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Roseanna Vitro

{{Short description|American jazz singer and teacher (born 1951)}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2019}}

{{Infobox musical artist

| name = Roseanna Vitro

| image = Roseannavitro.jpg

| caption = Vitro in 2011

| birth_name = Roseanna Elizabeth Vitro

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1951|02|28}}

| birth_place = Hot Springs, Arkansas, U.S.

| genre = Jazz, vocal jazz

| occupation = Singer

| years_active = 1985–present

| label = Skyline, Chase Music Group, Concord Jazz, Telarc, Sea Breeze, A Records, Challenge, Half Note, Motéma, Random Act

| website = {{URL|roseannavitrojazz.squarespace.com/}}

}}

Roseanna Elizabeth Vitro (born February 28, 1951) is a jazz singer and teacher from Arkansas.

Biography

Born Roseanna Elizabeth VitroScott Fredrickson and Gary W. Kennedy. "[http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/grove/music/J717900 Vitro (Wickliffe), Roseanna]." In The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, 2nd ed., edited by Barry Kernfeld. Grove Music Online. Oxford Music Online. (accessed February 15, 2011). in Hot Springs, Arkansas, on February 28, 1951, Vitro began singing at an early age, drawing inspiration from gospel, rock, rhythm and blues, musical theatre, and classical music."[http://www.oxfordmusiconline.com/subscriber/article/epm/70552 Vitro, Roseanna]." In Encyclopedia of Popular Music, 4th ed., edited by Colin Larkin. Oxford Music Online. (accessed February 15, 2011). During the 1950s, her father owned a night club in Hot Springs called The Flamingo. He loved Dean Martin's music and opera, and her mother's family sang gospel. By the 1960s, she was determined to be a rock singer.Roseanna Vitro interprets Randy Newman's songbook

Vitro was exposed to jazz and it became her genre of choice after moving to Houston, Texas in the 1970s. Ray Sullenger discovered Vitro and presented her to the Houston jazz community where she sang frequently with Arnett Cobb.M. G. Nastos, "Riffs: Vitro Makes Major Label Debut," Downbeat, February 1994. She worked for two years at the Green Room in Houston with her group Roseanna with Strings and Things and hosted a radio show on KUHF-FM. The band performed with Oscar Peterson, Bill Evans, Tommy Flanagan, and Keter Betts. Cobb, Peterson, and Sullenger encouraged her to dedicate herself to jazz.

In 1978, she moved to New York City with guitarist Scott Hardy and began to study with Gabor Carelli, a professor from the Manhattan School of Music, and began to perform with Kenny Werner and Fred Hersch. She sang with Lionel Hampton and toured with him. She appeared at The Blue Note, Iridium, Birdland, and Dizzy's Jazz Club at Lincoln Center. She appeared with Steve Allen at The Town Hall at The Apollo Theater and recorded an album of Allen's songs. In 2005 she performed and recorded with the Kenny Werner Trio at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington D.C.

She has worked with Kenny Barron, Christian McBride, Elvin Jones, Gary Bartz, Kevin Mahogany, and David "Fathead" Newman, all of whom have appeared on her recordings. She was a guest on Marian McPartland's radio program Piano Jazz. Her album The Music of Randy NewmanAndrew Gilbert. "[http://www.berkeleyside.com/2011/09/15/out-in-berkeley-2/ Roseanna Vitro Interprets Randy Newman's Songbook]." Berkeleyside. September 15, 2011. received 4 1/2 stars in Down Beat magazine and a Grammy nomination for Best Jazz Vocal Album in 2012.

Vitro taught vocal jazz at the State University of New York at Purchase and retired in 2017 as Vocal Jazz Chair at New Jersey City University and New Jersey Performing Arts Center. She holds workshops, concerts, and master classes. She has studied classical voice, ear-training, classical Indian vocal technique, Portuguese, piano, and jazz technique and concept.

Awards and honors

  • 1998 – Inducted into Arkansas Jazz Hall of Fame with Bob Dorough and John Stubblefield.[http://www.arjazz.org/artists/hof/1998/index.html 1998 Arkansas Jazz Hall of Fame Inductees]. Arkansas Jazz Heritage Foundation. Retrieved February 15, 2011.
  • 2004 – Selected U.S. Jazz Ambassador for The John F. Kennedy Center and The U.S. State Department,McNally, Owen. [https://www.courant.com/2013/10/28/jazz-songstress-roseanna-vitro-returning-to-japanalia-eiko/ "Jazz Songstress Roseanna Vitro Returning To Japanalia Eiko"]. The Hartford Courant. October 28, 2013. Retrieved February 7, 2014. and The Rhythm Road: American Music Abroad featured artist in 2009 with her band JazzIAm.[https://archive.today/20120904115411/http://www.jazzatlincolncenter.org/TheRoad/bands/2009/roseanna_vitro.asp The Rhythm Road 2009 Bands]. Jazz at Lincoln Center. Retrieved February 7, 2014.
  • 2012 – Grammy nomination, Best Vocal Jazz Album for The Music of Randy Newman (Motéma, 2011)

Discography

Except where indicated, all information is from The Encyclopedia of Popular Music at Oxford Music Online.

References

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Category:1951 births

Category:Living people

Category:Jazz musicians from Arkansas

Category:Musicians from Hot Springs, Arkansas

Category:Singers from Arkansas

Category:American women jazz singers

Category:American jazz singers

Category:American jazz educators

Category:Motéma Music artists

Category:21st-century American women