Alexis Cole is an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

singer.

Career

Cole was born in

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

, New York. Her father and grandmother were both popular music singers and pianists. Her mother was interested in business and helped her learn business skills and get music education and performance opportunities as a young person. She grew up in South Florida, where she studied Musical Theater at the

New World School of the Arts The New World School of the Arts (NWSA) is a public magnet high school and college in Downtown Miami, Florida. Its dual-enrollment programs in the visual and performing arts are organized into four strands: visual arts, dance, theatre (comprising ...

in Miami. While in her senior year there, she began her professional career performing at a hotel in

South Beach South Beach, also nicknamed colloquially as SoBe, is a Neighborhoods of Miami Beach, Florida, neighborhood in Miami Beach, Florida. It is located east of Miami between Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic Ocean. The area encompasses Miami Beach south ...

. This got her interested in singing Jazz. She attended the

University of Miami The University of Miami (UM, UMiami, Miami, U of M, and The U) is a private university, private research university in Coral Gables, Florida, United States. , the university enrolled 19,852 students in two colleges and ten schools across over ...

but in her Junior year transferred to

William Paterson University William Paterson University, known as WP, officially William Paterson University of New Jersey (WPUNJ), is a public university in Wayne, New Jersey, United States. It is part of New Jersey's public system of higher education. Founded in 1855 an ...

where she received her Bachelors of Music in 1998 Directly after college, she was an

AmeriCorps AmeriCorps ( ; officially the Corporation for National and Community Service or CNCS) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the United States government that engages more than five million Americans in ...

volunteer for one year, and then went to study music in Mumbai, India with the Jazz India Vocal Institute. In 2001 she lived and worked for a year aboard the Carnival Victory performing nightly with her quartet on piano and voice. From 2002 to 2005 she traveled extensively in Europe, busking and hitchhiking, and participating annually in the Montreux Jazz Festival Vocal Competition which she eventually became the runner up. Her debut album, ''Very Early'' (1999), was recorded with

Harry Pickens Harry Pickens is an American jazz pianist. He began his career with the Johnny Griffin quartet and Chico Freeman quintet, later performing with Blue Note Records group Out of the Blue before releasing several albums as leader. Allmusic credits/ ...

and independently released, and her second album, ''Nearer the Sun'' (2004) was recorded with Ben Stivers. In 2006, she received a Masters of Music from

Queens College Queens College (QC) is a public college in the New York City borough of Queens. Part of the City University of New York system, Queens College occupies an campus primarily located in Flushing. Queens College was established in 1937 and offe ...

. She taught for one semester at a program in

Quito Quito (; ), officially San Francisco de Quito, is the capital city, capital and second-largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its metropolitan area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha Province, P ...

, Ecuador, run by the

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music () is a Private university, private music college in Boston, Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern Music of the United ...

. Cole spent most of the next two years singing and playing piano at a lounge in Tokyo, Japan. In 2009 she enlisted in the U.S. Army to become the lead singer for the West Point Band's Jazz Knights Big Band until 2015. In 2016, she released a tribute to

Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter known for his solo work and his collaborations with Art Garfunkel. He and Garfunkel, whom he met in elementary school in 1953, came to prominence in the 1960s as Sim ...

entitled ''Dazzling Blue'', which debuted at No. 24 on the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' jazz chart. After leaving the Army she became the Jazz Voice Professor at the

State University of New York at Purchase The State University of New York at Purchase, commonly referred to as Purchase College or SUNY Purchase, is a public liberal arts college in Purchase, New York. Established in 1967 by Governor Nelson Rockefeller, SUNY Purchase is one of 13 compr ...

. In 2021 she took on a second position as Jazz Voice Professor at her alma mater

. In May 2020, amidst social distancing due to the

Coronavirus Pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, she founded an online educational website to connect vocalists and students for virtual learning opportunities. Some of the singers teaching on the site include

Karrin Allyson Karrin Allyson (pronounced ''KAR-in''; born Karrin Allyson Schoonover on July 27, 1963) is an American jazz vocalist. She has been nominated for five Grammy Awards and has received positive reviews from several prominent sources, including the ' ...

Tierney Sutton Tierney Sutton (born June 28, 1963) is an American jazz singer. Career Sutton was born in Omaha, Nebraska, but grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. She received a bachelor's degree from Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, majoring in Ru ...

Cyrille Aimée Cyrille Aimée Daudel (; born 10 August 1984) is a French jazz singer. Biography She grew up in the French town of Samois-sur-Seine, in Fontainebleau, France. Her father is French and her mother is from the Dominican Republic. She won the '' ...

, Kate McGarry,

Jane Monheit Jane Monheit (born November 3, 1977"Jane Monheit." ''Contemporary Musicians''. Vol. 33. Farmington Hills, MI: Gale, 2001. Retrieved via ''Biography in Context'' database, 2017-05-07.) is an American jazz and traditional pop singer. Early life Mo ...

John Proulx John Proulx is a jazz pianist, vocalist, educator, and composer based in Los Angeles, California. His singing style has elicited comparisons with a young Chet Baker. He is a recording artist with four albums to his credit. His most recent album, � ...

, Jay Clayton,

Dena DeRose Dena DeRose (born February 15, 1966) is an American jazz pianist, singer and educator. Although she began her career just as a pianist, medical problems with her hand forced her to become a vocalist as well. She has released seven solo albums. B ...

and Catherine Russell. In April 2021 along with Zeiders American Dream Theaterbr>www.thez.org
she co produced the first annual Virginia Beach Vocal Jazz Summi
www.vocaljazzsummit.org
Now occurring in person and virtually every first weekend of June, notable past performers include

Samara Joy Samara Joy McLendon (born November 11, 1999) is an American jazz singer. She released her self-titled debut album in 2021 and was subsequently named Best New Artist by ''JazzTimes''. Her second album, '' Linger Awhile'' (2022), reached number o ...

Kurt Elling Kurt Elling (born November 2, 1967) is an American jazz singer and songwriter. Born in Chicago, Illinois, and raised in Rockford, Elling became interested in music through his father, who was Kapellmeister at a Lutheran church. He sang in cho ...

and Catherine Russell In November 2021 she released ''Sky Blossom: Songs From My Tour of Duty'', a Big Band album composed of the arrangements by Scott Arcangel that were written for her during her time in the West Point Band. In May 2023 she resigned from her teaching positions at SUNY Purchase College and William Paterson University to work on a new enterprise, a website to help emerging musicians find long and mid term performing jobs
www.MusicAuditions.com
In 2024 she released her second big band album ''Jazz Republic: Taiwan, the United States and the Freedom of Swing'', with the Taipei Jazz Orchestra conducted by Dr. Gene Aitken

Discography

* ''Very Early'' (CD Baby, 1999) with

* ''Nearer the Sun'' (Canopy Jazz, 2004) * ''Zingaro'' (Canopy Jazz, 2007) * ''Someday My Prince Will Come'' (

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is often called Earth's "twin" or "sister" planet for having almost the same size and mass, and the closest orbit to Earth's. While both are rocky planets, Venus has an atmosphere much thicker ...

, 2009) * ''The Greatest Gift: Songs of the Season'' ( Motéma, 2009) * ''You'd Be So Nice to Come Home to'' (Venus, 2010) with One For All * ''I Carry Your Heart'' (Motéma, 2012) the Music of

Pepper Adams Park Frederick "Pepper" Adams III (October 8, 1930 – September 10, 1986) was an American jazz baritone saxophonist and composer. He composed 42 pieces, was the leader on eighteen albums spanning 28 years, and participated in 600 sessions as a s ...

* ''Close Your Eyes'' (Venus, 2014) * ''A Kiss in the Dark'' ( Chesky, 2014) * ''A Beautiful Friendship'' with

Bucky Pizzarelli John Paul "Bucky" Pizzarelli (January 9, 1926 – April 1, 2020) was an American jazz guitarist. He worked for NBC as a staffman from 1964, including for Dick Cavett (1971) and ABC with Bobby Rosengarden in (1952). Musicians he collaborate ...

(Venus, 2015) *

Harold Mabern Harold Mabern Jr. (March 20, 1936 – September 17, 2019) was an American jazz pianist and composer, principally in the hard bop, post-bop, and soul jazz fields.Feather, Leonard; Gitler, Ira (2007) ''The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz''. p. 425 ...

's album ''Afro Blue'' ( Smoke Sessions, 2015) along with

Gregory Porter Gregory Porter (born November 4, 1971) is an American singer, songwriter and musician. He has twice won the Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album: first in 2014 for '' Liquid Spirit'' and then again in 2017 for '' Take Me to the Alley''. Ear ...

, Nora Jones,

, and

* ''Dazzling Blue: The Music of

'' (Chesky, 2016) * ''Sky Blossom: Songs from My Tour of Duty'' (Zoho, 2021) * ''Jazz Republic: Taiwan, The United States and the Freedom of Swing'' (Tiger Turn, 2024) with the Taipei Jazz Orchestra

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cole, Alexis Living people 1976 births American women jazz singers American jazz singers Chesky Records artists Venus Records artists 21st-century American singers 21st-century American women singers Motéma Music artists