Biography
One of Jodi Stevens' press releases characterized her debut jazz album, Girl Talk, with the phrase "Ann-Margret crashing a Blue Note session," and that description holds a measure of accuracy. Although the East Coast singer/actress is capable of navigating jazz, she does not approach the idiom with the same intensity as Kitty Margolis, Judi Silvano, Karrin Allyson, Carla White, and Judy Niemack; instead, her performances consistently reflect an awareness of cabaret, Broadway, and pre-rock traditional pop. Stevens swings without veering into abstract, cerebral, or single-minded bop territory and does not project the image of a vocalist eager to scat through Charlie Parker's "Ornithology" or the Thelonious Monk songbook. Her phrasing draws on Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, and Julie London while remaining equally attuned to Doris Day, Peggy Lee, Tin Pan Alley, Broadway musicals, and the already-mentioned Ann-Margret. Those theatrical instincts arise directly from her extensive stage background; she compiled a substantial résumé as an on-stage actress long before committing any jazz material to disc.
Born in New Jersey, Stevens passed much of her childhood and adolescence in nearby Pennsylvania and completed high school in Bryn Mawr, PA, an affluent suburb along Philadelphia's Main Line. At 17 she placed as runner-up in the Miss Philadelphia Pageant. She subsequently enrolled at Penn State University as a theater major; by graduation she had auditioned successfully for an off-Broadway production titled My Name Is Pablo Picasso. That role led to additional off-Broadway appearances and, eventually, her Broadway debut in Jekyll & Hyde. She portrayed Marlene Dietrich in pop singer Barry Manilow's Harmony and took the lead role of Pam in Urban Cowboy, which originated off-Broadway in 2002 before transferring to Broadway the following year. Stevens has also appeared in feature films such as Abel Ferrara's The Funeral and the thriller Decadent, as well as on television programs including Sex and the City, Central Park West (in a recurring capacity), Law and Order, Tribeca, and ABC-TV's long-running daytime serial All My Children. In 2002 she signed with the New York-based Sons of Sound label and made her first jazz-oriented recording, Girl Talk.
Born in New Jersey, Stevens passed much of her childhood and adolescence in nearby Pennsylvania and completed high school in Bryn Mawr, PA, an affluent suburb along Philadelphia's Main Line. At 17 she placed as runner-up in the Miss Philadelphia Pageant. She subsequently enrolled at Penn State University as a theater major; by graduation she had auditioned successfully for an off-Broadway production titled My Name Is Pablo Picasso. That role led to additional off-Broadway appearances and, eventually, her Broadway debut in Jekyll & Hyde. She portrayed Marlene Dietrich in pop singer Barry Manilow's Harmony and took the lead role of Pam in Urban Cowboy, which originated off-Broadway in 2002 before transferring to Broadway the following year. Stevens has also appeared in feature films such as Abel Ferrara's The Funeral and the thriller Decadent, as well as on television programs including Sex and the City, Central Park West (in a recurring capacity), Law and Order, Tribeca, and ABC-TV's long-running daytime serial All My Children. In 2002 she signed with the New York-based Sons of Sound label and made her first jazz-oriented recording, Girl Talk.
Albums