Home > Line up 2023 > 21 july 2023 > Dianne Reeves

Oscillating between the great tradition of jazz singers (Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan)⁠ and the noble line of soul voices (Dinah Washington, Carmen McRae), Dianne Reeves – who has five Grammys to her name, including three for best vocal jazz performance – is today unanimously recognised as one of the most influential and charismatic vocalists on the current jazz scene. A native of Detroit, the birthplace of Motown, she was just 16 when trumpet legend Clark Terry noticed her and became her mentor. Her warm, subtly powerful tone, combined with her exceptional improvisation qualities, allowed her to become the first female singer to accompany the revival of the Blue Note label, with whom she signed in 1987. Reeves has recorded and performed with some of the greatest names in jazz, from Wynton Marsalis and his Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, to the legendary Arif Mardin (producer for Aretha Franklin and Norah Jones), with whom she created A Little Moonlight, an intimate collection of standards performed in the company of her trio. Dianne Reeves' style is much more than an obvious vocal virtuosity. For her, the stage is a sacred space: "I don't think there's anywhere else that I'm quite that free. Anything I feel, I want to say, I do onstage", she affirms. Each of Diane Reeves' live performances is the promise of an intense communion.

Line up

Dianne Reeves: vocals
John Beasley: piano
Romero Lubambo: guitar
Reuben Rogers: double bass
Terreon Gully: drums