Jazz Singer, Grammy Nominee Denise Donatelli in Artists' Forum Concert

Premiere jazz vocalist Denise Donatelli will perform in concert at Kalamazoo Valley Community College's Texas Township Campus at 7:30 p.m. on April 26, 2013. Her performance is the second in the college’s annual Artists’ Forum series. The GRAMMY® nominated, critically acclaimed and award winning singer will be joined by pianist Geoffrey Keezer, who is also a two-time Grammy Nominee.

Her 2012 release, Soul Shadows received a GRAMMY® Nomination for Best Jazz Vocal Album, the second consecutive nomination in that category of her recording career. Her 2010 release "When Lights are Low" — which received two GRAMMY® Nominations, one for Best Jazz Vocal Album and another for Best Arrangement Accompanying a Vocalist for pianist and collaborator Geoffrey Keezer for his arrangement of "Don't Explain” — confirms Denise's status in the upper echelons of talented and engaging jazz artists in the country and internationally.

In addition to her GRAMMY nominations, The Los Angeles Jazz Society has honored Denise with the 2012 Jazz Vocalist of the Year award.

An East Coast native and recipient of classical piano training, she turned to singing jazz. A decision to move to Los Angeles in 2000 put her in touch with some of the city’s stellar musicians including Neil Hefti. Described as "a musician's singer" by GRAMMY® Award winning saxophonist, Phil Woods, Denise has performed as guest vocalist with Roger Kellaway, Terry Trotter, Christian Jacob's Big Band Theory, Alf Clausen's Jazz Orchestra, Les Hooper's Big Band, the Stan Kenton Alumni Band and makes a vocal appearance on the Christmas recording, "That Time of Year" (2011) by GRAMMY® Award Winner Bill Cunliffe.

Donatelli’s innate musicianship and pure tone have won her spots singing for episodes of The Simpsons, television promos for Frasier, Card Sharks and Turner Classic Movies and has appeared in national and international commercials for CNN, Hyundai, Lexus and Mercedes-Benz among others.

Possessing a voice of exceptional nuance, agility and unerring pitch, Denise is able to imbue whatever she chooses to sing with her special warmth, wit and insight. She tours extensively, performing at jazz festivals, jazz clubs, performing art centers, and with university jazz bands where she conducts master clinics.

Denise’s four recordings, "Soul Shadows," (Savant Records 2012),  "When Lights are Low" (Savant Records 2010), "What Lies Within" (Savant Records 2008), and In the Company of Friends (Jazzed Media 2005), have consistently topped the National Jazz Week radio charts. On the Grammy nominated Soul Shadows, Donatelli is again united with her music director/arranger/accompanist and 2 time Grammy nominee, Geoffrey Keezer. Together with a pride of the best studio men on the West Coast, Denise offers a stunning program of un-hackneyed tunes by some of today’s jazz artists and composers while Keezer provides the interesting arrangements and scoring that have come to be synonymous with a Denise Donatelli recording.

Doors open at 6:45 p.m. Tickets are $20 each and are available at the door and at the bookstores on both Kalamazoo Valley Community College campuses and online at DeniseDonatelliwww.kvcc.edu/artistsforum.

For additional ticket information call Dave Posther at 269.488.4476. The event is paid for in part by the Irving S. Gilmore Foundation and the Harold and Grace Upjohn Foundation.