If Keith fired Mick and decided to let Tina Turner front the band with Gram Parsons riding shotgun, they would sound a lot like Queen Esther.

12 MP3 Songs
ROCK: Americana, BLUES: Electric Blues



Details:
Queen Esther's unique sound -- Black Americana -- is a hybrid of the music that raised her: 70's country blues-rock, sanctified gospel and old timey twang.

Queen Esther stepped out of her Low Country childhood and took her classically trained four octave range from a performing arts high school in Atlanta, GA to Austin, TX quickly becoming a local/regional favorite as a vocalist and performer/entertainer on the alternative theater scene and as a member of RoTel and the Hot Tomatoes. After relocating to Harlem, her work as a vocalist, lyricist/writer, songwriter and actor/solo performer led to creative collaborations in neo-vaudeville, alternative theater, various alt-rock configurations, (neo) swing bands, trip hop DJs, spoken word performances, jazz combos, jam bands, various blues configurations, original Off Broadway plays and musicals, experimental music/art noise and performance art.

As Queen Esther's distinct sound -- Black Americana -- began to emerge through performing and recording her ideas, she also formed creative collaborations with guitarist/multi-instrumentalist Elliot Sharp (their critically acclaimed effort "Mighty" on the now defunct Homestead Records is available as a German import) and jazz guitar icon James "Blood" Ulmer, performing throughout Europe and Scandanavia. Her featured vocals on his recent release "No Escape From The Blues" (Hyena), produced by Vernon Reid (Living Colour), garnered national/international critical praise while earning a spot in Rolling Stone's pick of The Best 50 CDs of 2003. On their latest effort, "Blues & Grass: The 52nd Street Blues Project" (Chesky) a black folk oddysey produced by and featuring Mr. Ulmer, Queen Esther writes several songs and performs alongside Charles Burnham, Mark Petersen and Aubrey Dale.

Queen Esther also sings regularly in New York City with composer/pianist JC Hopkins' Biggish Band "Champagne Fountain of Joy", a thirteen piece line-up of celebrated New York City musicians (Patience Higgins, James Zollar, Vincent Chancey) and guest vocalists (Madelene Peroux, Norah Jones, Syd Straw) that features original swing tunes and hard bop. Their debut CD "Underneath A Brooklyn Moon" is to be released in January on Tigerlily Records.

Armed with her own songs and a diverse array of seasoned musicians (Marvyn Sewell/Cassandra Wilson, Sebastian Steinberg/Soul Coughing, Kelvyn Bell/Defunkt, Booker King/Sandra St. Victor, Boo Reiners/Demolition String Band), Queen Esther started her own label and released "Talkin' Fishbowl Blues" (EL Recordings), her full-length debut CD of Black Americana. Rooted in her Southern upbringing, infused by her Texas experiences and nurtured on the world famous stages and venues in New York City, Queen Esther is poised to bring a new sound to the world.