Grace Kelly

About

“Grace Kelly has an electric charisma on-stage that instantly ignites the room,” says, band leader Jon Batiste. Singer, saxophonist, and composer Grace Kelly plays with the heart and passion of an old soul yet with the genre-bending zest and energy of a 25 year old. Having been a regular on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert’s band, Jon Batiste and Stay Human, Grace Kelly’s 10th CD Trying To Figure It Out, was voted #2 Jazz Album of The Year in 2016 Downbeat Magazine Readers Poll. She wrote her first song at 7 years old, recorded her first CD at 12, orchestrated and performed her original composition with the Boston Pops Orchestra at 14, and performed at President Obama’s Inauguration at 16. As a bandleader Grace has performed over 800 concerts in over 30 countries in notable venues as the Hollywood Bowl, Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, Symphony Hall and festivals such as Montreal, Newport, and Montreux. Grace has performed and/or recorded with Harry Connick Jr, Wynton Marsalis, Dave Brubeck, Steve Martin, Tina Fey, Martin Short, Maya Rudolph, Emma Stone, Lin Manuel, Questlove, Esperanza Spalding, Lee Konitz, Phil Woods, Ron Carter, David Sanborn, Marcus Miller, Dianne Reeves, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Huey Lewis and Gloria Estefan to name a few. Already known for defying genres with her award-winning music, Kelly is picking up steam by rewriting the rules of the performance experience. Her recent project, GO TiME: Brooklyn, brought a fully live, choreographed, electrifying show to the Systems 2 recording studio in New York City in front of a spellbound in-person audience and to thousands more globally over a Facebook Live broadcast The gutsy and dynamic re-imagining of music creation brought together Kelly’s phenomenal live audience chemistry with the intimacy and mystery of the recording studio and the community-igniting technology of Facebook Live. Fans have responded in droves, with over 100,000 views on the video to date and thousands of positive comments and shares. Featured by Vanity Fair as a millennial shaking up the jazz world, Kelly’s state-of-the-art brand of electro jazz-pop and inventive digital content are pushing her to the forefront of the fusion scene, alongside names like Snarky Puppy, Jacob Collier, Cory Henry, Robert Glasper, Jon Batiste, and Too Many Zooz. Via Facebook, Instagram, and her Youtube channel, the snackable “PopUp” video series combining soulful sax solos with unexpected and exotic locales has over 2 million views, further establishing her brand as an artistic veteran with a digital native’s flair for innovation. Kelly, a multiple award winner as an alto sax player, winner of the 64th Annual 2016 Downbeat Magazine Critics Poll as “Rising Star Alto Saxophone”, voted #4 Alto saxophonist in 2016 Downbeat Magazine Readers Poll, “Jazz Artist of the Year” 2016 Boston Music Awards, “Alto Saxophonist of the Year” by NYC Jazz Fans Decision 2016, has also drawn recognition as a singer and songwriter, having placed second in the 2017 International Songwriting Competition (Adult Contemporary category). She has been featured on Amazon’s Emmy-nominated TV show “Bosch”, CNN.com, Glamour Magazine’s Top Ten College Women 2011, Forbes, Billboard, Huffington Post, and many appearances on NPR. Grace has won multiple ASCAP Composer Awards, Boston Music Awards, and International Songwriting Awards.

Links

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