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AMBER WEEKESA Lady With a Song Amber Weekes Celebrates Nancy WilsonCurrently reaching rarefied heights in her storied, beautifully multi-faceted career a A Lady With A Song Amber Weekes Celebrates Nancy Wilson, the acclaimed vocal stylist continues to draw inspiration from a rich personal journey where jazz was part of her DNA from the start. She may have grown up thousands of miles away in Southern California, but her musical heart and lifelong passion for the art form is rooted in the Sugar Hill section of Harlem. Upon a recent visit to NYC for a special showcase, the veteran live performer and critically acclaimed recording artist visited what is now a Dunkin Donuts at 155 th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue.As she entered, she felt the spirits of jazz legends and musicians from long ago surround her. For a few moments in her mind, she was transported to Weekes Luncheonette, owned by her grandparents Wilfred and Nettie Weekes from the late 1930s through the mid-60s. Raised by parents who were both singers, Amber reveled in the stories told by her dad - who worked at the establishment in his youth - about all the greats (Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn, Lena Horne, Sarah Vaughan, Harry Belafonte, et al) who hung out at all hours after gigs because the joint wasopen 24/7/365. Ellington lived down the street and came in regularly for his trademark fried egg sandwiches. He felt so at home there that he often unbuttoned his dress shirt, revealing his T-shirt collar beneath it. When tunes came on the jukebox, no matter the hour sometimes the musicians would whip out their instruments and start an impromptu jazz session.These true yet fanciful tales were only the foundation of her expansive roll call of jazz influences that influenced the development of her own artistry in the genre and beyond. Thanks to her parents, her childhood home was filled with the sounds of Frank Sinatra, Barbra Streisand, Diahann Carroll, The Beatles, Leontyne Price, Ella Fitzgerald, Oscar Brown, Jr. and Ray Charles. But even all those greats arent the whole story. Some of Ambers fondest early musical memories find her, around age three or four, joining her sister up on the family coffee table singing songs by another prominent songstress whose tunes wafted sweetly through their house, the great Nancy Wilson. Among the selections she still recalls are Dont Talk, Just Sing andBefore the Rain, co-written by Sue Raney, who has been Ambers voice coach now for 25 years!No doubt, when Amber was a toddler she didnt understand all the deep emotional nuances of the charming nostalgic waltz Wasnt It Wonderful one of the gems the Weekes sisters sang for their parents but it makes an ideal through line to the present day, and an emphatic coda to all the interpretive magic on A Lady With A Song Amber Weekes Celebrates Nancy Wilson.
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amber weekes Biography
Amber Weekes is a “straight ahead jazz” vocalist and recording artist who has an on-going love affair with the “Torch Song.”
Of Latin and Caribbean roots, Amber is a native of Los Angeles, California who was raised by parents born (her father) and raised (her mother) in Harlem, New York. Among her many influences are: Diahann Carroll, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Shirley Bassey, Lena Horne, Oscar Brown, Jr., and the very early recordings of Barbra Streisand. Amber has sung since her childhood, and has studied with Gwendolyn Wyatt, Phil Moore, Jr., Catherine Hansen, Sue Fink, and in most recent years with three-time Grammy nominee, Sue Raney.
A patron at one venue described her voice as being “as soft as a pillow.”
She has performed in many venues in Southern California and has also performed at the New Rochelle Jazz Festival in New York and Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. She has also been a repeated guest on Chet Hanley’s “Jazz In the Modern Era” and “Straight Ahead Jazz Plus.” She was also an attendee at the 2020 Jazz Congress in New York City, New York. Amber’s earlier release “ ‘Round Midnight” was played in markets across the country. Amber’s new release “Pure Imagination” is being played in markets from coast to coast as well as multiple markets in Europe.
Read MoreOf Latin and Caribbean roots, Amber is a native of Los Angeles, California who was raised by parents born (her father) and raised (her mother) in Harlem, New York. Among her many influences are: Diahann Carroll, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Shirley Bassey, Lena Horne, Oscar Brown, Jr., and the very early recordings of Barbra Streisand. Amber has sung since her childhood, and has studied with Gwendolyn Wyatt, Phil Moore, Jr., Catherine Hansen, Sue Fink, and in most recent years with three-time Grammy nominee, Sue Raney.
A patron at one venue described her voice as being “as soft as a pillow.”
She has performed in many venues in Southern California and has also performed at the New Rochelle Jazz Festival in New York and Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas. She has also been a repeated guest on Chet Hanley’s “Jazz In the Modern Era” and “Straight Ahead Jazz Plus.” She was also an attendee at the 2020 Jazz Congress in New York City, New York. Amber’s earlier release “ ‘Round Midnight” was played in markets across the country. Amber’s new release “Pure Imagination” is being played in markets from coast to coast as well as multiple markets in Europe.
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