Vanessa Rubin was raised in Cleveland, Ohio. Her parents were from Trinidad and Louisiana and Vanessa was born there. After earning her Bachelor of Arts in Journalism degree from Ohio State University. She was able to perform “God Bless the Child” at the Miss Black Central Ohio Contest. This convinced her that jazz is her true calling. Since then, this Billie Holiday classic has been her “official” theme tune. Ms. Rubin was able to return to Cleveland and began performing in the city’s best clubs and hotels. Her first group consisted of an organ, guitar and vibes, and she managed it. Soon after her 1982 move to New York City, Ms. Rubin performed with the Pharoah Sanders Quartet at Sweet Basil. After that, she began studying with Barry Harris at his Jazz Cultural Theatre. She has been a part of a number of musical groups, including Kenny Barron, Lionel Hampton, Cecil Bridgewater, Toots Thielemans, Toots Thielemans, Steve Turre, Cedar Walton, Grover Washington, Jr., and Etta Jones. You can also access user-contributed text under the Creative Commons By–SA License.
