Latest News:
I have just finished a CD project. The release date is December 1, 2011, for Blue Nights and Sunshower. Watch here for a link to the new Web site to announce the CD and for more information about it.

BRIEF MUSICAL HISTORY
Education
I started with solos in church as a child, and continued singing solos, and in groups, in high school. As a freshman in college I even directed a credited vocal ensemble. During this early period I sang in just about every style - folk, pop, rock, musical theatre, classical and jazz. By the time I was mid way through my B.A. in Voice and Composition, I realized that jazz was my personal musical home. My pursuit of jazz studies propelled me into a job in NYC (Brooklyn), crucial studies with jazz masters, and eventually graduate school that offered a fantastic program in music from all over the world.

While working on my M. A. (World Music) and Ph.D. (Ethnomusicology), some of my most treasured experiences include the Ghanaian drumming and dance ensemble; research residencies in Greece; European, U.S. and Canadian tours as a singer with a new music ensemble (Steve Reich); and intense performance, history and theory studies including the musics of India, Indonesia, Africa, and Latin America. I continued to sing with a number of different jazz ensembles and began writing lyrics and arrangements.

Professional
After teaching at a few colleges, the teaching job market, even for those with advanced degrees, began to shrink. I moved to Los Angeles. There I was leader of an incredible jazz vocal ensemble. Although we are now in various parts of the world, our ten years together in that intense entertainment industry crucible made us one of those families that are formed from collaborative hard work and intense dedication to the arts.

I moved to Arizona in the early 90’s and have since taught in various schools and community programs, freelanced as a speaker/instructor for the Arizona Humanities Council and The Learning Curve, and the Tucson Pima Arts Council, among other organizations. I returned to teaching voice when I was adjunct at the University of Arizona and head vocal instructor at Prime School of Music. I was encouraged to open my own studio when those positions ended.

I have performed as a jazz singer in a wide range of venues in Tucson. But with the economic conditions now facing the country, I have had less opportunities to perform in the last couple of years. I plan to return. There are a number of very talented jazz musicians in Tucson, but sadly, at the moment, many fewer venues.

Talks and Workshops
I have just finished another several years as a scholar for the Arizona Humanities Council Speakers Bureau, traveling all over the state to deliver talks requested by various organizations and libraries a few times a year. The topics for this last appointment were 1) Jazz and the American Identity 2) Music and Healing: Can Music Soothe the Savage Soul? 3) Music and the Brain: Can Music Make You Smarter? and 4) Steal from the Best: Musicians as Inherent Internationalists. These talks help me dust off my academic skills and follow current music research. The ability to reach a diverse audience with such vibrant topics is invaluable and quite gratifying. The AHC talks are specifically designed to encourage dialogue with the speakers and I have always learned from my audiences each time I go out to some new community. For more information on the AHC talks please visit their site or email Dr. Jarrett.