Elisabeth Kontomanou
Elisabeth Kontomanou | |
---|---|
Background information | |
Born |
Lyon | 30 November 1961
Genres | jazz |
Occupation(s) | Singer |
Labels | Various |
Elisabeth Kontomanou (born 30 November, 1961) is a French jazz singer and composer who has lived in America and Sweden.
Life
Kontomanou was born in Lyon in 1961. She was brought up as an orphan. She moved to New York in the 1990s and then on to Stockholm where she was based when she recorded "Back to my Groove". This album includes covers of jazz songs which she sings in English.[1]
In 1986, she founded the quartet "Conversation", which won the La Défense Jazz Festival competition. In 1986, she was hired by Michel Legrand for the movie "Moon Mask", while the pianist Alain Jean-Marie organizes her a tour of the Antilles. In 1995, she went to New York. Ten years later, she moved to Paris, where she composed the song "Waiting for Spring" and the album "Back to my Groove". In 2008, the album "Brewin 'the Blues", praised by the mainstream press, and it inspired the tour.
In 2006 and 2014, she appeared at the Montreal International Jazz Festival.[2] In 2013, she appeared at the Tan Jazz Festival.[3]
In 2006, she won the ‘Vocal Jazz Award’ of the Victoires du Jazz.[4]
Elisabeth Kontomanou worked with artists from all musical backgrounds including Michel Legrand, Mike Stern, John Scofield, Alain Jean-Marie, Jean-Michel Pilc, Darryl Hall, Franck Amsallem, Toots Thielemans, Richard Bona, Stéphane Belmondo, Jacques Schwarz-Bart, Leon Parker and Geri Allen.
Family
Her son, Gustav Karlström is also a jazz composer.
Albums
- 1998 – Embrace
- 2000 – Hands and Incantation (med pianisten Jean-Michel Pilc)
- 2004 – Midnight Sun
- 2005 – Waitin' for Spring
- 2005 – A Week in Paris (A Tribute to Billy Strayhorn)
- 2007 – Back to My Groove[5]
- 2008 – Brewin' The Blues
- 2009 – Siren Song – Live at Arsenal
- 2014 - Amoureuse[6]
References
- ↑ Elisabeth Kontomanou, RFImusique.com, Retrieved 4 January 2016
- ↑ Elisabeth Kontomanou, Montreal Jazz Fest
- ↑ Elisabeth Kontomanou, All about Jazz
- ↑ Elisabeth Kontomanou, JazzMusciArchives
- ↑ "ELISABETH KONTOMANOU: « Back to my groove» - les dernières nouvelles du jazz". les dernières nouvelles du jazz (in French). Retrieved 2016-01-07.
- ↑ Amoureuse, Youtube, Retrieved January 2016
- This article incorporates information from the equivalent article on the French Wikipedia.