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Her voice is clear, her tone is true, and she swings effortlessly… Joanne Tatham once again takes her rightful place among the very best of the very best. —Mark Heard It First
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Joanne Tatham Celebrates Her New CD, "The Rings Of Saturn," At Vitello's On May 4th!
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Joanne has been receiving excellent reviews and national jazz radio airplay. Midwest Record says, “This vocalist pulls up a set card of jazz/pop classics and wraps her wonderful voice around them… A jazz vocal date that’s right in the pocket!" Joanne will be accompanied by the musicians on her album, including
Max Haymer
pianob.1985
Lyman Medeiros
bassb.1976
Dan Schnelle
drumsMusic has been part of
Joanne Tatham
vocalsThe Rings of Saturn is Tatham’s fourth CD. It’s the follow-up to her critically acclaimed 2015 release Out of My Dreams, which debuted at #26 on the JazzWeek radio chart, solidifying her position as a top vocalist on the L.A. jazz scene and establishing her as an important jazz artist to watch. Jack Goodstein of Blogcritics said, “Out of My Dreams is as fine an album of jazz vocals as you’re likely to hear this year.” Christopher Loudon of JazzTimes said, “Blessed with impeccable phrasing and a meticulous sense of time, Tatham projects a West Coast effervescence yet also conjures the long shadows of Manhattan.”
Tatham is a versatile singer who moves effortlessly between swing tunes, Latin music, and jazzed-up pop songs. She acquired her facility with different styles through many years of performing in various musical situations. Her vocal talents first emerged when she was a youngster in Catholic school, where she was chosen to lead the children’s choir and then the full Saturday night folk choir. She honed her ear training during her teen years as a member of an all-girls vocal group that sang standards with tight harmonies in performances at The Garden State Arts Center (now the PNC Bank Arts Center), but probably most foundational was the time she spent on weekends during high school as the girl singer in a standards band doing weddings, bowling banquets, and New Year’s Eve parties. Working the bandstand, calling tunes, taking requests— all came to inform her musical confidence and chops.
Tatham continued her musical education at The Hartt School, a performing arts conservatory at the University of Hartford. She also holds a graduate degree from Syracuse University’s Newhouse School. After graduation, she moved to New York City, spending ten years living in Manhattan, singing and working as a theater actress.
Then she married Chuck Tatham and her whole life changed. Her husband is a successful television writer, so the couple moved to Los Angeles for his work. Tatham says, “After living in New York for many years, I really wanted a change, though I didn’t think I would wind up in L.A. But once I got here, I found my musical home.
The musicians were fabulous, and the club scene was really thriving back then. My first L.A. gig was at the old Cinegrill, in The Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel. Soon I was playing The Baked Potato and Spazio, and driving out to the Desert for gigs. I happen to live nearby where Herb Alpert was building his Vibrato Grill and Jazz. I can’t believe I had the nerve, but I actually walked up to him one day when he was there checking on construction, and gave him a copy of my first CD. I began playing there almost from the day it opened!”
The songs Tatham selected for “The Rings of Saturn" are not your usual fare. The CD comprises lesser-done jazz tunes as well as one original, “Catch Me If You Can,” composed by Eli Brueggemann with whom Tatham worked before he became the current musical director for Saturday Night Live. Lyrics are by
Mark Winkler
vocalsMarcel Camargo
guitarThere’s no shortage of top-shelf musicians in Southern California, and Tatham brought on board some of the best.
Max Haymer
pianob.1985
Arturo Sandoval
trumpetb.1949
Michael Franks’ song, “Summer In New York,” evokes memories of the Big Apple. It features the unique sound of guitarist
Larry Koonse
guitar, electric
Bob Sheppard
saxophone, tenorb.1952
Brian Swartz
trumpetb.1967
Dan Schnelle
drumsLyman Medeiros
bassb.1976
Kevin Winard
drumsFrom standards “Love Me or Leave Me” and “It Could Happen to You,” to re-imagined pop tunes like Todd Rundgren’s “Can We Still be Friends” and Phoebe Snow’s “Poetry Man,” to a musical theater classic like “Anyone Can Whistle” by Stephen Sondheim, a notoriously difficult composer to sing in a jazz idiom, The Rings of Saturn is an eclectic project that showcases Tatham’s musicianship, beautiful voice and aptitude for lyric interpretation. She is a performer unafraid to take risks. Her perfect diction and nuanced readings, combined with a flexible voice that is by turns gentle and inviting and then throaty and robust, demonstrates an artist in full control of her diverse material.
Details
Friday, May 4thOne show at 7:30pm
Upstair's at Vitello's
4349 Tujunga Avenue
Studio City, CA 91604
Call: (818) 769-0905
Visit Website | Purchase Tickets
For more information contact Mouthpiece Music.
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Performance / Tour
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Los Angeles
Joanne Tatham
"The Rings of Saturn"
Max Haymer
LYMAN MEDEIROS
The Rings of Saturn
Eli Brueggemann
Mark Winkler
Marcel Camargo
Larry Koonse
Bob Sheppard
Brian Swartz
Dan Schnelle
Kevin Winard
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