Lisa Bell

Lisa Bell entered the world and grew up in Boulder, Colorado, where exposure to concerts by Dionne Warwick and Ella Fitzgerald at age six sparked her earliest vocal interest. School choirs provided her first ensemble experience, and as a high schooler she was chosen for the jazz choral group Excalibur, whose repertoire drew from the Manhattan Transfer and Lambert, Hendricks & Ross. A scholarship took her to the Conservatory of Music at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, from which she received a B.A. in Communications and Vocal Performance. After settling in Kansas City she accepted an array of vocal assignments that ranged from studio and jingle sessions to stage roles in musicals and backup work for Bobby McFerrin on tour. Returning to Colorado, she joined the Colorado Symphony Chorus, the Boulder Philharmonic Chorus, and the vocal jazz quartet Jazz on the Rocks. Hapi Skratch Records released her debut album, Dare to Be..., in 2002, presenting her interpretations of jazz standards such as "Summertime" and "Do Nothin' Till You Hear from Me," which in turn generated club dates and festival appearances. For the follow-up, It's All About Love (2005), she wrote most of the songs herself and introduced instruments uncommon in jazz, among them a Dobro and a pedal steel guitar.