Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Guest Artist Spotlight: Renowned Jazz Vocalist Amanda Carr

Guest Artist Amanda Carr
Jazz Vocalist
Boston-based Amanda Carr, daughter of a big band vocalist and trumpeter, is a multi-styled vocalist/pianist who got her start professionally in the rock and pop genre. In recent years she has become a vocalist focused on fresh interpretations of the Great American Songbook, receiving critical acclaim as a jazz singer from listeners and some of the toughest reviewers around.

For over two decades, sheʼs performed and recorded both in the U.S. and Italy. Twice a feature story by respected writer and author Nat Hentoff in The Wall Street Journal, she garnered global exposure as he hailed her, “...a true jazz singer in a time of wannabes.” Sheʼs also featured in Hentoffʼs latest best-seller, “At the Jazz Band Ball: 60 Years on the Jazz Scene.” Among many guest artist appearances, Amanda has been featured vocalist with Keith Lockhart and the Boston Pops Orchestra, legacy big bands such as The Artie Shaw Orchestra, Harry James Band, and the Glenn Miller Orchestra. Sheʼs headlined at the EuroJazz Festival in Italy along with James Moody and George Mraz, and recorded “Live in San Giorgio” with Trio Martinale in 1999. Her 2011 tour in Australia was exceptionally well-received.

Carr composed and performed award-winning music for two PBS documentaries with “The Story of Golf” garnering an Emmy Nomination and awards for her musical contributions to “Boston Red Sox: 100 Years of Baseball History”. Her original work with childrenʼs music for the “LilʼIguana” series is among her favorite composing and recording projects. Her most recent big band recording has been on multiple Jazz Best seller lists and debuted #32 on the National Billboard Charts in 2010. She founded “American Big Band Preservation Society” that same year, a not for profit that preserves the essence of American musical heritage.

With five jazz vocal recordings and distribution and airplay in dozens of countries, Amanda continues to perform with her own group while a popular guest vocalist with other ensembles. Currently, she is Artist Liaison for the esteemed organization, Boston Women in Media and Entertainment (www.bwme.org), publishing a monthly on-line interview series.

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