Koller's offerings span from Tin Pan Alley gems to contemporary hits - plus two tracks produced by Cyrille Aimeé!
While an official release show is still pending, Kristina will be previewing songs from "Perception" at Smalls Jazz Club on Saturday, November 18th at 4pm.
"Kristina has proven to be a force in the vocal jazz arena. She is always challenging herself and searching further than what she already knows. This album is a demonstration of her various abilities and how she has the instincts to choose the perfect musicians for her band." - Cyrille Aimée
"Although Kristina certainly wears her influences on her immaculately tailored creative sleeve, she knows that adding to the legacy of jazz is much more important than merely recreating the performances of others. She actively points her creative compass in the right direction, by reinventing classics, while still retaining their essence," Ted Panken writes in the liner notes.
The album features Fima Chupakhin (piano), Chris Talio (bass), Joe Spinelli (drums). Also with Michael King (piano), Eric Wheeler (bass), Darrian Douglas (drums), Nick Brust (tenor sax), Josh Evans (trumpet) & Gabe Valle (violin).
Growing up just outside of New York City Kristina was exposed to an array of live music & dance - attending live ballet, Broadway shows, opera, jazz festivals and rock concerts. As such, she began performing in youth-oriented musical theater at an early age. Out of that experience Kristina branched out artistically, embracing solo performance as a singer-songwriter and vocalist in alternative rock bands. Through study of classical music & opera, Kristina improved her singing and learned different voice techniques, strengthening her range and vocal depth. While inspired by Amy Winehouse's versatility and open-minded approach to music, Kristina's desire to express herself freely as a vocalist pulled her into the orbit of jazz where she discovered the music of Ella Fitzgerald, Anita O'Day, Sarah Vaughan and Chet Baker. During her teen years, her embrace of jazz music expanded into the performance space, joining a jazz quartet that gigged regularly.
With a music scholarship, Kristina studied jazz at the Hartt School's Jackie McLean Institute of Jazz and finished her formal music education at The City College of New York where she received her BFA in Jazz Studies. She has studied with prominent jazz musicians such as Steve Wilson, Charenee Wade, Marion Cowings, Cyrille Aimee & Amy London.
Kristina has performed at many venues & halls throughout New York City including The Apollo Theater, Symphony Space, Smoke, Mezzrow, Minton's & Rockwood Music Hall. She was selected and performed as a Jazz Discovery Artist for the 2017 Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival. Kristina and her Quintet were semi-finalists in the 2017 DCJazzPrix competition.
Kristina's music connects with new audiences outside of the jazz music circle, melding jazz, funk, R&B, alt-rock sounds into her arrangements and compositions. Kristina Koller is a very original contemporary jazz vocalist, one that anyone interested in jazz, or for that matter progressive music, needs to hear.
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