Queen Esther

A Southerner, wordsmith and musical theater nerd, Queen Esther – award-winning jazz vocalist, songwriter, actor and librettist – came about her love of country music honestly. Steeped in Southern black gospel music traditions from a very early age while surrounded by a soundscape of freeform radio, countrypolitan music and show tunes, Queen Esther – award-winning jazz vocalist, songwriter, actor and librettist -- grew up in the Deep South as the middle child and the only daughter, with six brothers and a four-octave range. She began her gifted education in English and creative writing as a five-year-old. A graduate of a prestigious magnet high school for the performing arts in Atlanta where she studied opera formally and sang Bernstein’s MASS with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra as a teenager, she made a pit-stop in Austin, TX as an undergrad, delving into the live music scene with the legendary blues guitarist Hubert Sumlin and opening for acts as varied as Larry Carlton, Crowded House and Chuck Berry before crash landing in New York City. Her love of cowpunk, 70's dinosaur rock and Broadway musicals eventually converged in her creatively when she relocated to New York City. Her work as a vocalist, lyricist, songwriter, actor/solo performer and playwright/librettist led to creative collaborations in neo-vaudeville, alt-theater, various alt-rock configurations, (neo) swing bands, trip hop DJs, spoken word performances, jazz combos, jam bands, various blues configurations, original Off Broadway plays and musicals, experimental music/art noise and performance art. Currently, Queen Esther is a member of iconic free jazz/harmelodic guitarist James “Blood” Ulmer’s Black Rock Experience. She also works regularly with a coterie of New York City’s finest jazz musicians in her quintet The Hot Five. She is a solo performing artist with HAI, singing and playing guitar in senior citizen centers, jails, half-way houses, hospices and hospitals all over the five boroughs. Queen Esther is also developing a musical about Billie Holiday. And of course, there’s her Black Americana outfit… As it turns out, all this time – all her life, in fact -- Queen Esther had nurtured what she describes as her Black Americana sound. After an implosion of songwriting creativity, numerous recording sessions and much prayer and hand-wringing, she self-released her latest album “The Other Side” – described as “the most exciting Afro-Americana album of the year” by Paste magazine. A few of this year’s performance credits include: “Harlem Nights/U Street Lights” at The Apollo Theater and The Kennedy Center, respectively; the biannual Jazz Age Lawn Party on Governor’s Island; WFUV’s On Your Radar performance series; the Detroit Jazz Festival; and a European tour. To hear the album, try last.fm -- http://www.last.fm/music/Queen+Esther/The+Other+Side Spotify -- https://play.spotify.com/album/50JN0HxsyNlmGSda4Y5t3G To purchase the album, try iTunes -- https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/the-other-side/id868111145 Bandcamp -- https://queenesther.bandcamp.com/album/the-other-side CD Baby - http://www.cdbaby.com/cd/queenesther1 Songwriter. Nascent guitarist. Musical theater geek. Jazz singer. New Black Americana album 'The Other Side' is out now! http://queenesther.bandcamp.com