JANET KLEIN
Genres: Vocal Jazz, Pop, Art Song, Folk • United States

With her sleek bob haircut (usually with a flower or two placed just so), vintage dresses, strikingly beautiful looks, and artfully customized ukulele, Janet Klein might seem at first to be a simple novelty act, a Generation X hipster ironically recreating the subtly naughty look of a fin-de-siècle French postcard. Then she opens her mouth to sing. There's no Betty Boop hiccups or Mae West-style brassiness in her charmingly original voice. And when she starts to play the ukulele, it's clear that this oft-ridiculed cousin of the guitar is neither prop nor gimmick, but a delightful and underutilized musical instrument. Bearing an ever-expanding repertoire of, as she puts it, "obscure, lovely, and naughty songs from the '10s, '20s, and '30s," Janet Klein is a musical archeologist hiding in a Gibson girl's body. Raised in San Bernardino, CA, during the '70s, Klein's early musical education came from her father, Stephen Klein, a read more...