Paula Atherton

Saxophonist and vocalist Paula Atherton crafts contemporary jazz marked by soulful grooves along with blues, Latin, and R&B touches. She first surfaced in the New York region during the early 2000s and has appeared onstage alongside figures such as Gerald Albright, the Rippingtons, and Hiroshima. In close partnership with guitarist and producer Nick Colionne she has delivered multiple Top 20 Billboard Smooth Jazz tracks, among them “Sassy Strut” from the 2013 album Enjoy the Ride and “My Song for You” from 2018’s Shake It.

A New York native, Atherton began voice and flute lessons at age nine and took up the saxophone in high school. During those teenage years she cultivated a passion for jazz through repeated listening to Charlie Parker, Billie Holiday, Cannonball Adderley, and David Sanborn. Following graduation she pursued private study with several prominent jazz musicians, including Lee Konitz and Bob Mintzer. She soon performed throughout the New York City area and served as leader of the house band for the Lifetime cable comedy program Girls’ Night Out. Her solo career opened with the 2001 release Let Me Inside Your Love. The 2009 follow-up Groove with Me included appearances by guitarist Chieli Minucci, trumpeter Greg Adams, and pianist Onaje Allan Gumbs.

Enjoy the Ride, her third studio album, appeared in 2013 and yielded two Billboard-charting singles: “Sassy Strut” and the Herbie Mann-inspired “Herbie.” Two years later Ear Candy arrived, spotlighting contributions from guitarist Nick Colionne, trumpeter Cindy Bradley, and keyboardist Gail Jhonson, and containing the track “Between You & Me.” In 2017 Atherton joined Bradley on the latter’s number-two Billboard Smooth Jazz Song “Girl Talk.” The following year she issued Shake It, again drawing on guests such as Bradley, Colionne, Rippingtons keyboardist Bill Heller, and others. The album’s lead promotional single, the Colionne-produced “My Song for You,” climbed to number 15 on the Billboard Smooth Jazz Songs chart.