Vanessa Rubin

Vanessa Kay Rubin (born March 14, 1957 in Cleveland , Ohio ) is an American jazz musician who is particularly popular as a vocalist .

Live and act

Rubin comes from a family of musicians with roots in Trinidad and Louisiana . As a child she had piano lessons; in high school the flute was added. She performed with a quartet and took lessons from Frank Foster . After graduating from Ohio State University with her bachelor's degree in journalism , she took part in a contest in Ohio, where she achieved a success with her lecture on " God Bless the Child "; then she decided to sing jazz and founded her own group with which she performed in Cleveland. In 1982 she moved to New York City , where she soon appeared at Sweet Basil and Village Vanguard with the quartet of Pharoah Sanders . She first worked as a teacher in public schools and trained with Barry Harris at his "Jazz Cultural Theater"; in addition, she appeared in the groups of George Coleman , Lionel Hampton and Mercer Ellington , and in 1984 also toured in East Asia. In 1991 she released her highly acclaimed debut album "Soul Eyes" with Kirk Lightsey , Cecil McBee and Lewis Nash and then switched to professional life. This was followed by appearances at Carnegie Hall and at international festivals. She continued to perform with Kenny Barron , Etta Jones , Toots Thielemans and Cedar Walton . She toured internationally with Herbie Hancock , Woody Herman and the Jazz Crusaders .

On her tribute album for Carmen McRae , "I'm Glad There Is You" (1994), she is accompanied by guests such as Grover Washington , Frank Foster, Antonio Hart , Cecil Bridgewater , Kenny Burrell and Monty Alexander . Cecil Bridgewater, Steve Turré and Houston Person worked with her on the 1993 album "Pastiche" . The album "New Horizons" also enabled her for excursions into rhythm and blues . On Clark Terry's album “Live on QE2” she performed “Just Squeeze Me”. She has also worked on recordings by Kenny Burrell, James Williams , Dennis Rowland and the East Carolina University Orchestra.

Martin Kunzler : Jazz Lexicon. Volume 2: M – Z (= rororo-Sachbuch. Vol. 16513). 2nd Edition. Rowohlt, Reinbek bei Hamburg 2004, ISBN 3-499-16513-9 .