Jackie Allen, critically acclaimed singer, songwriter, and educator, releases her 10th CD My favorite Color in early 2014. Hans Sturm, her husband and bassist, produced this album. It will be her first studio record in seven years. Starry Night (’09), her last album, was recorded live with a chamber orchestra. It features star-themed songs written by arrangers who worked for legends such as Bobby McFerrin, Frank Sinatra and Doc Severinsen. Billboard Magazine describes Jackie as “utterly unique and even innovating” for her extraordinary interpretations. Her exceptional talent has led her to multiple European, Brazil, China, Taiwan, and Brazil tours. She has toured the country, appearing on both coasts as well as in San Diego at Humphrey’s, San Francisco, Yoshi’s and Los Angeles at Catalina’s. For Ella Fitzgerald’s 95th Birthday Celebration, she was the featured artist at Chicago Jazz Philharmonic’s Millennium Park. She has appeared at international festivals in Detroit and Paris, The Hague. Stuttgart, Edinburgh. Bologna. Beijing. Hong Kong. Thesaloniki. Sao Paulo. She has performed in Chicago, Denver, Louisville and Indianapolis. Allen is a respected jazz educator. He teaches at Doane College in Nebraska and has previously taught at University Nebraska and Lincoln, Ball State University (IN), Roosevelt University (IL), Elmhurst College (IL), and The Old Town School Of Folk Music (Chicago). Jackie was born in Milwaukee, WI. She grew up in McFarland (a suburb of Madison WI). Her father Louis (Gene), an avid Dixieland jazz player, was always there to support her. Jackie, her four siblings, played brass instruments. Jackie chose the French Horn. U.W. Madison, where she studied Jazz and Vocal Performance. Jackie met Melvin Rhyne, a pianist and organist from Milwaukee in the late 1980s. They worked together for four years before moving to Chicago. She began her recording career there, recording for labels like Lake Shore Jazz and Naxos Jazz as well as A440, Red Mark and Blue Note Records. Jackie met Judy Roberts, Chicago’s First Lady of Jazz pianist/vocalist. They began a long musical partnership that resulted in two CDs: Santa Baby and Autumn Leaves. Jackie and her own band recorded three critically acclaimed CDs: Blue Note and Blue Note, The Men In My Life (2003, Love Is Blue (2004), and Tangled (2006). Jackie served multiple terms as a member of the Board of Governors, and Jazz Nominating Committee of the Recording Academy (Grammy Awards). Jackie and her husband Hans Sturm, their bassist, moved to Lincoln Nebraska in 2011. from http://jackieallen.com
