Ariana Savalas
| Ariana Savalas | |
|---|---|
 Ariana Savalas | |
| Background information | |
| Born |
January 9, 1987[1] Los Angeles, CA[2] |
| Genres | Jazz, Torch, Cabaret |
| Occupation(s) | Musician Singer Songwriter Actress |
| Instruments | vocals, piano |
| Years active | 2009–present |
| Website |
www |
| Notable instruments | |
| vocals, piano | |
Ariana Savalas (born January 9, 1987) is a Los Angeles based, American jazz vocalist, songwriter, and actress. She is the daughter of film and TV actor, Telly Savalas.
Early years
Savalas was born in Los Angeles in 1987 but was raised in Minnesota following her father's death in 1994.[2] She studied Shakespeare and acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London and is a member of Playhouse West, a repertory theater directed by Jeff Goldblum.[3] Before turning to jazz, Savalas toured and recorded in Europe as a pop singer in her teens with European producer Jack White.[4] She also released her first original song "Perfect Man" independently in 2012, the video featuring Eric Dane from "Grey's Anatomy".[5] She worked as an actress, cast as the title role in the independent feature film Miriam (2006) and made a guest appearance as Bobby Lainsford on CBS' hit drama Criminal Minds in 2010. Savalas starred as Zoe in her second feature, Akrasia (2009), directed Xavier Tartakiewicz.[4][6]
Career
Savalas began her music career in Los Angeles as a singer/songwriter playing venues on the Sunset Strip, [7] such as the Whisky a Go-Go and Hard Rock Cafe, before quickly transitioning into jazz. Her first jazz EP, "Sophisticated Lady", is a combination of Savalas' original compositions as well as two standards from the Great American Songbook, including the song Sophisticated Lady by Duke Ellington, Mitchell Parish, and Irving Mills which she named the record after.[8] She has performed at venues including the New York Friars' Club, Herb Alpert’s Vibrato in Beverly Hills, Michael Feinstein's late New York cabaret Feinstein's, the Royal Room in Palm Beach, and Palm Desert's McCallum Theatre.[9]
She toured with Postmodern Jukebox in 2015 and has appeared in a number of the group's YouTube videos.[10][11][12][13]
Personal life
Ariana Savalas is the youngest daughter of Telly and Julie Savalas.[9]
References
- ↑ Ardmore, Jane (1987-08-18). "Street-smart Savalas image hides Telly's tender heart". Lawrence Journal-World. Retrieved 26 December 2011.
- 1 2 Streeter, Leslie Gray (2011-08-26). "Singer Ariana Savalas is proud of her dad Telly, but is making a name for herself". pbpulse.com. Retrieved 26 December 2011.
- ↑ BWW News Desk (1 March 2010). "Ariana Savalas Comes To The Metropolitan Room 3/19". BroadwayWorld. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
After touring Europe, Ariana was accepted by the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in London to study Shakespeare and acting. Following her RADA training, she moved to Los Angeles to work with Robert Carnegie at the prestigious Playhouse West Theater, planning to return to London in the fall of that year. After just one month in Los Angeles, with no previous professional acting experience, she auditioned for and won the title role of Miriam Shafer in the feature film?Miriam,?a true story of a Lithuanian Holocaust survivor. The part required the 18-year-old Ariana to play a grueling range of emotions while portraying Miriam from age 15 through 50 years old. Her most recent film is Akrasia by Polish director Xavier Tatarkiewicz.?
- 1 2 Heather Phares. "Ariana Savalas: Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
- ↑ aretti (11 January 2012). "Arianna Savalas Releases New Music Video with Grey's Anatomy Hunk Eric Dane". Greek Reporter. Archived from the original on 11 April 2016. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
- ↑ "Akrasia (2009)" (in Greek). Kino Films. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
- ↑ Army Archerd (16 April 2007). "Showbiz Second Generation". Variety magazine. Archived from the original on 11 April 2016. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
- ↑ admin (28 December 2012). "Herb Alpert's Vibrato, Grill, Jazz, Etc. Presents Ariana Savalas – "Sophisticated Lady"". Arcadia Weekly. Archived from the original on 11 April 2016. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
Following in her father’s footsteps, she also had a guest appearance on one of television’s top cop shows CBS’ “Criminal Minds.” Ariana also appears on famed jazz harp player/pianist (and wife of Mike Stoller of renowned songwriting team Leiber & Stoller) Corky Hale’s latest CD release, “Corky Hale…And Friends – I’m Glad There Is You,” singing her rendition of the song, “I See Your Face.”
- 1 2 Mavis Manus. "Adriana Savalas embraces her musical roots" (PDF) (March 2011). Hellenic Journal. pp. 4, 11. Archived from the original (PDF) on 11 April 2016. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
- ↑ "Fiona Apple's "Criminal" Sounds Pretty Incredible as a Vintage Torch Song". Slate magazine. Archived from the original on 11 April 2016. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
The main reason this works, though, is singer Ariana Savalas, who matches Apple’s pained, pirouetting vocals and adds her own jazzy grace notes to boot.
- ↑ Sarah Barness (10 June 2014). "We Like The Way Postmodern Jukebox Covers Blackstreet's 'No Diggity,' All Vintage-y". The Huffington Post. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
- ↑ Simon Collins (14 September 2015). "Jukebox crew just the bee's knees". Yahoo! News. The West Australian. Archived from the original on 11 April 2016. Retrieved 11 April 2016.
- ↑ Weingarten, Rachel (15 May 2015). "Postmodern Jukebox: Behind the Retro-Pop YouTube Sensation". Parade Magazine. New York: Athlon Media Group. Retrieved 21 May 2015.