My name is Kelsey Jillette and I am an NYC-based jazz singer. I often work as a duo or trio for intimate concerts and smaller venues. My repertoire includes many standards from the American songbook as well as jazz-infused folk and pop music and songs in Spanish and Portuguese. I also have a purely Latin trio, with which I perform music from Brazil, Argentina, Mexica, Cuba and Peru. I have high-end small and large p.a. equipment if needed. Please peruse the site for more music and information, and feel free call or email with questions.
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NYC CLUBS, Headliner:
55 Bar -residency
The Garage
Fat Cat Jazz Club
Rose Live Music
Sardi's
Sweet Rhythm
Swing 46
Tutuma Social Club
Brooklyn Lyceum
Cachaca
Sugar Bar
Blue Water Grill
Harvest in the Square Festival
St. Peter's Church Jazz Vespers
MBar
The Triad Theater
Carnegie Club
Mo Pitkin's
Charlie O's
Langan's
Galapagos
Detour
BWAC Arts Festival
Atlantic Antic Festival
OTHER CLUBS, Headliner:
Soundwaters Jazz Series; Stamford, CT
First Congregational Church of Greenwich Concert Series; CT
GRTA Hunt Ball; CT
Greenwich Beach Ball; CT
Nova Jazz Cava de Terrassa; Spain
Bel Luna; BCN, Spain
Sunset Jazz Club; Girona, Spain
Bebop Jazz Club; Spain
XII Mostra de Jazz de San Boi; Spain
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"Kelsey Jillette cuts to the heart of a song with a canny incisiveness that belies her age. Her voice, all honey dewed ripeness, seems to inhabit disparate styles as naturally as taking successive breaths. It’s been ages since I’ve heard such self-possession in a young jazz stylist. 'The Water is Wide' is her album and Jillette’s prospective horizon stretches as far, and beyond."
— Kevin Lynch, award winning jazz journalist and author of the forthcoming “Voices in the River: The Jazz Message to Democracy.”
"Your singing is wonderful! Absolutely! Unique, lyrical, individual. Believe you’re the best female vocalist I’ve heard in a long time."
- Norman Weinstein, currently covering jazz for The Christian Science Monitor, winner of the Deems Taylor-ASCAP award for jazz journalism, author of A Night in Tunisia: Imaginings of Africa in Jazz
"What a pleasure it is to hear the talented jazz vocalist Kelsey Jillette. Above and beyond her distinctive voice, and the talented musicians she has surrounded herself with, is an admiration for the material she has chosen to interpret. The songs range from composers such as Rodgers & Hart, Fats Waller, and Billy Strayhorn to Paul Simon. Each presentation is 100% modern in arrangement, instrumentation and style. Music author Gene Lees wrote the lyrics to the classic Bill Evans melody "Turn out the Stars," which Jillette sings above a shuffle intro. She has an intriguing voice. It is breathy, yet has a deepness at the same time. She enunciates in a cool emphatic manner that compels you to listen to every word. The instrumental break is proof that the Kelsey Jillette Group is not simply a backing band for a talented vocalist. Drummer Adam Pache's beats support the very fine efforts of guitarist Hiro Honma, baritone saxophonist Tom Abbott and B-3 player Brad Whiteley. On "Turn out the Stars," Whiteley's role is especially impressive. (He and Jillette arranged the piece as well, which may be a clue to his performance.) The Kelsey Jillette Group is the real deal. You need to give them a listen."
- Walter Kolosky for Jazz.com, March 2009
"With a musical landscape chock full of female singers, the thing that gets your interest is some special quality...Whatever it is, Kelsey Jillette has this elusive quality that makes one's ears perk up and take notice.”
- Mark Kirby, WWW.MUSICDISH.COM (Associate Writer)
"The vocalist Kelsey Jillette...is one of the best in the business today. Totally soulful and rich in taste. She is a major talent! You ought to hear her. You have to. I hope you do."
- Tim Price (performer, author, educator), WWW.TIMPRICEJAZZ.COM
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