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All Music Guide:
A fine Los Angeles-based jazz singer, Tierney Sutton has a lot of potential for the future. She grew up in Milwaukee and attended Boston University and Wesleyan, where she gained a degree in Russian language and literature. At Wesleyan, Sutton became involved in singing jazz and after graduating she went to Berklee for a few semesters, studying under Jerry Bergonzi. In 1994 she moved to Los Angeles and has since become a fixture in the area's jazz scene. Sutton, who teaches voice at USC, often leads her own group, sings with Buddy Childers and Dave MacKay, and has guested with the Les Brown Orchestra. Sutton's debut CD was for the A Music label in 1998; she has also recorded with Childers, and issued Unsung Heroes in the spring of 2000. The next record, Blue in Green, was a tribute to pianist Bill Evans that offered several songs that he had either recorded or collaborated on. Another record of standards, Something Cool, followed in 2002 and offered several different genres including country and show tunes. She followed up with three more fine records for Telarc, 2004's Dancing in the Dark, 2005's I'm with the Band, and 2007's On the Other Side. Both I'm with the Band and On the Other Side recieved Grammy nominations and helped raise Sutton's profile nationally. In 2009, Sutton -- a practicing believer in the Baha'i faith -- returned with Desire. Although the album includes Sutton's interpretations of jazz standards, it also features several recited passages from The Hidden Words of Bahullah, a sacred Baha'i text.
Wikipedia:
Tierney Sutton (born June 28, 1963) is an American jazz singer.
A five-time Grammy Nominee for "Best Jazz Vocal Album" as well as for arranging, she was Jazzweek Vocalist of the Year in 2005," Sutton was born in Omaha, Nebraska, and was educated at Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut and the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts. Prior to attending Wesleyan, Tierney Sutton attended Nicolet High School in the Milwaukee metro area.
For the past 20 years, Sutton has fronted the Tierney Sutton Band featuring pianist Christian Jacob, bassists Trey Henry and Kevin Axt, and drummer Ray Brinker. The band is an incorporated unit and makes all musical as well business decisions together. They tour throughout the world and have headlined in recent years at Carnegie Hall, The Hollywood Bowl and Jazz at Lincoln Center. For 11 years, Sutton taught in the Jazz Studies Department at the University of Southern California. In 2008, she became the Vocal Department Chair at Los Angeles Music Academy in Pasadena, California.
She has been a Baha'i since 1981 and explains her band's arranging style as "based on the principle of consultation--the band is very much run on Baha'i principles. There is very much a sense that what we do is essentially a spiritual thing and everyone's voice needs to be heard." She has recently also been performing in a trio format with flautist Hubert Laws and guitarist Larry Koonse.Cite error: There are <ref> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist}} template (see the help page).
