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Hailing from from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, Melissa Walker attended Brown University with the intent of becoming a lawyer, though music was always prominent in her life. |
After college, Walker moved to Washington, D.C., where she began studying jazz singing with Ronnie Wells and performed in local clubs and hotels. Law school continued to be part of her long-term plan, though she deferred admission on several occasions to pursue her budding singing career.
Walker moved to New York to 1993 to pursue jazz full-time. That same year, she released Little Wishes, a self-produced debut album. In 1997, Enja records picked up Walker and released May I Feel, a collection of standards and original compositions that received glowing reviews from critics around the world. Enja released two more of Walker's albums, 1999's Moment of Truth and I Saw the Sky in 2001.
Walker has performed with such artists as Phil Woods, Russell Malone, Ran Blake, Geri Allen, Steve Turre and Christian McBride to whom she was married in 2005. Notable performances have included the Kennedy Center's Women in Jazz Festival, Lincoln Center's Duke Ellington Centennial Celebration, and Ray Brown's 75th Birthday Celebration Tour. She also works with a music enrichment program called Jazz House Kids. Working primarily in inner city schools, Jazz House Kids seeks to introduce young people to the music and cultural importance of jazz.
Check out this week's Piano Jazz Shorts: the Piano Jazz podcast.
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Set List for Melissa Walker on Piano Jazz:The More I See You (Gordon, Warren)
On A Clear Day (Lane, Lerner)
Harlem Nocturne (Hagen)
Clothed Woman (Ellington)
It Could Happen To You (Burke, Van Heusen)
How Insensitive (Jobim)
Love Is (Walker, Allen)
Just In Time (Comden, Green, Styne)
Walker moved to New York to 1993 to pursue jazz full-time. That same year, she released Little Wishes, a self-produced debut album. In 1997, Enja records picked up Walker and released May I Feel, a collection of standards and original compositions that received glowing reviews from critics around the world. Enja released two more of Walker's albums, 1999's Moment of Truth and I Saw the Sky in 2001.
Walker has performed with such artists as Phil Woods, Russell Malone, Ran Blake, Geri Allen, Steve Turre and Christian McBride to whom she was married in 2005. Notable performances have included the Kennedy Center's Women in Jazz Festival, Lincoln Center's Duke Ellington Centennial Celebration, and Ray Brown's 75th Birthday Celebration Tour. She also works with a music enrichment program called Jazz House Kids. Working primarily in inner city schools, Jazz House Kids seeks to introduce young people to the music and cultural importance of jazz.
Check out this week's Piano Jazz Shorts: the Piano Jazz podcast.
Subscribe!
Set List for Melissa Walker on Piano Jazz: