Connie Evingson

Over her diverse career, singer Connie Evingson has explored a wide range of music, from Peggy Lee to Hoagy Carmichael to John Lennon, as well as her recent foray into the era of Django Reinhardt and Stephane Grapelli. In February, Connie celebrated her collaboration with one of the nation’s most beloved and acclaimed songwriters, David Frishberg, releasing her 8th recording, Little Did I Dream (Minnehaha Music).

A native of Hibbing in northern Minnesota’s Iron Range, Connie grew up listening to her father’s records of Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Joe Williams, Tony Bennett, Lambert, Hendricks and Ross, and later Peggy Lee and Shirley Horn. She was just five when she first performed publicly in her church and school choirs. Says Evingson, “I spent most of my childhood dreaming of the day when I’d be either singing and dancing on the theatrical stage—or swinging with a band in a smokey jazz club.” After graduating from the University of Minnesota with a degree in speech/communications, Evingson’s first club gig was at the old Night Train in St. Paul. She also did a brief stint with the Minnesota Vocal Jazz Ensemble before joining Moore By Four in 1986. With Moore By Four, Evingson has toured the U.S., Europe, and Japan; appeared on Garrison Keillor's Prairie Home Companion; and opened for Harry Connick, Jr., Joe Williams, Sarah Vaughan, Carmen McRae, and Dizzy Gillespie.

As a solo artist, Connie Evingson has appeared on concert and club stages around the world, has been a guest soloist with the Minnesota Orchestra and the Toronto Symphony conducted by Doc Severinsen, and sang with the Vocalessence Music Series with Bobby McFerrin. Her voice is often heard on TV and radio commercials for clients such as Target, Chili's, Mervyn's, Andersen Windows, and Slumberland; with Arne Fogel, she hosted the weekly Singers and Standards on KBEM radio. In 1998, she was chosen by Jazziz magazine as "one of the top unsigned vocal talents in the country,” was among the top 15 contestants in the 1998 Thelonious Monk Vocal Competition, and received the McKnight Artist Fellowship Award in 2000. She was featured on the Smithsonian's Jazz Singers radio series, on Jazziz Magazine's recording, Vocals on Fire, and on Sharper Image's compilation disc, New Sirens of Song, which featured a track from Fever - A Tribute to Peggy Lee, along with tracks by Diana Krall, Norah Jones, Stacy Kent, and others. Now with an international reputation, Connie has performed in Japan and Sweden, and coast to coast in the U.S., including appearances at Jazz Alley in Seattle and Blues Alley in Washington, DC.

Dave Frishberg & Connie Evingson © Andera Canter

Connie’s debut disc, I Have Dreamed (1995), was her tribute to the Broadway shows that inspired her as youngster. Following Fever (1999), Evingson rounded up a who’s who list of artists for Some Cats Know (2000), a tribute to the elders of jazz (including Ray Brown, Von Freeman, Doc Severinson, Toots Thielmans, and Jack McDuff), described by Dave Nathan (All Music Guide) as “an exhilarating, entertaining exposition of Evingson's considerable vocal skills accentuated by the presence of great veteran jazz players.” The Secret of Christmas (2002) was named by Jazziz as one of the “Twelve Discs of Christmas” for 2003. Next came Let It Be (2003), Connie’s tribute to the Beatles which hit the Top 50 charts for 8 weeks in the U.S. and Canada. First encountering the work of Pearl Django a few years ago, Evingson was inspired by the gypsy influence and sought to translate vocally what is typically performed as instrumental music. Soon she was testing out the repertoire with Minnesota-based Parisota Hot Club and Clearwater Hot Club. With Pearl Django, the three ensembles recorded Gypsy in My Soul with Evingson, and the results were as one would expect—outstanding. In fall 2005, Connie joined forces with the visiting Uppsala Swing Time Sextet, whose repertoire covers dance music as well as Swedish and American jazz. Their performance at the Dakota ultimately led to a recording project in Stockholm with the Hot Club of Sweden. Stockholm Sweetnin’ was released in spring 2006, with gigs at Jazz Alley in Seattle and Sweden as well as the Dakota.

Connie Evingson has never been one to rest on the laurels of a popular style, and even while Gypsy in My Soul was climbing the charts, she was delving into a new project, the songs of Dave Frishberg. “I’ve been in love with Dave Frishberg’s work forever,” she writes in her liner notes. “Little did I dream that one day I’d get to record an entire album of his songs—with him at the piano.” And when Frishberg came into the studio at Creation Audio to record with Connie, it was really a homecoming, not only a return to his native Twin Cities but also a reunion with old pal, multi-reed master Dave Karr. In fact, it was the presence of Dave Karr that convinced Frishberg to come to Minneapolis and record with Connie Evingson. “I met Connie [a few years ago] when she interviewed me for her show on KBEM [radio],” he recalled during a recording session. “Then she sent me a couple of her CDs. About three months ago she called me and said she wanted to make a CD of my songs, and she asked if I could be on it. Then she told me that Dave Karr would be on it—that sealed it and I said ‘count me in!’” And notes Connie, “Seeing the two Daves work together, friends who started out admiring each other’s work as young men and are still inspiring each other today, was really a delight and an inspiration.”

Little Did I Dream

Little Did I Dream

Little did we dream that the world of Dave Frishberg was so well suited to the voice of Connie Evingson. And that bears repeating. On April 3rd at 7 pm, Connie and her band will reprise the CD release party (minus Dave Frishberg) at the Dakota in downtown Minneapolis.

The Dakota is located at 1010 Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis; www.dakotacooks.com. Reservations recommended for the show beginning at 7 pm; 612-332-1010.