Vocal Intensive

Kellye Gray

In addition to our regular, extensive vocal program, Jazz Camp WEST offers a Vocal Intensive.

By audition, first day of camp, ten students will have the opportunity to spend 3 1/2 hours each morning in an advanced level vocal setting beginning with a special vocal technique class taught by Raz Kennedy followed by several hours of intense study with vocalist Kellye Gray and a professional trio. In the afternoons, singers can rejoin our regular classes.

Please don't audition if you plan to attend other classes during the Vocal Intensive time frame.

Interested students must come to camp with a prepared tune and chart, ready for audition. Students must know their correct key and be able to count off a tune, and have the lyrics to several jazz standards memorized. This year we welcome Kellye Gray as our Vocal Intensive instructor.

"Simply the most exciting singer to debut" says USA Today.

A Dallas native, Gray was a fixture in Houston for several years before moving to San Francisco in 1992. Beginning her career on Austin’s Sixth Street, she provided a rare jazz experience that attracted the college crowd as well as the more sophisticated up-and-coming baby boomers.

The San Francisco Examiner called her “a musically most imaginative tour de force.” In 1990 her first album, Standards In Gray (Justice Records), soared to 12 on the Gavin Report. Three years later, another chart-topper, Tomato Kiss (Proteus Recordings), helped her move into the national spotlight.

An induction into the Texas Jazz Heritage Society along with moving to San Francisco continued to raise the bar and legitimized her as a career jazz vocalist. CMJ New Music Report said she “emerges with moxie and sophistication.” In 2002–2003 Kellye produced the double live album, Blue and Pink (Proteus Recordings).

By early 2007 she had put a new team together and released the concert recording, Live at the Jazzschool (Grr8Records). Amazon.com and Epionions.com report comments like, “Kellye Gray simply blew me away. Very few female jazz singers have her range and soul.” And, “Kellye Gray is one of the finest singers I’ve ever heard on record or in person. She can blast away or quietly capture your heart.”

2008 opened with another live recording, KG3 Live! at the Bugle Boy (Grr8Records), an acoustic trio project featuring classical guitar, acoustic bass and jazz voice. The trio recorded at the La Grange, Texas vintage WWII army barracks venue.

Kellye has performed for dignitaries and heads-of-state. She has had the honor of sharing the stage with a wide variety of jazz, blues and R&B stars throughout the United States and the world. She regularly tours the U.S. and Europe, performing at festivals and concerts and nightclubs. Some notable mentions have been the Spoleto Festival USA, Stanford Jazz Festival, Houston International Festival, the Jazz and Blues Heritage Festival, the San Francisco Jazz Festival, Yoshi’s, the Cinegrille, Snug Harbor, Lincoln Center, Les Caveaux de la Rochette, and many, many more.

Faculty

Vocal Intensive

Kellye Gray

"Simply the most exciting singer to debut" says USA Today.