LISA B  (LISA BERNSTEIN)
Genres: Vocal Jazz, Pop, Art Song, Folk, Jazz Related Electronica, Hip-Hop • United States

Jazz singer and songwriter Lisa B (Lisa Bernstein) performs standards and originals, often interwoven with her spoken poetry. Critics have pointed to her focus on innovation (“an originator,” “daring and deft”) as well as to her gifts of interpretation (“mesmerizing, ” “a beautiful voice,” “makes lyrics sound like truth”). Poetry and jazz have always been a part of Lisa B’s life. Her mother wrote poetry, and her father was a serious aficionado of avant-garde jazz who counted among his friends a number of well-known jazz musicians. Jackie McLean was a close family friend, and Lisa B remembers sitting on Elvin Jones’ lap at a party at their family home. In the mid-sixties, her young parents hired the Art Ensemble of Chicago to perform at the neighborhood elementary school.    As a child, Lisa B studied classical piano and was steeped in jazz – in particular, her parents’ favorites Carmen McRae and read more...