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 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 ...

and

traditional pop Traditional pop (also known as vocal pop or pre-rock and roll pop) is Western culture, Western pop music that generally pre-dates the advent of rock and roll in the mid-1950s. The most popular and enduring songs from this era of music are known ...

singer.

Early life

Monheit was born and raised in

Oakdale, New York Oakdale is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet (and census-designated place) in Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk County, New York (state), New York, United States, situated on the South Shore (Long Island), South Shore of Long Island. The hamlet's popula ...

, on

Long Island Long Island is a densely populated continental island in southeastern New York (state), New York state, extending into the Atlantic Ocean. It constitutes a significant share of the New York metropolitan area in both population and land are ...

. Her father played banjo and guitar. Her mother sang and played music for her by singers who could also be her teachers, beginning with

Ella Fitzgerald Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April25, 1917June15, 1996) was an American singer, songwriter and composer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phra ...

. At an early age, Monheit was drawn to jazz and Broadway musicals. She began singing professionally while attending Connetquot High School in Bohemia, New York. She attended the Usdan Summer Camp for the Arts. At the

Manhattan School of Music The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory A music school is an educational institution specialized in the study, training, and research of music. Such an institution can also be known as a school of music, music a ...

she studied voice under Peter Eldridge; she graduated in 1999. She was runner-up to Teri Thornton in the 1998 vocal competition at the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, in Washington, DC.

Career

When she was 22, she released her first album, ''

Never Never Land Neverland is a fictional island featured in the works of J. M. Barrie and those based on them. It is an imaginary faraway place where Peter Pan, Tinker Bell, Captain Hook, the Lost Boys, and some other imaginary beings and creatures live. Al ...

'' ( N-Coded, 2000). Like Fitzgerald, she recorded many songs from the

Great American Songbook The Great American Songbook is the loosely defined canon of significant 20th-century American jazz standards, popular songs, and show tunes. Definition According to the Great American Songbook Foundation: The "Great American Songbook" is th ...

. After recording for five labels, she started her own, Emerald City Records. Its first release was ''The Songbook Sessions'' (2016), an homage to Fitzgerald. Monheit's vocals were featured in the 2010 film '' Never Let Me Go'' for the titular song, written by Luther Dixon, and credited to the fictional Judy Bridgewater. (On her debut album, she had performed a different song by the same name, written by Livingston and Evans.)

Discography

Studio albums

Live albums

Singles

Guest appearances

References

External links

Official site

YouTube channel

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Monheit, Jane 1977 births 21st-century American women singers 21st-century American singers American women jazz singers American jazz singers Concord Records artists Jazz musicians from New York (state) Living people Manhattan School of Music alumni People from Oakdale, New York Sony Classical Records artists