biography
“…one of the best jazz singers in Canada, or anywhere for that matter… More than just a standards singer, she can do it all, and she does so with a rare sense of taste, imagination and sincerity.” —Roger Levesque, Edmonton Journal (more…)
“… a wonderfully breezy singer who slips free of a song’s formal constraints at no risk to its familiar sentiments … an important Canadian jazz voice.” —Mark Miller, The Globe and Mail (more…)
“… a marvelous storyteller with a bag of vocal tricks big enough to compel constant attention, and the knack of making everything she attempts sound newly minted and admirably assured as her free spirit roams and experiments.” —Geoff Chapman, Toronto Star (more…)
“… the finest vocal jazz artist of her generation.” —Stephen Pedersen, The Chronicle Herald (more…)
photo: Chris Cameron
Since moving to Vancouver, BC from her home province of Nova Scotia in 1979, Kate Hammett-Vaughan has established a reputation as one of Canada’s most individual and creative jazz vocalists, and one of the West Coast’s most respected teachers of the art of jazz singing.
Hammett-Vaughan’s ease with all manner of material and her improvisational instincts set her apart from many of her contemporaries. Her highly personal and expressive vocal style incorporates the breadth of her musical interests, from straight-ahead soulful ballads to hard-swinging grooves and improvisational adventures. Her approach is fresh and invigorating, paying tribute to the jazz tradition while interacting and exploring, always seeking to express herself in the moment. Equally at home as a front-line performer or as a member of an ensemble, singing straight-ahead swing or participating in free-improv adventures, Hammett-Vaughan makes sure that what she is performing remains accessible to her audience.
Nominated for three Juno Awards since 1994, she has garnered critical praise from all corners for Imagination: Live At The Cellar (2008) a duo with the great Canadian jazz guitarist Bill Coon, her trio recording So Lucky To Be Me (2006), and three releases with her marvelous long-time quintet, Eclipse (2004), Devil May Care (2002) and How My Heart Sings (1999). Hammett-Vaughan has also received numerous nominations from the Canadian Independent Music Awards and from the National Jazz Awards including Best Jazz Vocalist and Best Jazz Vocal Recording. She has worked in a number of ensembles over the last three decades, the most notable being her own Quintet and Trio, her long-time bass/voice duo with André Lachance, and in the avant-garde: the improvising jazz trio Garbo’s Hat, and the acclaimed large ensemble, the NOW Orchestra.
Hammett-Vaughan’s artistic sensibilities and musical interests have led her to a variety of related projects, including film scores, guest hosting of CBC television and radio shows, collaborations with modern dance artists and performance artists, and a fulfilling career as a teacher.