Acid jazz, neo-soul, jazz and brazillian jazz influences. Emotional, passionate, and funky. Trip hop on a jazz tip.

12 MP3 Songs
URBAN/R&B: R&B Pop Crossover, JAZZ: Acid Jazz



Details:
Monica Marquis is an independent neo-soul/jazz musician based in San Jose, CA. She performs her own original music, singing and playing keyboard with her quartet locally, and has sold CDs internationally. In her live show, she also performs crowd-pleasing Monica-esque renditions of R&B/soul hits by artist like Bill Withers, Sade, Al Green and Aretha Franklin.

Her unique and velvety vocals combined with a powerful vocal range can be best described as a mixture of Teena Marie meets Lisa Stansfield, with a touch of India Ari in the mix. Her composition style has been compared to that of Steely Dan and John Mayer, but wrapped a blanket of feminine sensuality.

Monica studied classical piano from age 7-21, after which she majored in music at San Jose State University where she studied jazz piano, jazz singing, and improvised music of world cultures. Her focus was on vocal performance, but she also studied Brazilian, Afro-Cuban, and West African percussion.

Monica has been performing for over a decade in cafes, clubs, restaurant lounges, festivals, and private events in the Bay Area. She also works as a studio vocalist.

With musical influences ranging from Pop to Punk, Brazilian Jazz to Electronica and Trip-Hop, Monica finds herself fascinated with modern-day singer/songwriters who fuse these genres. She is inspired by these artists, and hopes to follow in their footsteps breaking new ground in music.

Monica Marquis is so far living up to the dream, as her emotional album "This is Me" provides a crossover of genres, colors and moods. Audiences find her music catchy and even addictive to listen to. And they will be thrilled to know she is working on songs already for her next album.