Nancy Kelly

With a warm, buttery tone and smooth agility, Nancy Kelly's voice fits seamlessly into vocalese and her refined interpretations of standards that anchor most of her work. Trained across classical piano, voice, drama, and dance, this versatile performer occasionally doubles on instruments during club appearances while collaborating with icons including Benny Goodman, Nelson Riddle, and Peter Erskine. Her first release, the 1988 concert album Live Jazz, reached the Billboard jazz chart, paving the way for later projects such as the buoyant Singin' & Swingin' in 1997, B That Way in 2014, and the 2022 single "Jazz Woman," which paired her with a seven-piece ensemble on two original compositions.

Raised in Rochester, New York during the 1950s, Kelly began formal musical studies at age four on classical piano before adding clarinet instruction along with drama and dance training. Only as a college student at the Eastman School of Music did she pursue vocal studies, where she discovered her path as a singer. Early professional experience came as the house vocalist at Philadelphia's jazz venue Jewels, sharing stages with figures like Betty Carter, Etta Jones, and Joey DeFrancesco.

She captured Live Jazz in a Hollywood session alongside pianist Biff Hannon, bassist Tom Warrington, drummer Peter Erskine, and saxophonist Ernie Watts. The collection of standards featured "Over the Rainbow" and "Almost Like Being in Love" and climbed to number 11 on the Billboard jazz chart.

For Singin' & Swingin', Kelly assembled more than a dozen musicians, among them guitarist Steve Brown, drummer Danny D'Imperio, and saxophonist Bobby Militello. Seeking varied moods across tracks, the set incorporated a version of Chaka Khan's "Through the Fire" alongside material from Cole Porter, Fats Waller, and Duke Pearson before its 1997 release on Amherst Records.

Her subsequent recording assembled pianist Dino Losito, bassist Neil Minor, drummer Mark Taylor, and tenor saxophonist Houston Person. Among its jazz standards stood a treatment of Billy Joel's "New York State of Mind." Issued in 2009 on the Saying It with Jazz imprint, Well, Alright! was tracked in Washington State under producer Joan Merrill, again featuring Person together with pianist Randy Halberstadt, bassist Jeff Johnson, and drummer Gary Hobbs.

While headlining at such storied New York rooms as the Blue Note, Birdland, and the Rainbow Room, plus festival dates, tours, and symphony orchestra engagements, Kelly entered the studio for 2014's B That Way on BlueBay Records. The sessions enlisted guitarist Peter Bernstein, drummer Carmen Intorre, Jr., tenor saxophonist Jerry Weldon, and Losito on Hammond B-3. Two years later she issued the 2019 Subcat tribute Remembering Mark Murphy, honoring the mentor she regards as her favorite singer; the album included Brown, Intorre, and John Di Martino, who served as producer, arranger, and pianist.

In 2022 Kelly returned to Subcat with the paired originals "Jazz Woman" and "Move Over." Captured at Teaneck Sound in New Jersey, the tracks featured Di Martino, Intorre, bassist Ed Howard, saxophonist Harry Allen, trumpeter Freddie Hendrix, guitarist Wesley Amorim, and vibraphonist Jimmy Johns. The pandemic's extra time allowed her to revisit earlier material, signaling further original work ahead.