Now She Sings, Now She Strings:
Double Duty for Kristin Korb, Hot Summer Jazz Festival

Looking for a different gig at the Twin Cities Hot Summer Jazz Festival? Kristin Korb fits the bill. While there are many fine female vocalists, far too few women in jazz have tackled the acoustic bass. Locally we are blessed with Joan Griffith who also plays guitar. Kristin Korb is not only a member of the very tiny community of women bassists, she is also equally known as a vocalist—and she often shares both talents simultaneously. A singing bassist? Combining the vocal traditions of Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughn with the instrumental influence of Ray Brown, Korb will bring her unique talents to the main stage on Peavy Plaza in downtown Minneapolis on Friday, June 25^th, 5:50-7:00 pm.

A Montana native, Kristin grew up surrounded by music. She started playing guitar in elementary school, briefly moving on to violin and piano. Learning that the “hip” group in junior high was the vocal ensemble, she sang in the seventh grade group and played bass guitar with the eighth graders. “I spent my lunch hours and stayed after school listening to the director’s Ella Fitzgerald, Manhattan Transfer, and Diane Reeves recordings. I wanted to know about scat.” She continued to divide her focus between bass and voice, earning a bachelor's degree in music education from Eastern Montana College. To study with bass professor Bertram Turetzky, Kristin moved to San Diego in 1992, earning a master's degree in classical bass performance from the University of California (San Diego). Turetzky suggested she combine her two talents: “Turetzky looked at me and said, ‘You play…and you sing…why don’t you do both at the same time?’… The music is within me whether it comes out through my voice or through my bass. Some things are executed differently, but when I’m trading with myself on bass and voice it has to be continuation of the same idea…Ideas make a lot more sense on the bass if I’m singing them in my head.”

As her performing career got underway, Korb was highly influenced and mentored by the great Ray Brown, with whom she made her debut recording for Telarc. She has been featured at the International Society of Bassists Conference (in 1999 and 2001) and was recently appointed to their Board of Directors. In addition to touring with Ray Brown and Benny Green, Korb has appeared with Clark Terry, Bill Mays, Bobby Shew, Jeff Hamilton, and Carl Allen, among others, and leads her own ensemble. A committed educator, she most recently served as Director of Jazz Studies at Central Washington University in Ellensburg, Washington, where she performed with the faculty jazz ensemble, taught bass and jazz history, and directed their premier Jazz Band I. Now living in LA where she is more focused on performing, Korb notes, “I don’t try to be ‘rhythmically surprising.’ Rather than playing a lot of fast lines I like to use space and rhythmic diversity—put meaning into every single note rather than into a flurry of notes.”

Said Ray Brown, “I've never heard anyone scat quite that fast!  She has a great feeling –very musical.” Come see and hear this dually talented woman of jazz, 5:50 pm-7:00 pm at the Twin Cities Hot Summer Jazz Festival on Friday, June 25^th, Mercedes-Benz Stage at Peavy Plaza.

Festival information: www.hotsummerjazz.com. More on Kristin Korb at www.kristinkorb.com.