From the sensuous "Blame it on My Youth," the flirty "Surrey With the Fringe on Top," to the sultry "Am I Blue," vocalist PJ Parker displays her unique interpretation of some of the most beloved selections from the Great American Songbook.

16 MP3 Songs
JAZZ: Jazz Vocals, JAZZ: Smooth Jazz



Details:
You could say PJ Parkerâs path was revealed at age three, when she made her first improvised recording, a rendition of Mel Torme's "The Christmas Song."

The native New Yorkerâs first taste of performing in front of a live audience came a little later, around age five, in several Long Island restaurants. Much to the chagrin of her parents, she would frequently disappear, only to be discovered politely taking requests, her remuneration a fat green or black olive from the relish tray. Her love of olives continues to this day.

PJ has taken her innate love of performing and combined it with the benefits of a lifelong exposure to jazz to produce âIntimate,â a live recording of some of the most popular selections from the Great American Songbook. Accompanied simply by piano, PJ brings her unique perspective to classics such as âIâve Grown Accustomed to His Face,â âAll of Me,â âSentimental Journeyâ and âSummertime.â

From producing neighborhood backyard traveling shows to church and school solo performances as a child and teenager, PJ went on to New York University to major in vocal music, studying the classics in five languages, and went on the road after graduation. Her touring with various show bands took her up and down the East Coast, Midwest and an extended stay in the Bahamas.

Performing in concerts, dinner theater, summer stock and regional theater and musical reviews -- favorites including Jacques Brel Is Alive and Well and Living In Paris, 110 in the Shade, and Pippin -- PJ has also been the featured vocalist with orchestras and bands from Atlantic City to New York City.

As a jazz vocalist, PJ has performed with such artists as Jerry Bruno, Roy Cumming, Steve Gilmore, Harry Leahy, Keith MacDonald, Gary Mazzaroppi, Geary Moore, Rich Reiter and Radam Schwartz. She has also been the featured vocalist for the opening act bands for John Pizzarelli and Harry Connick Jr., and appeared in the annual Philadelphia Variety Club Telethon with Ben Vereen and Maureen McGovern. She was also the featured female vocalist in the big band show, "Your Seaside Ballroom," which received rave reviews at the Trump Plaza Theater in Atlantic City.

With her first live CD, "Intimate," PJ honors her father, jazz pianist Tom Parker, whose early influence led her to Frank Sinatra, the Hi-Lo's, Sarah Vaughn, Carmen MacRae and Tony Bennett. The "Intimate" collection is culled from months of live recordings at Rosse's, a quiet little restaurant that was nestled in the Watchung Mountains of New Jersey.

Accompanied by the creative stylings of Vinnie Ruggieri and John Bianculli, the "Intimate" songs are a microcosm of the many she learned hearing her father play or sing or embrace and a tribute to the simple magic of piano and voice.