Simone Kopmajer

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Simone Kopmajer (* 1981 in Schladming ) is an Austrian jazz singer .

life and career

Kopmajer, who grew up in Bad Aussee , learned the piano at the age of 8; at the age of twelve she switched to the saxophone. She came to jazz through her father , in whose band she played as a teenager. At 17, Sheila Jordan encouraged her to sing. She studied at the University of Music and Performing Arts Graz with Mark Murphy and quickly made a name for herself as a jazz singer.

Awarded the New York Scholarship of the Hans Koller Prize in 2003, she went to the USA shortly afterwards, where she recorded her first record at the age of 21; the album Moonlight Serenade produced by Todd Barkan was a success in Japan. She recorded six other albums for the Japanese Venus label, including with George Mraz , Houston Person and Aaron Heick. The album Nothing's Gonna Change , released in 2011, also made her famous in Thailand, where she was the main attraction at the Chiang Mai Jazz Festival . She toured North America, Southeast Asia, Australia and Europe. Her album The Best in You (2014) is recognized in the Jazz Podium as a “professionally designed, classic jazz vocal production” because she gives the twelve songs on it “an unmistakable vocal expression”. The “Lounge Jazz” album Spotlight on Jazz (2018) is discussed very positively in the British jazz journal, emphasizing her restrained vibrato , her swing and her tonal accuracy as well as the good selection of standards and original material.

Discographic notes

Chart positions
Explanation of the data
Albums
My Wonderland
  AT 60 07/10/2020 (1 week)
  • Moonlight Serenade (Venus Records 2003, with John Di Martino , Hans Glawischnig , Philipp Kopmajer)
  • Romance (Zoho 2004, with Eric Alexander , with John Di Martino, George Mraz, Tim Horner)
  • Taking a Chance on Love (Venus Records 2007, with Dick Oatts , Houston Person, John di Martino, George Mraz, Tim Horner)
  • Let's Fall in Love (Venus Records 2008, Houston Person, Aaron Heick, John di Martino, George Mraz, Victor Lewis & Metropolitan String Quartet)
  • Didn´t You Say (Karonte, Hitman Jazz, Edel 2010; Tim Ouimette, James Chirillo, John Di Martino, Richie Goods , Tim Horner)
  • Nothing's Gonna Change (Hitman Jazz 2011, Wolfgang Puschnig , John Di Martino, Jamaaladeen Tacuma , Reinhardt Winkler)
  • The Best in You (Lucky Mojo Records 2014, with Richard Tucker , Aaron Graves, Jeff Monjack, Wolfgang Puschnig, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, Reinhardt Winkler, Paul Urbanek , Bertl Mayer, Horst-Michael Schaffer )
  • The Collection (Master Music 2016; compilation)
  • Good Old Times (Hitman Records 2017, Paul Urbanek, Jean-Paul Bourelly , Margarethe Deppe, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, Reinhardt Winkler)
  • My Wonderland (Mojo Lucky Records 2020, with Terry Myers, Paul Urbanek, Martin Spitzer , Karl Sayer , Reinhardt Winkler)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Jazz Podium 10/2014, p. 65
  2. ↑ Sally Evans-Darby: Simone Kopmajer: Spotlight On Jazz , review on jazzjournal.co.uk on May 7, 2019, accessed October 9, 2019 (English)
  3. ↑ Chart sources: Austria
  4. ↑ meeting (jazz-fun)
personal data
SURNAME Kopmajer, Simone
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Austrian jazz singer
DATE OF BIRTH 1981
PLACE OF BIRTH Schladming , Austria