Jacksonville Jazz Festival 2016 Program

Charenée Wade
First Runner-Up in the 2010
Thelonious Monk International
Vocal Competition, Charenee
Wade is a notable singer,
composer, arranger and educator
who received her degree from
the Manhattan School of Music.
Her accolades include Betty
Carter’s Jazz Ahead Program
where she performed her original
music at the Kennedy Center
in Washington, DC; being one
of the talented four chosen for
the Dianne Reeves Young Artist
Workshop at Carnegie Hall; 1st
Runner-Up in the Jazzmobile
Vocal Competition; and being
selected for the JAS Academy
Summer Sessions, 2007-09,
directed by Christian McBride.
Charenee is currently a professor
at the Aaron Copland School of
Music, City College, and with the
Jazzmobile Workshop program.
She teaches various workshops
and clinics and was an esteemed
judge for the 2010 Jazzmobile
Vocal Competition, alongside
Dr. Billy Taylor and Grady Tate.
Charenee performs internationally
and graces the stages of the Jazz
Gallery, Jazz at Lincoln Center’s
Dizzy Coca Cola’s, the legendary
Smalls and the Zinc Bar in NYC.
Her debut CD, Love Walked In
was released in July 2010.
LIZZ WRIGHT
Lizz Wright has been the
recipient of nonstop critical
acclaim and ever-increasing
audiences ever since her Verve
debut. Like so many vocal greats,
Lizz began her singing in the
church. For her it was a small
church in Hahira, Georgia where
her father served as musical
director and where she soaked up
the sounds of songs of faith. She
was also surrounded by varied
types of secular music at home
especially jazz and soul. Wright
moved to Atlanta in the late 90s to
attend Georgia State University and
began singing classical repertoire
under Dr. Dwight Coleman. She
also began singing jazz, both solo
and as part of the popular local
group In The Spirit. She made a
name for herself in other parts
of the country in 2002 as part of
a touring concert tribute to Billie
Holiday, where her poised, emotive
performance stole the show.
Over her four albums, Lizz
Wright has demonstrated that
she is a top notch songwriter
and also has the interpretive skills
to become a premier popular
song stylist. She is a complete
artist who has both talent and
musical instincts well beyond
her young age, and one whom I
hope will continue to stretch her
boundaries in the years to come.
I believe she will and that twenty
years from now we will be talking
about Lizz Wright as one of the
great popular singers of her
generation.
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