Dena DeRose
Biography Dena DeRose
Dena DeRose
It's no small accomplishment to be thought of as "The most creative and compelling singer-pianist since Shirley Horn", but that's exactly how Joel Siegel of the Washington City Paper described Dena DeRose. If she comes to your city and you want to catch the show, go early, because the room is going to be packed. She not only awes her audiences and music critics with her facility on the piano and her swinging, soothing vocal style but, as Richard Scheinin of the San Jose Mercury aptly put it, "... she exudes joy ... what soul!"
Dena has accumulated an impressive list of performance credits. From the legendary clubs around the world like the Blue Note, Smoke and the Jazz Standard in New York, the Kennedy Center in Washington D.C., the Pitt Inn and Body and Soul in Tokyo, The Jazz Showcase in Chicago, Marian's in Bern, The Jazz Center in Istanbul, and Alexander Platz in Rome, to major Jazz Festivals that include The Red Sea Jazz Festival in Israel, The Monterey Jazz Festival, The San Francisco Jazz Festival, The Providencia (Santiago) Jazz Festival, Ancona (Italy), Estoril (Portugal), The North Sea and The Hague Jazz Festivals (Holland), The Jazz Cruise (2005, 2007, 2008, 2011), The Kansas City Jazz and Blues Festival, Jazz Baltica Festival (Germany), VinterJazz Festival (Denmark). Dena always delivers "...vivid and often exciting demonstrations of how innovative her musical concepts are..." (Philip Elwood, San Francisco Examiner). She has brought that vitality and innovation to performances alongside the likes of Ray Brown, Clark Terry, Marian McPartland, Benny Golson, John Scofield, Benny Green, Ray Drummond, Alex Riel, Deborah Brown, Jimmy Cobb, Ken Peplowski, Jay Leonhart, John Clayton, Jeff Hamilton, Phil Woods, David âFathead' Newman, Rufus Reid, Jay Clayton, Mark Murphy, Marvin Stamm, and many, many others.
In 1991, she brought the whole package to New York. Some 10 years later, Dena's talent began to be widely acclaimed. As a recording artist, she has 10 CDs as a leader to her credit, all of which have received superior accolades. Cadence Magazine gave her both their Album of the Year and Best Vocal Jazz Album awards for her Sharp Nine releases "Another World" and "I Can See Clearly Now". Christopher Louden of Jazz Times says that the MaxJazz label "...takes another big leap forward" with the release of "A Walk In The Park". It also received three Grammy considerations. Two recordings released in 2007 "The Nearness of Two" (GoFour), a live duo concert recorded in Ancona, Italy with trumpeter Marvin Stamm, and a group effort recording called "A Night in Claremont" (Vega) with drummer Akira Tana, bassist Ray Drummond, tenor man Dave Ellis, highlights DeRose as a pianist, composer, arranger, and vocalist. Dena's Maxjazz CD's - "Dena DeRose â Live at Jazz Standard Volume 1 & 2" (2007 and 2008) are considered to have one of the hippest rhythm sections in today's jazz scene â drummer Matt Wilson and bassist Martin Wind â and have garnered Grammy Nominations. Live at Jazz Standard Vol. 2 has been chosen as one of the "Top 10 CD's of 2008" by All About Jazz, Downbeat Magazine, and the JJA, among others. It was in the Top 50 on the Jazzweek radio charts for over 12 weeks with outstanding reviews such as Donald Elfmans' who writes "DeRose has absorbed the best of the great ones while being her own well-defined self at all times", and Chris Andrew Hovans' "Top 10 picks for 2008" says "Of all the female Jazz vocalists out there, DeRose is the most versatile. This comes from the fact that she is an accomplished pianist and musician, not just a singer." Dena's most recent recording for Maxjazz "Travelin' Light" was released in August 2012 and has garnered top reviews in Downbeat (4 Stars), JazzIt, JazzTimes, Podium, All About Jazz, and made many 'Best Of 2012' lists online.
Her newest recording "We Won't Forget You...An Homage To Shirley Horn", for HighNote Records, released in 2014, features her trio of 15+ years (Martin Wind and Matt Wilson) with special guests Eric Alexander, Jeremy Pelt, and Gary Smulyan.
Esteemed writer, Terry Teachout of the New York Times wrote, "Dena DeRose sings Jazz as if she had been at it her whole life long, and then some". He was closer to the truth than he might have imagined. Her mother heard her picking out melodies on a toy organ when shewas three. She studied classical piano throughout her childhood, until she was enticed into the world of Jazz by playing Count Basie's music in her junior high stage band. Although self-taught, at 17 she started her jazz piano studies for a short time. She was performing anywhere she could in many styles of music, taking on private students, and practicing so many hours a day. To feed her insatiable Jazz appetite, she would drive four hours to New York City to hear piano idols Hank Jones, Mulgrew Miller, Barry Harris, and Kenny Barron, then drive back 4 hours home. It is a rare music career that isn't peppered with challenges and obstacles, and Dena's is no exceptionâher Jazz fervor led her right into a case of carpal tunnel syndrome, aggravated by arthritis, which was severe enough to require 2 surgeries, and forced her to completely give up the piano for over 2 years. With her spirit and her livelihood both in jeopardy, in a club one night, someone dared her to get up and sing a song. She did it, she liked it, and so did the audience. Dena had not only found her ticket out of the physical predicament, but, a few years later when she had recovered enough to add piano back into the act, she also discovered that the singing had helped her add lyricism and phrasing to her piano lines.
DeRose has been chosen by Downbeat's Critic's Poll as an "Artist Deserving Wider Recognition" in 2003, 2006, 2008, 2013, 2014, and 2015. All About Jazz anointed her as a "Jazz Artist of the Year" in 2003, and "Best Jazz Album" of 2007. Her CD's, A Walk in the Park, Live at Jazz Standard Vol. 1, Live at Jazz Standard Vol. 2, and "Travelin' Light", all garnered 4 stars in Downbeat, and considered for a Grammy. She has been featured on âMorning Edition' on National Public Radio, and three times on NPR's "Marian McPartlands' Piano Jazz" including the "30th Anniversary" show recorded live at Dizzy's Coca-Cola Jazz club in NYC with piano greats Kenny Barron, Mulgrew Miller, Bill Charlap, Cedar Walton, Dick Hyman, and others. Dena also appears on the CD "NPR's Piano Jazz Christmas Compilation".
Astoundingly, Dena has also found time to hone her skills as a Jazz educator, and has been on the adjunct faculty at some prestigious jazz institutes, including Manhattan School of Music, NYU, The New School, Long Island University, Purchase College in New York, The Hartt School of Music in Connecticut, and was on the faculty for 10 years at "New York Comes To Groningen" Prince Claus Conservatoire of Music in Holland. Ms. DeRose is currently tenured as the Professor of Jazz Voice at the Jazz Institute of The University of Music and Performing Arts in Graz, Austria. She frequently leads clinics and workshops at such prestigious schools and festivals at the Stanford Jazz Workshop, Centrum-Port Townsend Jazz, the Dave Brubeck Institute in Oakland, CA, The Jazz School in Berkeley, CA, Taller de Musics in Barcelona-Spain, NJPAC Jazz for Teen Program, The Litchfield Summer Jazz Camp, Jazz Camp West, JEN conferences, the Rotterdam Summer Jazz School, and The Royal Conservatory of Music in Den Haag, among others. She has served as a first round judge at the Thelonious Monk Vocal Competition and served 6 years on the NJ Star Ledger Scholarship Awards committee.
As her renown spread to the international scene, feature articles and reviews on Dena have been and continue to be published in the New York Times, Downbeat, Jazz Times, LA Times, Seattle Times, Jazz Is, Jazz Podium, France's Jazz Hot, Italy's Ancona, JazzIt, among several others. Now, Dena is making Don Heckman's (LA Times) prediction come true â that she "...has all the vocal skills needed to rise to the top level of her field". She is in demand, her passion is stronger and more visible than ever, and she consistently delights her ever-growing worldwide audiences. Alan Bargebuhr of Cadence magazine succinctly summed up the reason why... simply, she is a "...stunningly talented pianist/vocalist."
