Toni Jannotta

Since 1989, when she first took the stage in Los Angeles-area clubs, Toni Jannotta has maintained a presence in jazz while favoring vocalese yet remaining at ease with ballads. Her formal training includes music theory coursework at Los Angeles Valley Junior College and private study with guitarist Ken Rosser. Throughout the nineties she appeared regularly at venues across Los Angeles and also traveled to clubs in Switzerland and Germany, as well as performing at the Back to Blues and Jazz Festival in Santa Monica and the Ocho Rios International Jazz Festival in Jamaica. Among the musicians with whom she has collaborated are Theo Saunders, Henry Franklin, Mike Faue, and Kendall Kaye. Saxophonist Ernie Watts guests on her sole release to date, the May 1999 TCB album Just Jazz, which mixes standards with three original compositions. Jannotta has cited vocalese pioneers Jon Hendricks, Annie Ross—whom she regards as her idol—Bobby McFerrin, and Al Jarreau among her principal influences, and she continues to appear throughout the West Coast.