Kate Hammett-Vaughan

Kate Hammett-Vaughan stands among Canada’s leading jazz vocalists, thanks to her luminous tone, command of diverse repertoire, and knack for shaping the contributions of her accompanists. Raised amid an eclectic household soundtrack, she launched her career at fifteen by performing with her brother’s rock groups. At nineteen, while attending Acadia University, she shifted toward acoustic music by founding the swing ensemble JADA, which interpreted standards and blues material. A regular engagement alongside saxophonist Bucky Adams soon followed. Under her own name she has released multiple recordings, notably the 1999 album How My Heart Sings and the 2002 collection Devil May Care; both sets present pop and jazz standards rendered in a voice as transparent as a Canadian lake.

Her early approach drew influence from Ella Fitzgerald and Cleo Laine. Exposure to contemporary stylists Jay Clayton and Sheila Jordan, with whom she also studied, steered her toward a modern jazz idiom in which traces of the avant-garde sometimes surface. Her improvisational language further reflects the example of Maggie Nicols and Phil Minton, yet she keeps such explorations intelligible to listeners. Beyond her activities as a bandleader, she has contributed to projects fronted by others and to various film soundtracks. Festival appearances include the du Maurier Ltd International Jazz Festival with her sextet, Seattle’s Earshot Jazz Festival alongside the NOW Orchestra, and additional events throughout the Vancouver region. She reciprocates to the local scene through teaching and through program notes written for the Vancouver International Jazz Festival. Her personal listening encompasses both canonical jazz figures and traditions from other cultures, elements that may surface in subsequent recordings.