Jazz Nights: Andrea Wolper

Andrea Wolper makes her Vic’s Jazz Loft debut with her trio with Steve Sandberg (piano) and Ken Filiano (bass). A mainstay of the New York jazz scene, where she’s headlined in major clubs like the Blue Note and Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, Andrea has been lauded in the press for her “superb singing” and “gorgeous vocals,” as well as for her songwriting and arranging. "An audacious artist [who] flouts genre limitations, singing songs for the love of it and delivering an inventive, thrilling, appealing musical vision.”

https://www.tnonline.com/20240725/nyc-jazz-singer-to-swing-into-vics/

Although vocalist, composer, and arranger ANDREA WOLPER started her professional career singing jazz standards, her eclectic tastes and multidisciplinary talents have led her to forge her own path. Her newest recording, WANDERLUST, is an apt title for her peregrinations down the byways of improvisatory vocal jazz.

Working  frequently as both leader and side-person, Andrea is "an audacious  artist [who] flouts genre limitations, singing songs for the love of it  and delivering an inventive, thrilling, appealing musical vision.”   One of the singers covered in The Jazz Singers: The Ultimate Guide (Yanow,  Backbeat Books), she is “a brilliant musical storyteller” who “brings  songs to life, whatever their source,” and “a terrific arranger, taking  new paths rather than expected ones.” Her jazz songwriting has been called “easily superior,” and she has been awarded a number of composing residencies.

Wanderlust (Moonflower Music) is Wolper’s fourth album as a leader, following Parallel Lives (Jazzed Media, 2011), The Small Hours (VarisOne.Jazz 2005), and her self-titled debut, Andrea Wolper (1998).  A mainstay of the New York jazz scene, she has appeared in top clubs including the Blue Note, Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, Birdland, Mezzrow, the  55 Bar, Zinc Bar, and innumerable others. She tours in the U.S. and abroad, and records and performs for other artists across jazz genres,  from holding a vocal chair with the straight-ahead Heavenly Big Band to appearing in several performance and recording projects of free jazz bassist William Parker. She was a member of Jay Clayton's Different  Voices performing group, and of the collective improvising trio, TranceFormation, with Connie Crothers and Ken Filiano.   Andrea  is a past President of International Women in Jazz, and served on the  Advisory Board of the Jazz Vocal Coalition. She created and curated the  "Why Not Experiment?" series at Whynot Jazz Room in New York City.  Andrea offers singing lessons in her private studio, conducts clinics in jazz vocal performance, and teaches classes on songwriting and improvisation.

Fun Facts: Andrea is an accomplished writer whose journalism and poetry have appeared in numerous publications. Among her works are two books, "Women's Rights, Human Rights: International Feminist Perspectives" (with Julie S. Peters; Routledge) and "The Actor's City Sourcebook"  (Watson-Guptill). In addition, she's spent time on the stage and came to New York from her native California to attend the prestigious  Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre. She earned a black belt in  Shotokan Karate and has two dust-gathering trophies to tell the tale.  She even has an IMDB listing.