Biography
Vocalist Gretchen Parlato stands out as an innovative artist celebrated for her relaxed, close-up delivery and masterful command. She regularly fuses her diverse sonic backgrounds into a fresh strain of inventive, present-day jazz. What surfaces time and again is her shape-shifting skill at completely embodying whichever pieces she elects to interpret. The 2005 self-titled debut presented her interpretations of material from Hoagy Carmichael, Björk, Antonio Carlos Jobim, and Wayne Shorter. Production and arrangement partnerships with Robert Glasper shaped 2009's In a Dream. She helmed the wide-ranging The Lost and Found in 2011, interpreting Miles Davis' "Blue in Green" alongside Simply Red's "Holding Back the Years." During the same period she contributed vocals to both of Esperanza Spalding's Music Society albums. An all-star ensemble that featured her husband, drummer Mark Giuliana, appeared on 2013's Live in NYC. After a prolonged hiatus following the birth of her first child, Parlato reemerged with the pop- and Brazilian-tinged Flor in early 2021, then joined Lionel Loueke for 2023's Lean In. Grammy nominations went to both releases.
Parlato, a Los Angeles, California native, grew up in a household steeped in music. She is the offspring of elite session and soundtrack bassist Dave Parlato as well as the grandchild of trumpeter and vocalist Charlie Parlato. One formative listening experience involved browsing her mother's record shelves and discovering the 1963 album Getz/Gilberto. Captivated by its artwork, she played the LP and developed a deep affinity for bossa nova together with the timbre of Joao Gilberto's voice. She was 13. While enrolled at Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, Parlato undertook formal musical training. Upon completion she attended UCLA, where she obtained a bachelor's degree in Ethnomusicology and Jazz Studies.
Parlato earned admission in 2001 as the first vocalist accepted into the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance. Herbie Hancock, Terence Blanchard, and Wayne Shorter sat on the judging panel. She relocated to New York City two years afterward. In 2004 Parlato captured first place at the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Vocals Competition. Quincy Jones, Flora Purim, Al Jarreau, Kurt Elling, Dee Dee Bridgewater, and Jimmy Scott served on that panel. The ensuing year she released her independently issued self-titled debut. Pianist Aaron Parks, guitarist Lionel Loueke, and bassist Massimo Biolcati formed the group, delivering American standards, signature bossa novas, a medley of Wayne Shorter's "Juju"/"Footprints" (with lyrics added by Parlato), two Loueke compositions, and a rendition of Björk's "Come to Me."
Parlato also joined Terence Blanchard that year on the Blue Note release Flow, launching an abundant phase of guest-vocalist work. She toured and recorded over the subsequent two years with Loueke, Gregoire Maret, and Sean Jones. Parlato appeared on bassist Esperanza Spalding's debut and pianist Kenny Barron's The Traveler in 2008. Opportunities expanded thereafter, resulting in her presence as collaborator and guest on dozens of recordings since.
In 2009 Parlato issued In a Dream, her second album and first for ObliqSound. Loueke and Parks joined bassist Derrick Hodge and drummer Kendrick Scott in the lineup. Parlato handled arrangements for seven of the ten selections. The project landed on numerous year-end and critics' best-of lists while NPR's music staff also named it among 2009's standout jazz albums. The singer appeared on Spalding's Grammy-winning Chamber Music Society in 2010.
Parlato delivered her self-produced third album, Lost and Found, for ObliqSound in 2011. Pianists Robert Glasper (also executive producer) and Taylor Eigsti, saxophonist Dayna Stephens, guitarist Alan Hampton, plus the returning Hodge and Scott formed the ensemble. She composed two pieces and spotlighted works by Stephens, Eigsti, and fellow musician Ambrose Akinmusire, along with a fresh treatment of Shorter's "Juju." The recording remained on the jazz albums charts for 34 weeks and reached number two. Jazz Times named her Best Female Vocalist, she received an ASCAP Award of Merit for Songwriting, and early the next year the Jazz Journalists Association again voted her Best Female Vocalist. Parlato and her band subsequently toured jazz festivals throughout the States, Asia, and Europe.
She reunited with Spalding the following year on the double Grammy-winning Radio Music Society. In addition to her own touring over the next two years, Parlato appeared on projects led by Stephens, Loueke, Joe Sanders, Marcus Miller, and Nilson Matta.
Parlato issued the live audio/video album Live in NYC in 2013, drawn from a Rockwood Hall concert the prior year. Material spanning her catalog filled the program. Two trios accompanied her. Eigsti performed piano throughout. One rhythm section paired drummer Scott with bassist Burniss Earl Travis II, while her husband, drummer Mark Giuliana, and bassist Hampton formed the other. The set reached number 12 on the jazz albums chart and brought a Grammy Award nomination. Parlato welcomed a child in 2015, moved back to Los Angeles, and stepped away from recording for the next six years. She continued making occasional guest appearances, however, adding vocals to Shai Maestro's The Stone Skipper, Nate Smith's Kinfolk: Postcards from Everywhere, Joel Ross' Kingmaker, and Keiko Matsui's Echo.
Parlato also formed a new international quartet. Based in L.A., the group featured Brazilian guitarist Marcel Camargo (Michael Bublé, Herb Alpert), Brazilian drummer/percussionist Léo Costa (Sergio Mendes, Bébel Gilberto), and Armenian cellist Artyom Manukyan (Melody Gardot, Kamasi Washington). This ensemble entered the studio in late 2019 and early 2020 with Giuliana, pianist Gerald Clayton, and Airto Moreira in guest capacities. The resulting Grammy-nominated Flor, produced by the singer and released by Edition in February 2021, contained nine tracks of originals—including lead single "Wonderful"—plus covers such as Anita Baker's "Sweet Love" and "É Preciso Perdoar." Carlos Coqueijo and Alcyvando Luz wrote the latter, a favored early-'70s vehicle for João Gilberto, the very vocalist whose voice had inspired the 13-year-old Parlato to pursue music. Lean In, a collaboration with guitarist Lionel Loueke, appeared in May 2023. It earned another Grammy nomination and included contributions from percussionist Guiliana, bassist Burniss Travis, plus vocals from the singer's son, Marley Guiliana, and Loueke's daughter, Lisa.
Parlato, a Los Angeles, California native, grew up in a household steeped in music. She is the offspring of elite session and soundtrack bassist Dave Parlato as well as the grandchild of trumpeter and vocalist Charlie Parlato. One formative listening experience involved browsing her mother's record shelves and discovering the 1963 album Getz/Gilberto. Captivated by its artwork, she played the LP and developed a deep affinity for bossa nova together with the timbre of Joao Gilberto's voice. She was 13. While enrolled at Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, Parlato undertook formal musical training. Upon completion she attended UCLA, where she obtained a bachelor's degree in Ethnomusicology and Jazz Studies.
Parlato earned admission in 2001 as the first vocalist accepted into the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance. Herbie Hancock, Terence Blanchard, and Wayne Shorter sat on the judging panel. She relocated to New York City two years afterward. In 2004 Parlato captured first place at the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Vocals Competition. Quincy Jones, Flora Purim, Al Jarreau, Kurt Elling, Dee Dee Bridgewater, and Jimmy Scott served on that panel. The ensuing year she released her independently issued self-titled debut. Pianist Aaron Parks, guitarist Lionel Loueke, and bassist Massimo Biolcati formed the group, delivering American standards, signature bossa novas, a medley of Wayne Shorter's "Juju"/"Footprints" (with lyrics added by Parlato), two Loueke compositions, and a rendition of Björk's "Come to Me."
Parlato also joined Terence Blanchard that year on the Blue Note release Flow, launching an abundant phase of guest-vocalist work. She toured and recorded over the subsequent two years with Loueke, Gregoire Maret, and Sean Jones. Parlato appeared on bassist Esperanza Spalding's debut and pianist Kenny Barron's The Traveler in 2008. Opportunities expanded thereafter, resulting in her presence as collaborator and guest on dozens of recordings since.
In 2009 Parlato issued In a Dream, her second album and first for ObliqSound. Loueke and Parks joined bassist Derrick Hodge and drummer Kendrick Scott in the lineup. Parlato handled arrangements for seven of the ten selections. The project landed on numerous year-end and critics' best-of lists while NPR's music staff also named it among 2009's standout jazz albums. The singer appeared on Spalding's Grammy-winning Chamber Music Society in 2010.
Parlato delivered her self-produced third album, Lost and Found, for ObliqSound in 2011. Pianists Robert Glasper (also executive producer) and Taylor Eigsti, saxophonist Dayna Stephens, guitarist Alan Hampton, plus the returning Hodge and Scott formed the ensemble. She composed two pieces and spotlighted works by Stephens, Eigsti, and fellow musician Ambrose Akinmusire, along with a fresh treatment of Shorter's "Juju." The recording remained on the jazz albums charts for 34 weeks and reached number two. Jazz Times named her Best Female Vocalist, she received an ASCAP Award of Merit for Songwriting, and early the next year the Jazz Journalists Association again voted her Best Female Vocalist. Parlato and her band subsequently toured jazz festivals throughout the States, Asia, and Europe.
She reunited with Spalding the following year on the double Grammy-winning Radio Music Society. In addition to her own touring over the next two years, Parlato appeared on projects led by Stephens, Loueke, Joe Sanders, Marcus Miller, and Nilson Matta.
Parlato issued the live audio/video album Live in NYC in 2013, drawn from a Rockwood Hall concert the prior year. Material spanning her catalog filled the program. Two trios accompanied her. Eigsti performed piano throughout. One rhythm section paired drummer Scott with bassist Burniss Earl Travis II, while her husband, drummer Mark Giuliana, and bassist Hampton formed the other. The set reached number 12 on the jazz albums chart and brought a Grammy Award nomination. Parlato welcomed a child in 2015, moved back to Los Angeles, and stepped away from recording for the next six years. She continued making occasional guest appearances, however, adding vocals to Shai Maestro's The Stone Skipper, Nate Smith's Kinfolk: Postcards from Everywhere, Joel Ross' Kingmaker, and Keiko Matsui's Echo.
Parlato also formed a new international quartet. Based in L.A., the group featured Brazilian guitarist Marcel Camargo (Michael Bublé, Herb Alpert), Brazilian drummer/percussionist Léo Costa (Sergio Mendes, Bébel Gilberto), and Armenian cellist Artyom Manukyan (Melody Gardot, Kamasi Washington). This ensemble entered the studio in late 2019 and early 2020 with Giuliana, pianist Gerald Clayton, and Airto Moreira in guest capacities. The resulting Grammy-nominated Flor, produced by the singer and released by Edition in February 2021, contained nine tracks of originals—including lead single "Wonderful"—plus covers such as Anita Baker's "Sweet Love" and "É Preciso Perdoar." Carlos Coqueijo and Alcyvando Luz wrote the latter, a favored early-'70s vehicle for João Gilberto, the very vocalist whose voice had inspired the 13-year-old Parlato to pursue music. Lean In, a collaboration with guitarist Lionel Loueke, appeared in May 2023. It earned another Grammy nomination and included contributions from percussionist Guiliana, bassist Burniss Travis, plus vocals from the singer's son, Marley Guiliana, and Loueke's daughter, Lisa.
Albums
Singles
