stage concert at The Z, which features her backing trio of Michael Kanan on piano, her husband Rick Montalbano on drums, and Luca Alemanno on bass, will kick off the 3-day Vocal Jazz Summit. She hasn’t locked down the setlist yet, but as she tells me, “I’m always focusing on the Great American Songbook.” Her repertoire of popular tunes includes “Over the Rainbow” and Jobim’s “Waters of March.”
“And then there’s a few swingers everybody always likes to hear. They want to hear ‘Cheek to Cheek’… ‘Taking a Chance On Love’… ‘Honeysuckle Rose’. And so to have like a group of tunes that people are like ‘oh yeah we’re looking forward to hearing that one.’ I’m very proud of that,” says Jane, who currently records with the cool-ass indie label, Club44 Records. Her recent holiday album, The Merriest, will come out on vinyl later this year, and will feature a bonus track that she’s recording next week. And she’s excited to be back as a performer at The Z. “I was just in love with the place from the start. It is such a beautiful venue.”
The Vocal Jazz Summit is in its third year, but this will easily be the biggest one thus far, following a soft virtual only launch during the pandemic, and last year’s first one that was in person. Its co-founder and artistic director is Alexis Cole, a well-known jazz singer and SUNY Purchase College Conservatory, jazz vocal professor, who counts as her former student, Samara Joy, the young jazz vocal phenom who stunned the world earlier this year, when she won two Grammys—including the highly coveted Best New Artist award. Samara participated in one of the prior summits, as did the legendary jazz singer, Kurt Elling, who is also a multiple Grammy winner.
“The aim of the Vocal Jazz Summit is to engage the community of singers. And empower vocalists of all levels, from amateur to professional,” says Alexis, whom I chat with for a few…a day after conversing with Jane. “We have a full, interactive virtual component, where people can ask their questions…they can participate as fully as possible, virtually.” Some of the other participating jazz artists this year includes; accomplished singer/actress Daralyn Jay, multiple Grammy nominee Kate McGarry, the magnificent jazz pianist & vocalist Johnny O’Neal, the aforementioned Monheit, and jazz vocal icon Sheila Jordan, who is still performing at the spry age of 94. Of Ms. Jordan, whom Alexis and team wanted for one of the earlier summits, she says, “She has terrific stamina… We’re just grateful to have her presence.” The legend will perform with bassist Cameron Brown on night 3 of the jazz summit.
Alexis is the founder of Jazzvoice.com, which she started 3 years ago to make jazz vocal instruction available to the public, during the height of the pandemic. Her recent big-band release is entitled Sky Blossom: Songs From My Tour of Duty. Much of the site’s curated content, including its vocal jazz classes, are the basis for the programming at this annual jazz summit. “Jane was one of my first teachers on jazzvoice.com. And she’s a wonderful and warm-hearted teacher,” says Alexis. Additionally, Liz Terrell, a well-known Virginia based jazz singer, who works for The Z as its Music and Community series producer, partners with Alexis on putting the ambitious weekend festival together. Over the 3 days, there are multiple concerts, jam sessions, vocal masterclasses, workshops and more. Attendees can purchase 3-day passes to attend all events, or buy tickets to individual concerts. Virtual all-access passes are also available.
When I finally talk to Liz about the upcoming summit, earlier this week, she is optimistic about the success of the festival, which has grown in popularity each year. “It is a unique opportunity for the community to catch nationally and internationally known artists,” she says. She also notes that though our local market has a bunch of jazz musicians who are quite prominent, there is less concentration of actual jazz singers here. She says that she was “overwhelmed” at the last summit, from the “kind of connection with the vocal community” that the festival fostered.
This single weekend in June will bring world-class jazz singers and instrumentalists to Virginia Beach’s Town Center. Liz, whose recent jazz release, It’s All Right With Me, has garnered positive reviews and buzz, expects the annual Vocal Jazz Summit to grow into a major jazz event that is recognized by an international jazz audience. There are already international jazz supporters from places like Japan and parts of Europe, who will be attending virtually this year, but she is most excited for what local attendees will experience—especially in terms of the many quality jazz concerts during the festival. “It really creates a huge opportunity to get your feel…for that weekend.”
WANT TO GO?
Vocal Jazz Summit
June 23-25
Zeiders American Dream Theater
757-499-0317
