Home » Jazz Musicians » Kendra Shank
Kendra Shank
Kendra Shank is "a superbly skilled vocalist" (New York Times) with a "delectable voice" (Time magazine) and "breathtakingly original concept" (Boston Globe). Her inventive phrasing, soulful storytelling, and spontaneous ensemble interplay, make each performance a creative, in- the-moment experience that entrances and inspires audiences. Headlining at festivals, concerts, and clubs across the U.S. and internationally, Shank combines jazz originals, standards, world music, French chansons, folk/pop songs, and open improvisation in an adventurous, genre-bending style that inspired Abbey Lincoln to call her “an original; a singer with a sound.”
Kendra Shank's six critically acclaimed CDs have garnered numerous "Best of the Year" awards, DownBeat poll recognition, and international airplay. "Afterglow" (Mapleshade Records, 1994), was co-produced by jazz legend Shirley Horn, who presented Shank at the Village Vanguard for her New York debut. Her second album, "Wish" (Jazz Focus Records, 1998), received a Time magazine rave, declaring: "Get in on the ground floor: this lady is going up." "Reflections" (Jazz Focus Records, 1998) debuted her current working band, an ensemble of New York all-stars with pianist Frank Kimbrough (Maria Schneider Orchestra), bassist Dean Johnson (Gerry Mulligan), and drummer Tony Moreno (Dave Liebman), who are featured on her two subsequent recordings. Shank’s ground-breaking "A Spirit Free: Abbey Lincoln Songbook" (Challenge Records, 2007) pays tribute to that legendary singer’s importance as a songwriter. "Mosaic" (Challenge Records, 2009), is credited to the “Kendra Shank Quartet” in recognition of the collaborative nature of her band who “have spent [over] a decade tightening their exemplary unit, and the triumph of their solidity is evident throughout this stunningly inventive pastiche of covers and originals” (Jazz Times).
In 2014 Shank's duo project with guitarist John Stowell, "New York Conversations," was released on TCB (The Montreux Jazz Label). Featuring original compositions, standards, and free improvisations utilizing vocal electronic looping, the album was called "magical...ingenious...original" by The Wall Street Journal. Her next album will be a live concert recorded in duo with pianist Geoffrey Keezer.
A prominent figure on New York’s jazz scene, Shank has headlined at the city’s premier venues, including: Blue Note, Birdland, Jazz Standard, Iridium, Kitano, and a 12- year residency at the historic 55 Bar. She has toured across the U.S. and in Europe, Asia, Africa, Australia, and Canada, with festival performances at Freihofer’s Saratoga Jazz, JVC Jazz, Jazz Port Townsend, Bumbershoot, Calgary Jazz, Edmonton Jazz, Wangaratta Jazz, Jazz in Marciac, Jazz à Vienne, and Jazz is Toulon, among many others. She has been featured on National Public Radio’s JazzSet and Piano Jazz with Marian McPartland, and Radio France’s Transcontinentales (with a college degree in French and Art, Kendra is bilingual and Paris was her second home for several years).
Read moreTags
Kendra Shank and the Geoffrey Keezer Trio Live at the Douglas Beach House at Half Moon Bay
by Bill Leikam
Kendra Shank and the Geoffrey Keezer TrioDouglas Beach HouseHalf Moon Bay, CAJuly 25, 2010 Having never heard Kendra Shank but respecting Geoffrey Keezer whose work on the piano is nothing shy of surprising and always engaging this concert at the Douglas Beach House on July 25, 2010 was a must see. Geoff had played the Douglas Beach House several times over the past couple of years and so he was known by the audience. ...
Continue ReadingKendra Shank Quartet Live At The Saville Theater
by Robert Bush
Kendra Shank QuartetSaville Theater, San Diego City College San Diego, CaJuly 20, 2010 Jazz vocalist Kendra Shank has been a New Yorker for 12 years. She's quite active on the scene, frequently collaborating with pianist Frank Kimbrough. She's released several critically acclaimed albums recently, specifically Mosaic( Challenge 2009), and Spirit Free: The Abbey Lincoln Songbook (Challenge 2007). Before settling in New York, she lived in Seattle for 18 years, studying with vocalist Jay Clayton, ...
Continue ReadingKendra Shank Quartet: Mosaic
by Donald Elfman
Kendra Shank is a complete vocalist--an appealing and intelligent interpreter of known and unknown material, a startlingly inventive improviser and the possessor of a rich, darkish voice that draws in the listener with feelings both familiar and brand new. Mosaic is a beautiful collection of tunes from favorite composers--some her friends, others her inspirations, all now her musical family. Right from the start Shank makes it known that what matters is expressively emotional music through a poignant ...
Continue ReadingKendra Shank: Mosaic
by J Hunter
The beginning of Kendra Shank's new disc Mosaic doesn't bode well, as it opens with a song specifically sculpted for radio airplay. The track--a very beautiful, very faithful rendition of “So Far Away," Carole King's second-best ballad--would be equally at home on either Smooth Jazz radio or Adult Contemporary outfits looking to sound hip. The good news is that the rest of Mosaic stays very far away from the commercial direction of that first cut.
Consumers who purchase the disc ...
Continue ReadingKendra Shank: A Spirit Free: Abbey Lincoln Songbook
by Joel Roberts
An album devoted to Abbey Lincoln's glorious compositions is such an obvious and appealing idea it's a wonder it's taken so long for someone to do it. For decades, Lincoln has written one gorgeous song after another, imbued with passion, emotion and her wise lyrical observations on life, love and loss. Yet while almost every major and minor figure in jazz has been the subject of a “tribute album, Lincoln's was nowhere to be found. Until now, that is.
Continue ReadingKendra Shank: Reflections
by Jerry D'Souza
It is always a pleasure discovering something new, even if that “new" has been around for a while. So it is with Kendra Shank, as complete a jazz singer as one could wish for. And on this her third album, Shank sings to tunes composed by Duke Ellington, Abbey Lincoln, Kurt Weill, Ralph Towner and The Beatles. That nails the concept of the singer she is, dead center.
Shank who was once a folk singer made her recording debut in ...
Continue ReadingKendra Shank: Reflections
by Mathew Bahl
Although many vocalists pay only lip service to the ideas of “using the voice as an instrument” and the singer “working as part of the group,” on her third CD, Kendra Shank delivers spectacularly on both fronts. Ms. Shank had already set herself apart as a singer who was deeply committed to jazz but unwilling to traffic in the usual jazz singing clichés. What makes Reflections her finest effort yet is an added willingness to open up and expose herself ...
Continue ReadingJazz Vocalist Kendra Shank And Guitarist John Stowell Release Extraordinary Duo Album New York Conversations April 8 On TCB – The Montreux Jazz Label
Source:
Michael Bloom Media Relations
There are a million jazz stories in the naked city, and New York Conversations captures some of the most revelatory ones. An extraordinary encounter between the supremely inventive vocalist Kendra Shank and the brilliant guitarist John Stowell, a player with a beautiful touch and rarified harmonic vocabulary who specializes in high-wire duo projects, the album came together quickly, with a minimum of planning. While Shank and Stowell’s musical friendship dates back more than two decades, New York Conversations is their ...
read more
Seattle Times: Popular Jazz Singer Kendra Shank Takes the Long Way Home
Source:
Seattle Jazz Scene
Note: Kendra Shank performs at Jazz Alley Tues-Wed, April 7-8, in support of her new CD, Mosaic. Click here to view the Jazz Alley website. Of the many accomplished singers to come out of Seattle lately and long ago, few have taken as circuitous a path as Kendra Shank, the former folk singer and French chanteuse who will headline Jazz Alley this week. What started as a second career as a jazz singer has reached maturity in time for Shank’s ...
read more
Kendra Shank Quartet on Tour in Support of New CD - "Mosaic"
Source:
Jason Byrne, Red Cat Publicity
Kendra Shank Quartet - Mosaic Available April 14 on Challenge Records Featuring Frank Kimbrough, Dean Johnson, Tony Moreno, with special guests Billy Drewes and Ben Monder Kendra Shank embarks on national tour this Spring in support of Mosaic “Kendra is Kendra, and there’s no one else quite like her” – Will Friedwald, The Village Voice “Kendra Shank's delectable voice--warm-toned, fine-grained, quietly sexy--sets her well apart from the crowd, as does her knack for picking unhackneyed, slightly off-center material. ...
read more
Kendra Shank Quintet w/Billy Drewes @ Jazz Standard, August 14
Source:
Jim Eigo, Jazz Promo Services
"...effervescence...depth...integrity..." -Nate Chinen, NEW YORK TIMES
KENDRA SHANK QUINTET Returns To THE JAZZ STANDARD Tuesday, August 14 ~ 7:30 PM & 9:30 PM
Kendra Shank voice/kalimba ~ Billy Drewes saxophones Frank Kimbrough piano ~ Dean Johnson bass ~ Tony Moreno drums
116 East 27th Street, New York City (between Park & Lexington) $20 Admission, No Minimum 212-576-2232
On August 14, The Kendra Shank Quintet returns to The Jazz Standard where their March CD release concert brought the house ...
read more
Kendra Shank Quartet News + IAJE Performance
Source:
All About Jazz
"A superbly skilled vocalist..." -NEW YORK TIMES “...a risk taker...invents like an instrumentalist..." -BOSTON GLOBE ? New York-based jazz vocalist Kendra Shank is available worldwide for festivals, clubs, concerts and clinics--as a soloist, or with her quartet. For more info, visit www.kendrashank.com , and see contact info and bio below. The Kendra Shank Quartet will be appearing live in New York City during the 2006 IAJE Conference, featuring selections from their newest recording--a collection of Abbey Lincoln compositions (record labels ...
read more
Kendra Shank Performs At Fifty-Five Bar In August 23
Source:
All About Jazz
“She has her own sensuous way of phrasing, stretching time to suit her taste, a lithe voice, and a knowing repertoire." ~ Gary Giddins, The Village Voice
Jazz vocalist Kendra Shank returns to the intimate Fifty-Five Bar on Friday, August 23rd from 6pm until 9pm. Fifty-Five Bar is located at 55 Christopher Street, at Sheridan Square, in the heart of Greenwich Village. There will be a two-drink minimum with no cover charge. Shank will be joined by long-time collaborator John ...
read more
VOCALIST KENDRA SHANK CELEBRATES RELEASE OF NEW JAZZ FOCUS CD REFLECTIONS AT NEW YORK'S JAZZ STANDARD CLUB ON OCTOBER 16th
Source:
All About Jazz
"A Talent Deserving Wider Recognition" in the 1999 Down Beat International Critics' Poll, Shank shines on Reflections, her September 12th Jazz Focus CD, featuring her impressionistic approach and eclectic song selections
Kendra Shank is a special jazz singer, one not afraid to take risks and one soulful enough not to do things just for effect. Fans and critics alike praise her individuality and compelling, creative performances. Musically speaking, she does not confine herself to any one thing but makes all ...
read more
JAZZ VOCALIST KENDRA SHANK RELEASES NEW CD REFLECTIONS - FOLLOWUP TO 5-STAR WISH
Source:
All About Jazz
"Kendra Shank has a powerful stage presence and 'a vast amount of emotional range.' Hearing her in person — with the attentively swinging pianist Frank Kimbrough, bassist Dean Johnson and drummer Tony Moreno — the immediacy of her musicianship is powerful." -Nat Hentoff, WALL STREET JOURNAL
Photos
Music
Videos
Similar
Blossom Dearie
piano and vocals
Diana Krall
piano and vocals
Abbey Lincoln
vocals
Caterina Valente
vocals
Eden Atwood
vocals
Kerry Politzer
piano
Sheila Jordan
vocals
Gail Pettis
vocals
Irene Kral
vocals
Connie Evingson
vocals
Ilona Knopfler
vocals
Melissa Walker
vocals
Clare Teal
vocals
Bob Dorough
vocals
Susannah McCorkle
vocals
Cassandre McKinley
vocals
Kendra Shank
Location: New York City
Instrument: Vocals
Born: April 23, 1958
Publicist: Allegro Media
