Though sharing a name with the Philadelphia-born actress who became Princess Grace of Monaco before dying in 1982, the Grace Kelly described here works as a straight-ahead jazz saxophonist and singer whose catalog already contained multiple albums by age 16. A native of New England, she centers her playing on alto saxophone while also handling tenor and soprano models along with clarinet, flute, acoustic piano, and drums. She occasionally sets the horn aside to vocalize, yet her core identity remains that of an instrumentalist. Her sets encompass original pieces and jazz or Tin Pan Alley standards, yet she also reaches into rock and R&B; among her recorded material are several Beatles songs as well as jazz treatments of Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine” and Stevie Wonder’s “Signed, Sealed, Delivered, I’m Yours.” On alto her principal influences include Charlie Parker, Jackie McLean, Phil Woods, Sonny Stitt, and Cannonball Adderley, while tenor and soprano work reveals traces of Wayne Shorter, John Coltrane, and Stan Getz. She has stated that exposure to Getz—whose recordings her mother often played at home—prompted her childhood decision to begin playing saxophone.
The Asian-American improviser was born Grace Chung in Wellesley, Massachusetts, on May 15, 1992. Both biological parents are Korean; she acquired the surname Kelly after her mother’s remarriage and her subsequent legal adoption by stepfather Robert Kelly. Mother Irene Chung Kelly actively supported her musical development: at six she began classical piano lessons, and at seven she composed the song “On My Way Home.” In fourth grade she took up clarinet before switching to saxophone; although classically trained, she directed her primary attention to jazz. She pursued jazz studies at the New England Conservatory Prep School and at Berklee College of Music in Boston, where veteran alto saxophonist Lee Konitz numbered among her instructors. Additional encounters with prominent altoists occurred when she sat in with Phil Woods and the late Frank Morgan during their New England appearances. Music teacher Ken Berman urged her to document her playing while still a pre-teen; at age 12 she recorded and self-released her debut album, Dreaming, on the Pazz Productions label. Later Pazz releases comprised the two-CD set Times Too in 2005, Every Road I Walked in 2006, the co-led date Graceful-Lee with Konitz in 2008, and Mood Changes in 2009. She reached the age of 17 on May 15, 2009.
