Biography
Madeline Eastman has built a jazz singing career that kept her rooted in her native region while reaching listeners across the globe, issuing a sequence of independently produced and widely praised albums rather than working with a major record company. She entered the world on June 27, 1954, in San Francisco, California, absorbing pop songs broadcast on the radio that featured Barbra Streisand, Jack Jones, Vic Damone, and Eydie Gorme. During her final year of high school she watched the motion picture Lady Sings the Blues, which introduced her to Billie Holiday; she subsequently took music courses at San Francisco State University and began sitting in at neighborhood jam sessions. Early guidance from vocal coach Charles Richards steered her toward authentic jazz singing, after which she made her first appearance on record with the Full Faith & Credit Big Band, started working with Palo Alto-based trumpeter Tom Harrell, and later shared stages and studios with veterans such as Phil Woods, Cedar Walton, Kenny Barron, Mike Wofford, the Turtle Island String Quartet, Tony Williams, Rufus Reid, Matt Wilson, and vocal mentor Mark Murphy. Barron and Eastman also joined forces for a project backed by the fifty-piece Netherlands Metropole Orchestra based in Amsterdam. In 1990 she and Kitty Margolis established the Mad-Kat imprint, giving both artists complete freedom to record without external commercial or creative pressures. Eastman has additionally served on the administrative staff of the long-running San Francisco Jazz Festival.
A recording that proved decisive for her growth in composition, arrangements, and phrasing was Miles Davis’ Filles de Kilimanjaro; thereafter Eastman’s handling of time, dynamics, and pitch transformed her into a vocalist inclined to take risks instead of adhering to familiar standard approaches. Her first album, Point of Departure, appeared in 1990 and was succeeded by Mad About Madeline! in 1991, Art Attack in 1994, and the 2001 collection Bare, which focused on ballads. Expanding her song choices, she incorporated Brazilian and soul/R&B material on the 2003 release Speed of Life, which included contributions from Reid, Akira Tana, pianist Randy Porter, percussionist Michael Spiro, and trumpeter Mike Olmos. Eastman has earned recognition in Down Beat’s annual Talent Deserving Wider Recognition poll and has twice been ranked among the leading female jazz vocalists. She has performed internationally in Japan, Finland, Sweden, Germany, and Scotland as well as in New York City clubs and festivals near her West Coast base. She has further distinguished herself as a lyricist, supplying original words to several contemporary jazz standards, and has created arrangements for a substantial portion of her material. Beyond her own performances she has led numerous clinics, serves as director of the Stanford Jazz Workshop, holds the position of artistic director at Jazzcamp West, oversees touring educational programs for the Monterey Jazz Festival, and presents her own VoiceShop retreats.
A recording that proved decisive for her growth in composition, arrangements, and phrasing was Miles Davis’ Filles de Kilimanjaro; thereafter Eastman’s handling of time, dynamics, and pitch transformed her into a vocalist inclined to take risks instead of adhering to familiar standard approaches. Her first album, Point of Departure, appeared in 1990 and was succeeded by Mad About Madeline! in 1991, Art Attack in 1994, and the 2001 collection Bare, which focused on ballads. Expanding her song choices, she incorporated Brazilian and soul/R&B material on the 2003 release Speed of Life, which included contributions from Reid, Akira Tana, pianist Randy Porter, percussionist Michael Spiro, and trumpeter Mike Olmos. Eastman has earned recognition in Down Beat’s annual Talent Deserving Wider Recognition poll and has twice been ranked among the leading female jazz vocalists. She has performed internationally in Japan, Finland, Sweden, Germany, and Scotland as well as in New York City clubs and festivals near her West Coast base. She has further distinguished herself as a lyricist, supplying original words to several contemporary jazz standards, and has created arrangements for a substantial portion of her material. Beyond her own performances she has led numerous clinics, serves as director of the Stanford Jazz Workshop, holds the position of artistic director at Jazzcamp West, oversees touring educational programs for the Monterey Jazz Festival, and presents her own VoiceShop retreats.
Albums