CATALINA BAR & GRILL
6725 Sunset Boulevard
Tickets: $15
For more information or tickets call 323-466-2210
Los Angeles will get it's first chance to hear what's taken the Santa Barbara-based jazz singer Mellonie Irvine a lifetime to craft: Straight-ahead jazz laced with soothing, romantic vocals featuring a “dream team" of musicians including pianist Christian Jacob(The Tierney Sutton Band), bassist John Belzaguy (Natalie Cole), drummer/producer Kevin Winard (Steve Tyrell, Sergio Mendes) and trumpeter Jeff Elliott (Les McCann).
“The way Mellonie sings is straight and I love it, it goes directly to the heart and to me. It is very powerful." Christian Jacob / The Tierney Sutton Band For more information, or a review copy of Mellonie's new CD, contact Michael Bloom Media Relations.
Mellonie Irvine
Mellonie Irvine is a jazz vocalist in the classic straight-ahead style. Her approach is direct and natural, with no gimmicks, her presence is relaxed and her delivery shows her respect for the music's history and every song's content. Although Irvine's professional career began in 2001, just seven years ago, she has, in fact, been an aspiring vocalist almost from the time she could talk.
Born in Hollywood, California in 1957, Irvine's early childhood years were filled with the sounds of Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Dean Martin and other voices of the era's swinging pop. As early as age four, she sang along with the records and performed for family and friends. By the age of five her family had moved to Clear Lake, California and she later joined a church choir and took guitar lessons. As the boundaries of her life expanded, so did her search for new music genres. By 12 she had discovered Motown and, at 15, she saw Diana Ross as Billie Holiday in the film “Lady sings the Blues." The experience was pivotal; it hooked her on jazz and, especially, on Ross's emotion. “She mesmerized me, I thought of nothing else for weeks." When she was 18, she moved from out of the small town she grew up in and her search for her place in music continued unabated. She sang and longed to do more every day of every year.
Mellonie came to Santa Barbara in 1980. She had been adopted as an infant and the need to sing drove her so unrelentingly by this point that she contacted her birth mother in an attempt to trace the roots of her passion for music in general and jazz in particular. She found that her mother had been a waitress in a jazz club while pregnant with her and that, indeed, her father was a traveling jazz musician. Now convinced that jazz was where she had always belonged, she borrowed CDs by Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn, Billie Holiday and other quintessential masters of classic jazz and began hanging out at local jazz venues. There was something inside her that understood the music on an emotional level, and, as she slowly overcame her fear of exposing herself, she began to sit in. The first time she sat down with a local pianist to rehearse, the release of years of pent-up longing and frustration brought her to tears. Irvine had her first paid gig in 2001 and a few more in 2002, all the while singing whenever and wherever she could sit in.
As determined as ever to succeed in her quest to become an authentic jazz vocalist, Mellonie released her debut CD, “You've Changed," in March of 2007. She has always shown a predilection for choosing strong, mature instrumentalists whose potent chops provide the perfect support for her talent. You've Changed featured Christian Jacob on piano and Kevin Axt on bass (both members of The Tierney Sutton band), and as the album's producer Kevin Winard on drums, Carl Saunders and Jeff Elliott on trumpets and special guests Red Holloway and Matt Catingub on tenor sax. The CD was well received by listeners and critics alike, with the general reaction being that Mellonie had shown far more skill and maturity than her short professional career would lead anyone to expect.
Since the CDs release, Irvine has continued to make substantial career progress, once again demonstrating her ability to enlist some of jazz's finest practitioners in her cause. She's currently taking vocal lessons from Kevyn Lettau while attending performance workshops with Tierney Sutton. As she sums up her efforts, “I've been relatively unprepared at every step of the way, but I've been driven to go on anyway and, so far, so good."
6725 Sunset Boulevard
Tickets: $15
For more information or tickets call 323-466-2210
Los Angeles will get it's first chance to hear what's taken the Santa Barbara-based jazz singer Mellonie Irvine a lifetime to craft: Straight-ahead jazz laced with soothing, romantic vocals featuring a “dream team" of musicians including pianist Christian Jacob(The Tierney Sutton Band), bassist John Belzaguy (Natalie Cole), drummer/producer Kevin Winard (Steve Tyrell, Sergio Mendes) and trumpeter Jeff Elliott (Les McCann).
“The way Mellonie sings is straight and I love it, it goes directly to the heart and to me. It is very powerful." Christian Jacob / The Tierney Sutton Band For more information, or a review copy of Mellonie's new CD, contact Michael Bloom Media Relations.
Mellonie Irvine
Mellonie Irvine is a jazz vocalist in the classic straight-ahead style. Her approach is direct and natural, with no gimmicks, her presence is relaxed and her delivery shows her respect for the music's history and every song's content. Although Irvine's professional career began in 2001, just seven years ago, she has, in fact, been an aspiring vocalist almost from the time she could talk.
Born in Hollywood, California in 1957, Irvine's early childhood years were filled with the sounds of Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett, Dean Martin and other voices of the era's swinging pop. As early as age four, she sang along with the records and performed for family and friends. By the age of five her family had moved to Clear Lake, California and she later joined a church choir and took guitar lessons. As the boundaries of her life expanded, so did her search for new music genres. By 12 she had discovered Motown and, at 15, she saw Diana Ross as Billie Holiday in the film “Lady sings the Blues." The experience was pivotal; it hooked her on jazz and, especially, on Ross's emotion. “She mesmerized me, I thought of nothing else for weeks." When she was 18, she moved from out of the small town she grew up in and her search for her place in music continued unabated. She sang and longed to do more every day of every year.
Mellonie came to Santa Barbara in 1980. She had been adopted as an infant and the need to sing drove her so unrelentingly by this point that she contacted her birth mother in an attempt to trace the roots of her passion for music in general and jazz in particular. She found that her mother had been a waitress in a jazz club while pregnant with her and that, indeed, her father was a traveling jazz musician. Now convinced that jazz was where she had always belonged, she borrowed CDs by Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn, Billie Holiday and other quintessential masters of classic jazz and began hanging out at local jazz venues. There was something inside her that understood the music on an emotional level, and, as she slowly overcame her fear of exposing herself, she began to sit in. The first time she sat down with a local pianist to rehearse, the release of years of pent-up longing and frustration brought her to tears. Irvine had her first paid gig in 2001 and a few more in 2002, all the while singing whenever and wherever she could sit in.
As determined as ever to succeed in her quest to become an authentic jazz vocalist, Mellonie released her debut CD, “You've Changed," in March of 2007. She has always shown a predilection for choosing strong, mature instrumentalists whose potent chops provide the perfect support for her talent. You've Changed featured Christian Jacob on piano and Kevin Axt on bass (both members of The Tierney Sutton band), and as the album's producer Kevin Winard on drums, Carl Saunders and Jeff Elliott on trumpets and special guests Red Holloway and Matt Catingub on tenor sax. The CD was well received by listeners and critics alike, with the general reaction being that Mellonie had shown far more skill and maturity than her short professional career would lead anyone to expect.
Since the CDs release, Irvine has continued to make substantial career progress, once again demonstrating her ability to enlist some of jazz's finest practitioners in her cause. She's currently taking vocal lessons from Kevyn Lettau while attending performance workshops with Tierney Sutton. As she sums up her efforts, “I've been relatively unprepared at every step of the way, but I've been driven to go on anyway and, so far, so good."
For more information contact Michael Bloom Media Relations.
