Miles Griffith | Sofia Rei Koutsovitis | Carolyn Leonhart | Sara Serpa |
Miles Griffith - Voice
Listen to Miles:
"I've Grown Accustomed to Her Face"
"Everything I Have is Yours"
Neighborhood: Fort Greene, Brooklyn (will travel)
Ages taught: ages 5-adult
Levels taught: beg-adv
Send us an email letting us know that you want to study with Miles.
Miles Griffith's non-traditional use of the voice as a percussive instrument, combined with an uncanny harmonic sense has made him a prime choice for many musicians. In 1994, Miles played the lead role of "Jesse" in Wynton Marsalis' celebrated jazz oratorio, "Blood On The Fields." It premiered at Lincoln Centers' Alice Tully Hall, was released on Sony Music in mid-1997 and won Pulitzer and Grammy Awards. Miles Griffith's impressive resume also includes stints with Max Roach, Reggie Workman, Carl Allen, Bill Lee, T.S. Monk, Barry Harris, Tommy Campbell, Wilber Morris, Burhan Ocal, Jamaaladeen Tacuma, Kirk Nurock, Craig Harris, poet Sekou Sundiata, Michael Jefry Stevens and Miles Griffith/Tony Pancella Quintet, Toshiko Akioshi, Heidi Martin, Tony Reedus, Matjaz Mikuletic, Drago Gajo, Mervyn E. Griffith, Toine Thys, Jure Pukl, Balage Horvath, Janos Nagy, Roger Vanha, Black Coffee Renato Svorinic, Jadran Chicco, Matija Dedic, Vered Dekel, Ron Vincent, David Pleasant, DJ Robert G Roy, DJ Raphneck, Tomi Puric, Orrin Evans, Hospital Audiences, Andreas Grosskopf, Ratko Zjaca, Nick Russo, Ahmed Abdullah's Diaspora, Miles Griffith/Andy Lukas Group, Andrei Kondakov, Fabio Morgera, Daniel Nosig, Anton Feinig, Jeff Lederer, John Ellis, Tony Lakatos, Gregg August, Art Lilliard, Pamela Baskin Watson and James Williams' ICU. Griffith has been a jazz vocal educator for 24 years, having a Masters of Jazz Vocal Performance Degree from Queens College, Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from Long Island University and a private instructor. Griffith received the new Vocal Jazz Instructor position at Queens College Jazz from February 2008 to February 2009, 4 years at City College Jazz program and has returned instructing vocal jazz at the New School Jazz and Contemporary Music. Griffith taught 2 and half years at Columbia University, 14 years at the New School Jazz and Contemporary Music, 5 years at Jazzinty in Novo Mesto, Slovenia, 1 year in Izola, Slovenia with the Plesni Dance. He is world-renowned as a master of the Great American Songbook.
Sofia Rei Koutsovitis - Voice
Listen to Sofia: "El Lio"
Neighborhood: Greenwich Village, Manhattan (will travel)
View interactive map.
Ages taught: ages 11-adult
Levels taught: beg-adv
Languages: English, Spanish
Send us an email letting us know that you want to study with Sofia.
Vocalist Sofia Rei Koutsovitis mixes and elegantly fuses South American rhythms with a jazz aesthetic in a unique and extremely seductive way. Originally from Buenos Aires, Argentina, she has been hailed by All About Jazz as "one of the most versatile and in-demand singers on the New York music scene". Sofia has recorded, performed and collaborated with renowned musicians and groups such as Folklore Urbano, Geoffrey Keezer, John Scofield, Lionel Loueke, Alcatraz, Bob Moses, Aquiles Baez, Hector Martignon, Samuel Torres Group, and Pablo Aslan's Avantango. She toured Europe with the Maria Schneider Jazz Orchestra and premiered with the group Cerulean Skies, a piece commissioned by the New Crowned Hope Festival in Vienna. She was recently featured with vocal giant Bobby McFerrin in Instant Opera at Carnegie Hall. Sofia is an active vocalist, composer and arranger. Her debut album Ojala has received great critical acclaim and has been chosen a top 10 album of 2006 by the Jazz Journalists Association. In Danilo Perez words: "She knows how to combine the best of her Argentine roots with the skills and passion necessary to make many contributions to our music community". Sofia has toured Europe, Asia, North and South America singing at renowned international festivals and venues such as the Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, Carnegie Hall, the Blue Note, the Festival de Jazz de Barcelona (Spain), the Chicago World Music Festival, the Festival Internacional Jazz en Lima (Peru), the Festival Iberoamericano de las Artes (Puerto Rico), Cite de la Musique (Paris, France), the IAJE Conference 2008 (Toronto, Canada), and the Lapataia Jazz and World Music festival (Uruguay). Her second album as a leader, "Sube Azul", is being released in Europe in the Summer of '09 by the prestigious label World Village (Harmonia Mundi). Sofia holds a Masters Degree from the new England Conservatory. For more about Sofia, visit www.SofiaMusic.com.
Carolyn Leonhart - Voice
Listen to Carolyn:
"Earth Calling"
Neighborhoods: Harlem, Manhattan and Midtown, Manhattan (will travel)
View interactive maps: Harlem and Midtown
Ages taught: ages 6-adult
Levels taught: beg-adv
Send us an email letting us know that you want to study with Carolyn.
The daughter of famed bassist Jay Leonhart, Carolyn Leonhart has a soulful voice that has been hailed by critics throughout the world. One of the winners of the Thelonious Monk Vocal Jazz Competition, she is one of the most accomplished and versatile singers of her generation. Carolyn successfully straddles the ever-changing worlds of jazz and pop, interweaving both into many of her projects. She is known for her fourteen-year tenure as lead back-up vocalist with Steely Dan, as well as her work with Lyn Leon and Wax Poetic. She sings jazz classics with authenticity, and navigates through complex music with ease. Critics have written "Leonhart may be the one to give female vocalists a good name again." -- John Frederick Moore, Jazziz Magazine, July 2005 and Jazziz Magazine featured Carolyn on the cover of its "Women In Jazz" issue (2003) presenting even more evidence that Carolyn Leonhart stands out in the crowded field of jazz vocalists. Carolyn's three solo CDs (including "If Dreams Come True," a collaboration with tenor saxophonist and husband Wayne Escoffery) have received wide critical acclaim, and she will release her her next collaborative CD with Wayne Escoffery later this year. Carolyn has performed at clubs, theatres and festivals all over the world, and appears regularly at Smoke Jazz Club and The Jazz Standard in NYC. Carolyn teaches privately from her home studio in New York City, focusing on aspects ranging from vocal technique and musicianship skills to song study and improvisation. Since 2006, Carolyn has also been teaching part-time at Berklee College of Music in Boston, MA. At Berklee, Carolyn teaches private students as well as a variety of performance labs ranging from jazz to R & B and Background Vocals. She has given clinics and master classes at high schools and colleges throughout the US and Europe. Carolyn has also been a Voice Consultant on MSNBC and has appeared as a panelist at "GRAMMY Career Day" for New York City High School Students. For more about Carolyn, visit www.CarolynLeonhart.com.
Sara Serpa - Voice
Listen to Sara: "The Wedding Present"
Neighborhood: Midtown, Manhattan (will travel)
View interactive map.
Ages taught: ages 11-adult
Levels taught: beg-adv
Languages: English, Portuguese
Send us an email letting us know that you want to study with Sara.
Born in Lisbon, vocalist Sara Serpa is currently living in New York, this being her 5th year in the United States. Her reputation as an innovative vocalist, improviser, and composer, has been growing for the past couple of years, since she initiated a collaboration with alto saxophonist Greg Osby, with whom she recorded his latest album "Nine Levels" and performed at the Village Vanguard. Sara Serpa has recently recorded with pianist Danilo Perez and has been keeping a regular activity as a leader of her own quintet in New York and Europe. Serpa has performed in such venues as The Village Vanguard, The Jazz Standard, The Cornelia Street Cafe, JoeÕs Pub, Panama Jazz Festival, Hot Clube de Portugal, Centro Cultural de Belem Teatro S Luiz, Casa das Mudas ,Regatta Bar, Ryles Jazz Club, Berklee Performance Center, Jordan Hall, Kennedy Center, Blues Alley. Among her collaborations are Greg Osby, Ran Blake, Danilo Perez, Esperanza Spalding, Ben Street, John Hebert, Thomas Morgan, Tyshawn Sorey, John Lockwood, Andre Matos, Jesse Chandler, Ferenc Nemeth, Matt Pavolka, Pete Rende, Kris Davis, Logan Richarson, Nick Falk, Peter Slavov, Aruan Ortiz, Leo Genovese, Albert Sanz, Masa Kamaguchi, Vardan Ovsepian. The press describes her as "Unique beyond word" (Boston Globe), "the freshest voice on the scene" (All About Jazz), and "a bright young Portuguese singer" (New York Times). For more about Sara, visit www.SaraSerpa.com.
