Song:Juju
Album:The Lost and Found
Since winning the 2004 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Vocal Competition, Gretchen Parlato has become one of the most sought after vocalists in jazz. The 2011 CD The Lost and Found is her most successful CD to date and she has recorded with many top jazz artists. She was born in Los Angeles in 1976 and she grew up in the music business. Her grandfather Charlie Parlato played trumpet for Kay Kyser in the 40s. Her father Dave Parlato played bass for Frank Zappa in the 70s. After earning a bachelor's degree in Jazz studies at UCLA, she was the first vocalist accepted in the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance in Washington, DC in 2001. She moved to New York City in 2003 and won the 2004 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Vocal Competition in 2004. She self released her 2005 debut CD and then signed with ObliqSound in 2008. Her 2011 CD The Lost and Found is her best selling CD to date and appeared on the Billboard Jazz chart. She writes her own songs but of course Juju is a Wayne Shorter classic. Gretchen usually performs Juju and Footprints as a Shorter tribute. It's on her 2013 CD Live in NYC. Musicians on Lost and Found include pianists and arrangers Taylor Eigsti and Robert Glasper, Dayna Stephens on sax, Alan Hampton on guitar, Derrick Hodge on bass and Kendrick Scott on drums. Gretchen has also recorded with Esperanza Spalding, Lionel Loueke, Terence Blanchard, Terri Lyne Carrington and plenty of others. She is currently on maternity leave and is worth checking out when she returns to touring. Here is Gretchen Parlato with Kamasi Washington on sax, John Beasley on piano, Trevor Ware on bass, Ronald Bruner Jr on drums and the MONKestra Big Band performing Juju at Jazz Masters: A Tribute To Kenny Burrell at the John Anson Ford Theater in Los Angeles Aug. 18, 2013.
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