Karen Gallinger

Karen Gallinger's route to jazz singing wound through cello performances during grade school, choir and madrigal singing in high school, and college studies in music and theater. Her jazz career began in 1975 with guitarist Carl Verheyen. In the 1980s she opened for Tony Bennett, Toni Tennille, and Kenny Rankin. During the 1990s she performed at jazz festivals in Fullerton, Costa Mesa, and Santa Ana, California. Every year since 1985 Gallinger has appeared at Costa Mesa's The Bash. She took the lead role in the 1996 musical Is It Just Me or Is It Hot in Here. In 1991 she served as featured vocalist for the John Parker Big Band Tribute to Duke Ellington, an all-star ensemble that included veteran jazz masters Buddy Collette and Plas Johnson. Her two albums, Live at the Jazz Bakery (1997) and My Foolish Heart (1998), revealed an ease with material ranging from swing and blues to contemporary pop delivered with a jazz inflection. Equipped with a Sarah Vaughan-like range, fluid movement across octaves, and strong phrasing and diction, Gallinger has become recognized as a must-hear jazz diva.