The highly anticipated song from Ellie Martin’s Verdant album, “Dancer’s Seranade,” has finally been released. She crafted the vocal jazz tune as a tango to honor the grace and flirting of the dance as well as to portray the push and pull of power in relationships. Victor Gonalves, an accordionist from Brazil, is featured.
Stream below;
Martin is currently the vocal jazz instructor at the University of Toledo, as well as Toledo School for the Arts. She has performed at the Pittsburgh Jazz Festival, the Sunset Jazz Festival, and the Michigan Jazz Festival. She was the featured vocalist with the National Arab Orchestra in San Antonio Texas, and she has performed alongside jazz luminaries Geri Allen, Terri Lynne Carrington, Esperanza Spalding, the New York Voices, Jon Hendricks, and Afro Blue.
She completed her bachelor’s degree in voice at McGill University, a master’s degree in vocal jazz performance at the University of Toledo and a PhD in Jazz studies from the University of Pittsburgh under the guidance of Dr. Nathan Davis and Professor Geri Allen. While at UT, Martin worked closely with the legendary lyricist, vocalist and distinguished Professor of Jazz, Jon Hendricks, and wrote her master’s thesis and dissertation on Hendricks and the formation of his seminal vocal group Lambert, Hendricks & Ross.
Martin has given several national and international lectures on vocal jazz historiography, improvisation, intersections between voice and instrument, and media reception of race and gender in vocal jazz. Her background in Jazz Studies and performance make her a unique and distinctive educator and performer.
