Patrice Williamson

Patrice Williamson
Brief biography




Jazz Times magazine states that “Patrice Williamson isn’t a singer, she’s a one-woman jazz sampler. –¬ She is a woman of many voices, each distinctly intriguing all distinctly her own.”

A native of Memphis, Tennessee, Patrice Williamson is a soulful singer who swings hard and is a scintillating performer. She can scat with the best of them, and has rightly been compared to Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan in publications such as the Los Angeles Times and The All-Music Guide to Jazz.
A favorite of both Boston and Singapore’s music scene, she has appeared in the company of Tony Bennett, James Moody, and Cassandra Wilson at the Tanglewood Jazz Festival; and Danilo Perez and Kevin Mahogony at the Marblehead Jazz Festival. Her sensitive ballad work and fluent scat style earned her a coveted Best of Boston award. Both of her independent recordings, My Shining Hour and Free to Dream, have received high praise from jazz critics around the country. Patrice recently released a recording, They All Laughed, with the vocal trio, E.S.P. She is currently finishing a project with guitarist, Jon Wheatley. Due to be released in 2017, Comes Love is a tribute album to Ella Fitzgerald and Joe Pass.

Patrice received both her Master’s degree and an Artist Diploma from the famed New England Conservatory of Music. In addition to performing, Patrice is actively passing on her knowledge and love of the jazz tradition through teaching at Berklee College of Music and Tufts University, ensuring that many young people will have contact with this great American music.