" . . . a rare gem, a gifted artist who simultaneously defines and reinterprets what jazz is today."
- Beth Hoskins
The Buffalo Evening News / Art Voice
Stern's ease with a challenging melody is matched by her improvisational prowess...
Willamette Week
...the most polished scat singer in Texas...
Texas Monthly
As (Suzi) improvises, her voice becomes more instrumental than human, exploring complex progressions and chord changes with easy fluidity...
Third Coast Magazine
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Suzi, you've done a superb job. You made it sound and seem so easy, giving that melody (Black Narcissus) a voice. Write on!
Sax great Joe Henderson
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Based in Austin, Texas, the live music capital of the world, jazz vocalist Suzi Stern
performs and records all over the USA, Canada, and Europe.
Born in Buffalo, N.Y. to professional musicians (her father was a jazz violinist, and her
mother a jazz singer) one could say Stern's jazz indoctrination literally started in the
womb. Perhaps in an attempt to get onto a professional path that varied from her parents,
a teenaged and headstrong Stern embarked on a career as a professional ballet dancer,
studying in NYC, at American Ballet Theater, The Joffrey Ballet, and Harkness Ballet.
Realizing she could actually obtain this dream of becoming an underpaid, anorexic, corps
de Ballet dancer made Stern rethink her career choice and look again at immersing herself
in her original lifelong passion and companion . . . Jazz.
She studied classical voice for ten years in N.Y. and later in Austin at the University
of Texas, and learned jazz theory from her studies with jazz horn players making her
approach more instrumental than vocal at times, with a strong foundation in improvisation.
Her studies with vocal wizard Bobby McFerrin were without question one of her most
inspired learning experiences.
Through her own inventive lyrics and her selection of jazz classics not typically
performed by singers, Suzi expresses a relevant, deeply personal perception of life
as a woman at the beginning of this new century.
A published poet as well as an accomplished lyricist, Suzi has written words to numerous
contemporary and classic jazz compositions such as Denny Zeitlin's "Quiet Now" and Joe
Henderson's "Black Narcissus" which have been recorded by artists worldwide.
From collaborations with famed bassist David Friesen, her lyrics to several of his tunes
appear in Friesen's transcription book
"Years Through Time", a Hal Leonard publication,
and most recently her words set to Bill Evans tunes, have been published in another Hal
Leonard compilation of Evans compositions.
A move to the Portland/Seattle area for 5 years gave Stern an unexpected opportunity to
work with some of the nations best Jazz musicians who were there playing gigs, recording,
and living in this low key, amazing west coast community.
Among those musical colleagues, collaborators and mentors are Denny Zeitlin, Joe Henderson,
David Friesen, Jerry Hahn, Graham Lear, Leroy Vinegar,
Jesseca Williams, Shiela Jordan, Nancy King, Randy Porter, John Stowell, Allen Jones, Mal Waldron,
to name only a few. New York collaborations found her working with, recording or writing lyrics for the likes of
Joshua Redman, Russell Ferrante, Tonino Horta, Deduka de Fonseka,
Siro Baptista, and Nilson Matta, and in Texas, the surprising
fact that there is an amazing jazz scene tucked away amongst the country music and singer
songwriter circles, afforded the opportunity to play and record with incomparable
musicians, like Mitch Watkins, Gene Ramey, Bill Ginn, Paul Ostermayer, Eric Avinger, Alex Coke, John Mills,
Doug Hall, and the late A.D. Mannion.
The Austin arts community, in particular, crossed over to open up collaborations with so many
different forms of visual and performing arts for Suzi. She has performed and toured with WORD WORK
a multi media performance arts troupe combining dance, poetry and improvised voice,
COLLABORATIVE VOICES, a group of 6 female voices led by the nationally acclaimed Tina Marsh,
countless collaborations with choreographers out of Texas such as Yacov Sharir, and even several
years of performance and recording with a Texas based Klezmer band led by jazz trumpeter Bill Averbach.
Aside from recording and live performance, Stern is a respected jazz educator.
She was on the faculty of Marylherst College in Oregon teaching jazz vocals and improvisation for
several years, and presently teaches jazz clinics at Universities in the U.S. and Europe.
Suzi has two amazing children that are her greatest creative accomplishments by far; her
son Rene, a filmmaker and playwrite and daughter Ariana Blue, who inspires Suzi daily.
Stern Discography
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