Biography
Possessing a versatile and expressive voice suited to pop, rock, soul, blues, jazz, and country, Jenni Muldaur established herself primarily through extensive backup work while releasing solo projects at intervals. As the daughter of musicians Geoff and Maria Muldaur, she joined their performances during her teenage years and issued her first solo effort, the self-titled 1992 pop album, which carried a refined yet distinctive character. Although ensemble singing occupied most of her schedule, she still managed to complete additional solo recordings, among them the 2009 blues and R&B collection Dearest Darlin' and the 2023 country duets project Once More: Jenni Muldaur & Teddy Thompson Sing the Great Country Duets.
Born in Boston, Massachusetts, on March 29, 1965, Jenni grew up with a father who was deeply embedded in the local folk community both independently and alongside Jim Kweskin & the Jug Band. Geoff encountered Maria D'Amato after she entered that same ensemble; the pair married soon afterward and cut two joint albums, Pottery Pie in 1968 and Sweet Potatoes in 1972. Following their separation, Geoff joined Paul Butterfield's Better Days while Maria pursued a solo path that yielded the Top Ten single "Midnight at the Oasis." At age ten Jenni contributed vocals to her father's 1975 release Is Having a Wonderful Time, and she later appeared on his 1978 collaboration with guitarist Amos Garrett, Geoff & Amos, as well as the 1979 set Blues Boy.
During the 1980s Muldaur supplied backing vocals for former Romeo Void singer Debora Iyall and for Todd Rundgren, which led Reprise Records to offer her a contract. Russ Titleman, whose prior credits included work with James Taylor, Brian Wilson, Little Feat, and Paul Simon, produced the resulting 1992 album Jenni Muldaur, a sleek pop effort touched with blues elements that featured Donald Fagen, Warren Haynes, and Chuck Leavell. Although commercial returns proved limited and prompted her departure from the label, the record solidified her standing as a skilled and flexible vocalist, opening doors to regular studio and stage support roles alongside artists such as Eric Clapton, Michael McDonald, John Cale, and Marianne Faithfull. She also recorded with her parents on Geoff's 1998 album The Secret Handshake and Maria's 1996 album Fanning the Flames.
In 1999 she added harmonies to Loudon Wainwright III's Social Studies, an artist connected to her family through earlier folk circles, and subsequently became a recurring collaborator with his son Rufus Wainwright, beginning with 2003's Want One. Muldaur carved out time in 2009 for her second solo album, Dearest Darlin', a soul-infused set of R&B standards plus her original "Comatose Town." Teddy Thompson, himself the child of Richard & Linda Thompson, sang backup on the sessions, reciprocating her earlier appearances on his own records Separate Ways in 2006, A Piece of What You Need in 2008, and Bella in 2011. The two finally shared top billing in 2023 with Once More: Jenni Muldaur & Teddy Thompson Sing the Great Country Duets, which contained twelve C&W classics such as Dolly Parton & Porter Wagoner's "Just Someone I Used to Know," George Jones & Tammy Wynette's "Golden Ring," and Loretta Lynn & Conway Twitty's "After the Fire Is Gone."
Born in Boston, Massachusetts, on March 29, 1965, Jenni grew up with a father who was deeply embedded in the local folk community both independently and alongside Jim Kweskin & the Jug Band. Geoff encountered Maria D'Amato after she entered that same ensemble; the pair married soon afterward and cut two joint albums, Pottery Pie in 1968 and Sweet Potatoes in 1972. Following their separation, Geoff joined Paul Butterfield's Better Days while Maria pursued a solo path that yielded the Top Ten single "Midnight at the Oasis." At age ten Jenni contributed vocals to her father's 1975 release Is Having a Wonderful Time, and she later appeared on his 1978 collaboration with guitarist Amos Garrett, Geoff & Amos, as well as the 1979 set Blues Boy.
During the 1980s Muldaur supplied backing vocals for former Romeo Void singer Debora Iyall and for Todd Rundgren, which led Reprise Records to offer her a contract. Russ Titleman, whose prior credits included work with James Taylor, Brian Wilson, Little Feat, and Paul Simon, produced the resulting 1992 album Jenni Muldaur, a sleek pop effort touched with blues elements that featured Donald Fagen, Warren Haynes, and Chuck Leavell. Although commercial returns proved limited and prompted her departure from the label, the record solidified her standing as a skilled and flexible vocalist, opening doors to regular studio and stage support roles alongside artists such as Eric Clapton, Michael McDonald, John Cale, and Marianne Faithfull. She also recorded with her parents on Geoff's 1998 album The Secret Handshake and Maria's 1996 album Fanning the Flames.
In 1999 she added harmonies to Loudon Wainwright III's Social Studies, an artist connected to her family through earlier folk circles, and subsequently became a recurring collaborator with his son Rufus Wainwright, beginning with 2003's Want One. Muldaur carved out time in 2009 for her second solo album, Dearest Darlin', a soul-infused set of R&B standards plus her original "Comatose Town." Teddy Thompson, himself the child of Richard & Linda Thompson, sang backup on the sessions, reciprocating her earlier appearances on his own records Separate Ways in 2006, A Piece of What You Need in 2008, and Bella in 2011. The two finally shared top billing in 2023 with Once More: Jenni Muldaur & Teddy Thompson Sing the Great Country Duets, which contained twelve C&W classics such as Dolly Parton & Porter Wagoner's "Just Someone I Used to Know," George Jones & Tammy Wynette's "Golden Ring," and Loretta Lynn & Conway Twitty's "After the Fire Is Gone."