Melissa Walker

After earning her degree from Brown University, jazz vocalist Melissa Walker briefly weighed entering the legal field before choosing instead to begin performing as a singer in Washington, D.C., starting in 1990. While still based there, she self-produced her debut recording Little Wishes in 1993 and sold copies directly to listeners at her concerts. Following a move to the New York area, she trained under Norman Simmons. She secured a contract with Enja Records in 1997, resulting in the album May I Feel, which came out first in Germany. To widen her reach onstage, she formed her own ensemble and also joined performances by the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra led by Wynton Marsalis. Her initial commercial U.S. release, Moment of Truth, arrived in 1999, with I Saw the Sky following two years later.