Natalia Zukerman (born June 25, 1975) is an American artist and musician. She blends genres of

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

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 ...

, bluegrass and folk.

Personal life

Zukerman was born in

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

, the daughter of violinist/violist/conductor

Pinchas Zukerman Pinchas Zukerman (; born 16 July 1948) is an Israeli-American violinist, violist and conductor. Life and career Zukerman was born in Tel Aviv, to Jewish parents and Holocaust survivors Yehuda and Miriam Lieberman Zukerman. He began his musica ...

and flutist/writer Eugenia Zukerman, and the sister of opera singer Arianna Zukerman. In 1997 she earned a Bachelor of Arts in Visual Art at

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1833, it is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational lib ...

. Her senior thesis culminated in an exhibit of large-scale mixed media paintings. She is openly lesbian.

Music and career

Zukerman's subject matter ranges from the whimsical to the metaphysical. Often she tells stories or relates personal observations about life and relationships, but her songs are not "confessional" in nature. Her vocal style reflects strong jazz influences. Zukerman plays a variety of guitars including acoustic, electric,

slide guitar Slide guitar is a technique for playing the guitar that is often used in blues music. It involves playing a guitar while holding a hard object (a slide) against the strings, creating the opportunity for glissando effects and deep vibratos that ...

dobro Dobro () is an American brand of resonator guitars owned by Gibson and manufactured by its subsidiary Epiphone. The term "dobro" is also used as a generic term for any wood-bodied, single-cone resonator guitar. The Dobro was originally a gui ...

lap steel guitar The lap steel guitar, also known as a Hawaiian guitar or lap slide guitar, is a type of steel guitar without pedals that is typically played with the instrument in a horizontal position across the performer's lap. Unlike the usual manner of pla ...

and banjo, but primarily focuses on her Goodall acoustic guitar and vintage 1938 Rickenbacker lap steel guitar. Her guitar playing has been described as "fluid and smooth" while she has also been praised for her dexterity and nimble fingers. Reflecting her varied musical roots, Zukerman cites

Ma Rainey Gertrude "Ma" Rainey ( Pridgett; April 26, 1886 – December 22, 1939) was an American blues singer and influential early-blues recording artist. Dubbed the " Mother of the Blues", she bridged earlier vaudeville and the authentic expression of ...

Memphis Minnie Lizzie Douglas (June 3, 1897 – August 6, 1973), better known as Memphis Minnie, was a blues guitarist, vocalist, and songwriter whose recording career lasted for over three decades. She recorded around 200 songs, some of the best known being " ...

Bonnie Raitt Bonnie Lynn Raitt (; born November 8, 1949) is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. In 1971, Raitt released her Bonnie Raitt (album), self-titled debut album. Following this, she released a series of critically acclaimed Americana (mu ...

, Erika Luckett,

Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan Mitchell (née Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and painter. As one of the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitch ...

Rickie Lee Jones Rickie Lee Jones (born November 8, 1954) is an American singer, musician, and songwriter. Over the course of a career that spans five decades and 15 studio albums, she has recorded in various musical styles including rock, R&B, pop, soul, an ...

and

Ani DiFranco Angela Maria "Ani" DiFranco (; born September 23, 1970) is an American-Canadian singer-songwriter. She has released more than 20 albums. DiFranco's music has been classified as folk rock and alternative rock, although it has additional influenc ...

among her musical influences. Her first three albums were released on her own independent record label, Talisman Records. In 2008, she released her fourth album on

Willy Porter Willy Porter is a contemporary American rock musician and singer-songwriter from Mequon, Wisconsin. He is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. In April 2023 The Wisconsin Area Music Industry (WAMI) announced that Porter would be ...

's Weasel Records label. Along with her work as singer, songwriter and guitarist, Zukerman is also an artist, specializing in large format drawings and murals. Her 2011 studio album was ''Gas Station Roses''. The album featured many guest appearances, including Patty Larkin, Garrison Starr, Meghan Toohey (The Weepies), Adrianne Gonzalez (The Rescues), Todd Sickafoose (Ani Difranco), and Ray Bonneville. It was first released in 2011, and early orders contained original paintings or prints of paintings by Zukerman.

Discography

Albums

*2001 – ''Mortal Child'' *2003 – ''On A Clear Day'' *2006 – ''Only One'' *2008 – ''Brand New Frame'' *2011 – ''Gas Station Roses'' *2014 – ''Come Thief, Come Fire''

Collaborations

*''Winterbloom: Winter Traditions'' (2009), with

Antje Duvekot Antje Duvekot ( ; born 1974) is a German-American singer-songwriter and guitarist based in Somerville, Massachusetts. She holds three top songwriting awards including the Kerrville New Folk Competition's Best New Folk Award, Boston Music Award ...

Meg Hutchinson Meg Hutchinson (born 1978, in South Egremont, Massachusetts) is an American folk singer-songwriter. Originally from rural westernmost Massachusetts, Hutchinson is now based in the Boston area. Influences include poet Mary Oliver, songwriter Sha ...

, and Anne Heaton.

References

External links

Murals
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zukerman, Natalia 1975 births Living people American blues guitarists American blues singer-songwriters 20th-century American composers American women singer-songwriters American folk guitarists American folk singers American people of Israeli descent Jewish American musicians Lesbian Jews American lesbian musicians American LGBTQ singers American LGBTQ songwriters American LGBTQ composers Lesbian singers Lesbian songwriters Lesbian composers Oberlin College alumni Singers from New York City Jewish folk singers 20th-century American women guitarists 20th-century American guitarists 21st-century American women guitarists Guitarists from New York City 20th-century American women composers 20th-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American Jews Singer-songwriters from New York (state) American lesbian writers LGBTQ people from New York (state)