Meredith D'Ambrosio

Meredith D'Ambrosio (born March 20, 1941 in Boston ) is an American musician ( jazz vocals , piano), painter and songwriter.

D'Ambrosio comes from a musical family and had piano and singing lessons since the age of six. At seventeen she sang on television. She attended Berklee College of Music in 1953 and studied art at the Boston Museum School in 1958/59 . In the 1950s she played with local bands; she also made rolls of paper and calligraphy . In 1966 John Coltrane asked her if she would like to go on his Japan tour; she declined because she wanted to develop further. Over ten years later she recorded her debut album Lost in His Arms , on which her husband Eddie Higgins contributed. In the mid-1980s she made guest appearances at festivals in Italy and France. Other albums appeared on the Sunnyside Records label in the 1980s and 1990s, including with guest musicians such as Phil Woods , Hank Jones , Lee Konitz , Fred Hersch , Harold Danko , Erik Friedlander and Rufus Reid .

D'Ambrosio has taught piano and singing at various colleges since 1980. According to the judgment of the critics Richard Cook and Brian Morton , it is characterized by the extraordinary selection of its song material, such as rarely interpreted songs by Burton Lane's "A Rainy Afternoon" or Noël Coward's "Gypsy" as well as titles by Dave Frishberg , Gene Lees , Loonis McGloohan or Deborah Henson-Conant ("How Is Your Wife"). She also wrote her own lyrics for titles such as John Carisi's “Israel”, Dave Brubeck's “Strange Meadowlark”, Al Cohn's “The Underdog” or “ Giant Steps ” by John Coltrane .

Discographic notes

• Little Jazz Bird ( Palo Alto , 1982) with Phil Woods, Hank Jones, Bill Goodwin
• It's Your Dance ( Sunnyside Records , 1985) with Harold Danko, Kevin Eubanks
• South to a Warmer Place (Sunnyside, 1989) with Lou Colombo
• Love Is Not a Game (Sunnyside, 1990) with Eddie Higgins, Rufus Reid, Keith Copeland
• Love Is for the Birds (Sunnyside, 2001)
• Wishing on the Moon (Sunnyside, 2006)

swell

• Leonard Feather , Ira Gitler : The Biographical Encyclopedia of Jazz. Oxford University Press, New York 1999, ISBN 0-19-532000-X .
• Richard Cook, Brian Morton: The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings . 8th edition. Penguin, London 2006, ISBN 0-141-02327-9 .

Web links

• Meredith D'Ambrosio at Allmusic (English)
• Meredith D'Ambrosio at Discogs (English)
• Interview (2016)