Karrin Allyson

An expressive jazz vocalist, Karrin Allyson has earned accolades for her lyrical balladry and adept skill at interpreting instrumental jazz songs with her lithe vocalese technique. Emerging in Kansas City in the 1990s, Allyson rose to prominence singing standards and bossa nova songs, as well as more contemporary pop covers by artists like Randy Newman, Janis Ian, and James Taylor. Widely recognized as one of the most gifted jazz singers of her generation, she has picked up numerous Grammy nominations, including earning Best Jazz Vocal Album nods for 2001's Ballads: Remembering John Coltrane and 2011's 'Round Midnight. She interpreted the works of Rodgers & Hammerstein on 2015's Many a New Day and put together an all-female ensemble to reimagine pre-suffrage songs from the 19th and early 20th century on 2019's Shoulder to Shoulder: Centennial Tribute to Women's Suffrage.