MEDIA RELEASE GRAMMY AWARD WINNING JAZZ SINGER DIANNE REEVES PERFORMS FOR VIVID SYDNEY

Image result for dianne reeves — Image: Jerris Maddison

“The most admired jazz diva since the heyday of Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday” The New York Times

“Dianne Reeves is one of our generation’s definitive jazz masters, a vocal stylist of extraordinary skill and vivacity” The Huffington Post

Sydney, Australia: Dianne Reeves is considered the pre-eminent jazz vocalist in the world today. Recipient of five Grammy Awards for Best Jazz Vocal Album, Reeves opens her Australian tour in Sydney with a one-night-only performance at City Recital Hall on Tuesday 6 June, as part of Vivid Sydney, the world’s largest festival of light, music and ideas. Reeves is a performer of extraordinary musical virtuosity and improvisational prowess, renowned for her unique blend of jazz and R&B. Her timeless voice and on-stage dynamism have captivated audiences across the globe and placed her in a class of her own.

Jazz maestro Wynton Marsalis explains, “Dianne has one of the most powerful, purposeful, and accurate voices of this or any time”. Reeves’ most recent release, Beautiful Life, won the 2015 Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Album and features an all-star cast of jazz and music industry legends, including bassists Esperanza Spalding and Richard Bona, vocalists Gregory Porter and Lalah Hathaway, as well as cousin and longtime collaborator George Duke. This album epitomises the spirit of the singer’s own storied and rich career: traversing genres and countless musical collaborations with leading artists of this generation. But above all, the album is a celebration of the everyday beauty of life. “At its essence,” says Reeves, “Life is beautiful and I wanted to celebrate that which is too often overlooked.”

Reeves attracted global media attention when she appeared in George Clooney’s award winning film Good Night and Good Luck and performed every song on the Grammy Award-winning soundtrack. More recently, she has toured the world in a variety of contexts, most notably for Sing the Truth: a musical celebration of Nina Simone (Sydney Festival 2013). Reeves has recorded and performed extensively with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, as well as the Chicago Symphony Orchestra conducted by Daniel Barenboim. She was also a featured soloist with Sir Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic. In addition, Reeves was the first Creative Chair for Jazz for the Los Angeles Philharmonic and the first singer to ever perform at the famed Walt Disney Concert Hall.