The alto saxophonist and vocalist, just 15, shows her rising star status as she leads a quintet at Jazz Bakery.
By Don Heckman, Special to The Times
Jazz has had its share of prodigies over the years, as well as players -- Miles Davis was one -- who established their creative credentials while they were barely out of their teens. But aside from pianists such as Eldar Djangirov and Taylor Eigsti, few teenage horn players, and even fewer who are female, have drawn much attention in recent years.
With the exception, that is, of Grace Kelly, a 15-year-old alto saxophonist and singer from Massachusetts. She's not an actress -- at least not yet -- but she is a startlingly gifted young jazz talent. Kelly performed at several venues around town during Grammy week as a member of the Gibson/Baldwin Grammy Jazz Ensembles. On Monday, she got to appear with her own quintet at the Jazz Bakery.
A slender, smiling young woman with a warm demeanor, Kelly came on stage with the look of a slightly nervous teenager about to give a recital. That changed when the first tune began -- the standard "I'll Remember April." Fluent from multi-phonics at the horn's low end to soaring high harmonics, technically facile even at fast tempos, delivering her notes with a strikingly warm and passionate sound, Kelly played with stunning maturity and an extraordinary command of her instrument.
Her soloing on "Caravan" on " 'Round Midnight" was filled with unexpected twists and turns, and when she switched to soprano saxophone for an original tune, "101," her improvisational inventiveness immediately adapted to the articulation and tone of the smaller instrument.
That alone would have been impressive, but what was even more remarkable about Kelly's playing was the maturity of her phrasing, her harmonic choices and her use of saxophone techniques that most players don't achieve until they've been playing for decades. Then there are her well-crafted compositions -- "Filosophical Flying Fish," "Every Road I Walked," "Horn Theme Song."
The final asset in this gifted young talent's creative portfolio was her singing and songwriting, superbly displayed in her beautiful rendering of her own thoughtful song, "But Life Goes On."
Kelly was ably supported by a first-rate band -- the fine young trumpeter Jason Palmer, pianist Doug Johnson, bassist John Lockwood and veteran drummer Terri Lyne Carrington. But this was Kelly's night to shine -- with a glow that is just beginning.
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14-Year-Old Sax Prodigy Grace Kelly Already A Seasoned Veteran
By OWEN McNALLY
SPECIAL TO THE COURANT
August 30, 2007
When Phil Woods, a long-reigning king of the alto saxophone, bestowed his trademark black leather cap on stage last October to Grace Kelly, a wunderkind saxophonist, it looked like a mini-coronation, a spontaneous symbolic gesture that leaped across the generation gap.
Woods, who was then nearly 75, was knocked out by the then-14-year-old alto saxophonist's precociously cooking sense of swing and fluid phrasing when she joined him on stage to rip through the changes to "I'll Remember April" at the Pittsfield City Jazz Festival in Pittsfield, Mass.
"How did she sound?" a still dazzled Woods later explained. "I gave her my hat. That's how good she sounded. She is the first alto player to get one."
Mixing praise with prophecy, Woods, whose famously witty opinions on music and its practitioners can be quite astringent, added, "Hooray for the future of jazz and the alto saxophone!"
Kelly, who's riding a wave of critical acclaim for her third album, "Every Road I Walked" (Pazz Productions), wears the Woods cap with enormous pride at her gigs now.
And the young saxophonist/singer/songwriter/arranger from Brookline, Mass., will be wearing the hip headgear Saturday at 6:30 p.m. as she performs at the Jazz Café at the Tanglewood Jazz Festival, which runs Friday through Sunday in Lenox, Mass.
"It's not right to keep the cap just sitting in the closet, so I wear it to just about every gig. It's a good omen, a very special thing and so amazing that he gave it to me. He'd been wearing it for years, so it has much history," Kelly says from her hotel room in New York City.
Just back from a California jaunt, she's on a break for the weekend, an ordinary teen tourist in New York with her parents, Robert Kelly, her manager, and Irene Chang Kelly. Grace's deeply supportive parents always accompany her on tours that have taken her to premier jazz clubs, concerts and festivals from throughout the United States to Norway.
As a popular "A" student who's entering her sophomore year at Brookline High School, Kelly is already a veteran who has played at Carnegie Hall, Symphony Hall in Boston and Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola at Lincoln Center.
Her expanding résumé includes live performances with numerous notable musicians, including Woods, Frank Morgan, Lee Konitz, Ann Hampton Callaway (an idol who has encouraged her), Dianne Reeves, Terri Lyne Carrington (herself a onetime child prodigy drummer) and Chris Potter.
A versatile musician whose varied, original songs can include a pop or even folk flavor, the savvy jazz saxophonist has been quite comfortable grooving with such venerable bluesmen as James Montgomery and James Cotton.
Living at home with her parents, she'll have to find extra storage space in her bedroom to warehouse the many awards she has already garnered, including numerous Down Beat student music awards and top prizes earned at the 2007 Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival. Kelly, who wrote her first song at age 7, won the ASCAP Foundation 2007 Young Jazz Composer Award for the title track of her album, "Every Road I Walked." Her amusing, whimsically titled tune "Filosophical Flying Fish"- one of the mix of 14 originals and standards on her new disc - has triumphed in two prestigious songwriting competitions.
While her new recording is packed with strong samples of her playing, singing and writing that demonstrate skill and maturity far beyond her chronological years, older listeners may at first be struck not by her obviously ample talent but by her glittering name, Grace Kelly.
Asked if questions about her name come up very often, or is ever much of a problem, Kelly says, "No, not really. Some of my friends don't even know who Grace Kelly, the actress, was. Those who do just think it's cool. (Kelly, the former screen goddess, died in a car accident in 1982, a decade before the saxophone phenom and many of her friends at school were even born.)
"Sometimes people think it's an interesting name because at first they think that I might have been named for her, which I wasn't," Kelly says.
Actually, she was born Grace Chung on May 15, 1992, in Wellesley, Mass., to Korean parents.
At age 2, Grace moved to Brookline with her mother and sister, Christina, after her parents divorced.
Grace's mother married Robert Kelly in 1997. A few years later, Grace and her sister were legally adopted by her stepfather, and thus she became Grace Kelly. Grace has two stepsisters, Heather and Sara, and a stepbrother, Tim, who was a sergeant in the Marines, serving two tours in Iraq.
Right from the beginning in her new home, young Grace was encouraged to pursue her growing interest in music and dance by her parents, both of whom have an abiding interest in the arts and music.
"My mom loved tenor saxophonist Stan Getz. I can remember on Sundays eating our pancakes for breakfast and listening to Stan Getz in the background. His sound is what really struck me and inspired me. That's why I wanted to play saxophone," she says.
At 6, Grace was taking formal piano lessons.
Even then, her unusual musical talent was apparent. But she kept breaking the classical rules, ignoring written notes to spin themes in her own spontaneous, individualistic form of expression.
Already, signs of jazz rebellion and a passion for improvisation were apparent in the gifted child with a knack for creativity, whether she was making up songs, stories and plays or inventing new dance steps improvised in front of a mirror.
In fourth grade, there were clarinet lessons. But Grace was already hooked on a different kind of sound. Her heart belonged to that gorgeous, floating Stan Getz sound, that warm, human-voice-like tone and phrasing that was the legendary saxophonist's signature and the envy of saxophonists around the world.
Plus, there were all the other great players, both instrumentalists and singers, she would hear at home on recordings or on the radio.
All that wonderful, warm jazz music in the air - a kind of all-embracing, natural ambience in the Kelly household - was absorbed in young Grace's mind and processed by her unusually keen ears, creating an idealized kind of saxophone sound in her imagination that she wanted to capture.
Fourth-graders, however, weren't permitted to study the saxophone. Clarinet was it, as close as you could get to Getz and saxophone bliss.
Grace couldn't wait for fifth grade to attain that special, magical reed sound that was echoing in her head.
"I feel that when I first picked up the saxophone, there was a real connection right away. Some people say that in order to get a nice sound out of your instrument, you have to have imagined it in your head before."
Grace had already imagined that perfect sound and found the alto, rather than the tenor, was just the right instrument to emulate that ideal she heard in her head and felt in her heart, a sonic state of grace.
On her latest album, which features the formidable Carrington on drums and noted bassist John Lockwood, you can hear the sound she heard and has crafted with her own diligence and with the help of tutorials from such saxophone savants as Lee Konitz, Jerry Bergonzi and Allan Chase.
You can hear how she has absorbed the influence of such alto greats as Woods, Paul Desmond and Frank Morgan, and then put her own expressive spin on it.
As a singer, she also shows surprising ability, confidence and maturity beyond her years, whether scatting, without overkill, or singing the lyrics to a samba in Portuguese. Even at 15, she seems to have a better, more mature understanding of how a lyric works in a song than many vocalists twice or even three times her age.
Touring, recording, writing songs, practicing, studying with jazz masters, jam sessions, rehearsals, dance classes, piano lessons, vocal training, going to school, making the honor roll and, in general, just being a teenager all make for a most demanding schedule. With her parents' loving support, Grace somehow manages quite well.
"It's all about having a good balance. I can't say that I have a lot of spare time, but I get time to hang out with my friends who come to my performances and support me," she says.
Getting homework done on the road can be a problem, she acknowledges, particularly if you want to maintain honors grades with hopes of some day attending one of the leading music conservatories in New England or New York City.
"Sometimes it's hard. I'm a big procrastinator, but I'll do it when I'm in a hotel room, or even sometimes backstage at a performance, although that can be a little hard.
"I find the time, though, because I know that I have to do it right then becauseotherwise when I get home nothing will be done," she says.
She likes to go to movies, loves to dance and, best of all, just hang out with friends. In her few free moments, she likes to chill out by listening to live recordings by the Bill Evans Trio, Stevie Wonder, the Getz/Gilberto bossa nova classics or the new Pat Metheny/Brad Mehldau discs.
Yes, she's had time for boyfriends in the past, but right now, she says, her best friend is her alto saxophone, a most time-consuming and rigorously demanding buddy.
What keeps her going, she says, is that she loves what she's doing and feels there's so much more to be learned. Modest and self-critical, she constantly strives to pick up knowledge first-hand "from these great musicians who are teaching me and pushing me on the bandstand."
"After one of my live performances," she says, "I was literally sweating because I was feeling so pushed, which is so satisfying and great. It left me with the feeling that I've got to go home and practice a lot more because there's always going to be more for me to learn.
"If I wasn't doing this, though, I feel that I would be missing something because it brings me so much joy.
"Sometimes it feels kind of like a dream, and I can't believe that I'm actually up there on the stage doing what I'm doing. It's a lot of work, but a lot fun, and you've just got to enjoy it."
GRACE KELLY and her combo perform Saturday at 6:30 p.m. at the Jazz Café at the Tanglewood Jazz Festival, which runs Friday through Sunday in Lenox, Mass. Admission to the Kelly concert is free with a ticket to a main-stage event. Main-stage headliners include Ahmad Jamal, Jimmy Heath, Kurt Elling, Randy Crawford, Joe Sample, Hank Jones, Roberta Gambarini, the Maria Schneider Orchestra, Hugh Masekela, the Poncho Sanchez Latin Big Band, Kevin Mahogany's Kansas City Review, Cyrus Chestnut, Red Holloway and Marian McPartland taping her "Piano Jazz" radio show with guest Renee Rosnes. Tickets: www.tanglewoodjazzfestival.org and 888-266-1200.
......At the after hours jam session, the student alto saxophonist Grace Kelly from Massachusetts sat in with a group that included veteran guitarist John Stowell. I know of no explanation other than genius for this slender fourteen-year-old girl's attainment of maturity in her art. She has mastery of the instrument, passion, profound swing, and judgment that one would expect in a player with twenty years of professional experience. The other jam session surprise was a vocal by guitarist Malone. With Miss Kelly and Stowell playing obligato, he sang an engaging "I've Grown Accustomed To Your Face." The roomful of close listeners demanded an encore, which they did not get. "No more," Malone announced, waving them off.
Grace Kelly sports a new leather cap, bestowed on her by the legendary saxophonist and Jazz Master Phil Woods, during the closing concert of last weekend's Pittsfield CityJazz Festival. The 14-year-old Kelly, a surprise addition to the program, traded musical barbs with Woods, in concert with the U.S. Army Jazz Ambassadors big band. Woods, a newly named National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master, turns 75 next month. Photo by Lee Everett / courtesy Cultural Pittsfield
By Richard Houdek, Special to The Eagle Berkshire Eagle
Article Launched:10/18/2006 03:03:45 AM EDT
Wednesday, October 18
Edited
PITTSFIELD —Phil Woods held court on Sunday afternoon with the U.S. Army Jazz Ambassadors. Woods, a Springfield native, was named a jazz master last week by the National Endowment for the Arts in recognition of his contributions to jazz. He joins an exclusive group of artists that includes Dr. Billy Taylor, a festival visitor earlier in the weekend.
Woods applied his fabled tenor sax skills to "All Bird's Children," midway into the first set after the crowd had been warmed up by the crack musicianship of the Ambassadors.
Following that tribute to Charlie Parker, one of the large number of jazz luminaries with whom he has collaborated over 50 years, Woods followed with "Goodbye Mr. Evans," his paean to Bill Evans, in a performance demonstrating that, with great instrumentalists, musical life only can get better with age. Woods is nearing 75.
In one of those once-in-a-lifetime opportunities, Grace Kelly, the gifted young alto sax player from Boston — she's only 14 — popped on stage to join Woods in a dazzling duet arrangement of "I'll Remember April."She held her own handily, matching Wood chromatic run by chromatic run, trill by trill.
His obvious delight with her playing was manifest by placing his familiar leather cap on her head, insisting that she wear it home.
Not to be outdone by the U.S. Coast Guard, which provided a band for the Colonial stage two weekends ago, the U.S. Army dispatched the Ambassadors, a fine 19-member component of the Army field band operation.
These are splendid, versatile musicians, every bit as good as those of the big-band era — a fine example, for the government itself, of the value of the arts in our society.
Under Chief Warrant Officer Kevin Laird, the band began its music-making with jazz improvisations on "Caissons Go Rolling Along," the Army hymn, and more sedate versions of "America, the Beautiful" and "The Star Spangled Banner" before setting into the late Francy Boland's lively arrangement of "Just In Time" and other jazz monuments.
Sgt.1st Class Marva Jean Lewis proved an admirable jazz singer in a couple of pieces identified with Dinah Washington. Her stylization is fine, she has fire in her voice and flair in her stage presence, but she still has work to do in matching that impeccable Dinah articulation of lyrics.
Old memories of New Orleans and the mere sound of Dixieland jazz induce an irresistible smile, and the six-member Ambassadors Dixieland jazz combo elicited grins all around for its short, animated set.
The band's fanfare, "God Bless the U.S.A.," summoning Lewis once more to the mike, gathered cheers and a standing ovation. Following the encore, "I Love Being Here With You," joined by Lewis, Woods, Kelly, some 200 listeners went home happy.
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"...fabulous...swinging...thrilling"
October 15, 2006 performance review by Ronald K. Baker
They were in a word fabulous. The 19 piece Army Band Played the National Anthem as the Sunday afternoon crowd stood and sang. Next they came out swinging with an up tempo version of Cherokee. The sound filled the Colonial Theater thrilling an apparent cross section of locals and out-of-towners alike. This final concert in the Pittsfield CityJazz Festival would prove to be the coup de gráce. The amplification was flawless. The rhythm section was right up front well balanced with the brass and woodwinds. Each player had an individual microphone as did each section.
The band's conductor kept a surprisingly low profile only emerging from the wings for special endings and ad lib passages. He introduced the vocalist Sgt. First Class Marvintine Lewis who opened with a Dinah Washington piece from 1960 entitled "This Bitter". It was an especially poignant moment for us Baby Boomers. She followed that with a solid blues groove called "Cool Kind of Papa".
Looking nowhere near 75 years young Phil Woods alto saxophonist took the stage and blazed through a tune he wrote for Charlie Parker "All Bird's Children". The cascading horn lines were intensely powerful. Woods traded eight bar phrases with the trumpeter and with the drummer. The tuned heated up as they moved to trading fours. Woods followed with a ballad he'd arranged called "Goodbye Mr. (Gil) Evans." Again the balance of the rhythm section, piano, bass, and brushes on the drums was perfect.
The crew and its self-effacing director finished up the first set with the jazz standard "Scrapple for the Apple," a Charlie Parker work.
After the break came a tribute to the recently deceased Maynard Ferguson, "On Green Dolphin Street," followed by Benny Carter's "And All That Jazz". Woods was his supremely lyrical and imaginative self throughout recalling for some non-jazz aficionados his groundbreaking solo on "I Love You Just The Way You Are," the Billy Joel composition of the late'70's.
Few were prepared for what was to follow as Phil Woods introduced a special guest. He explained to the audience that she was only fourteen years old. He quipped good-naturedly that he'd like to break her fingers. A young lady of Eurasian descent joined him near the piano. She was an apparition. She wailed unabashedly on alto sax as Woods grooved along in understandable awe. Her first solo drew most of the audience to its feet. The master took off his trademark hat and placed it on her head. After playing awhile longer she tried to return it to him. But he refused it and placed it back on her head. Undeterred she simply cocked it to one side in typical teenage fashion and kept on wailing.
When the pair got into the tune "I'll Remember April", she relaxed even more if you can imagine. She began a little dance with her feet as the two traded phrases back and forth. The sight of this little waif paddling along so easily and unflappably culled up images of a young peasant girl carrying firewood back to her village somewhere during the Vietnam era.
It was a sight and sound so momentous and joyous that those not applauding wildly were busy wiping away tears.
Woods cut her no quarter as the two went on exchanging licks. It was an onstage workshop when they got to one measure each with a pace reminiscent of a Ping-Pong match. They had great fun trading "slap-tongue" pops and quacks. On one phrase Woods waxed Ornet Colemanesque. At this young Grace Kelly raised her eyebrows in surprise but continued with unbelievable aplomb and panache. Anyone who was lucky enough to hear "I'll Remember April" certainly won't forget October 15th.
The Army Band presented some Dixieland classics with a talented septet comprised of Clarinet, Trumpet, Trombone, Banjo, Piano and Bass. Steve Leslie, the guitarist, finally got a chance to play. Jeff Gomez and Paul Harrison were outstanding on bass and drums respectively. The Conductor dedicated the final selections to our servicemen and their supporters performing humanitarian missions throughout the world. Gomez strapped on a six string electric bass for vocalist Lewis's rendition of "God Bless the U.S.A." A standing ovation ensued. She followed that up with a rollicking "I Love Being Here With You."
The quality concerts presented at the Pittsfield CityJazz Festival are a sure harbinger of great things to come for the Colonial and for Pittsfield.
When she was little, Grace Kelly always wanted to be a princess - a little like her namesake, the deceased Hollywood actress who became Princess of Monaco, of whom Kelly is quite fond.
"She's just one of those classic beauties," said the 14-year-old Kelly, who lives in Brookline and loves her namesake's film "High Society."
The younger Kelly was just 9 when she decided she wanted to play the saxophone. After a brief interlude with the clarinet (as a required precursor), Kelly's been playing the alto saxophone for four years.
Descriptions like "prodigy" roll off people's tongue. And she's developed such a following that she sold out Sculler's Jazz Club in Boston for her recent CD release party.
Kelly, along with the Doug Johnson Trio, will play Methuen's Sahara Night Club Tuesday, bringing the talent people are talking about to the Merrimack Valley.
Kelly's parents exposed her to jazz at an early age. Fans of musical theater and jazz, her parents started taking her to the best of both before she entered preschool.
"It's always been playing around the house," said Kelly of jazz. "I have just been attracted to the sound so much."
Kelly began playing music early, starting with classical piano. Though she loved music, she didn't enjoy playing her Bach and Beethoven as much as composing her own music, which had a decidedly improvisational jazz bent. It wasn't long before she was pleading for a sax, and got her wish.
"The sound of it - it's a huge thing for me," Kelly said. "The saxophone is the closest thing to the human voice. I can produce a big range of emotions with it."
Lessons followed, and her proximately to Boston helped her find great teachers, who encouraged her love of composing and writing.
"My teacher made me dive right into improvisation. He said, 'Nothing is wrong,' " Kelly said.
Then came the years of practice that made her good, really good.
"I can express myself differently every time I play a song," she said. "It was a huge thing for me, ever since I was little, I was making up songs."
These days, she plays in and out of school, but quite frequently with jazz professionals more than twice her age. She was one of 17 teens from across the country to attend the Brubeck Institute, a musical camp in California for gifted teens. Kelly was the youngest at the institute, and the only girl.
"Once you play with adults and kids who are better than you, it makes you grow rapidly," Kelly said.
Not that everyone has to be better for Kelly to play with them. She enjoys playing. Period.
"I enjoy playing with my peers, too. It's a different vibe," Kelly said.
Kelly does listen to music other than jazz - her iPod holds everything from rap to country. Of course, there's some jazz greats in there too, along with some classics by Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday.
Her future plans include a trip to a jazz festival in Norway - and maybe that prince.
If You Go:
What: Jazz saxophonist Grace Kelly with the Doug Johnson Trio
By Bill Beuttler, Globe Correspondent | March 24, 2006
Thirteen-year-old Brookline music prodigy Grace Kelly showed off all the things she does so well for a full house at Scullers last week, celebrating the release of her second CD, ''Times Too." She sang (and scatted) jazz, Brazilian, and pop tunes with skill. She was even better playing her alto saxophone, with solos rich in the sort of thematic development you'd expect from someone several times her age. She even showed off some singer-songwriter chops, accompanying herself on piano as she sang her pop-ish original ''Key to the Missing Door."
Grace Kelly, 14-year-old singer, songwriter, saxophonist, recording artist and winner of four 2006 DownBeat Magazine Student Music Awards. Photo by Irene Chang
Thursday, August 31
PITTSFIELD — When Grace Kelly was 10 years old she fell deeply in love. It wasn't the kind of mere flirtation or fleeting puppy love so common for girls her age. Hers was a love with depth and permanence.
The love of her life was one of a kind — a 1954 Selmer Mark VI alto saxophone.
In a phone call from her home in Brookline the 14- year-old recounted that fateful day when she was first smitten at Rayburn's Music Store in Boston.
"I was picking out a few horns trying out two or three different ones," she explained. "Then this guy walks up to me. He is known as 'The Sax Doctor.' His real name is Emilio Lyons and he is the sweetest, sweetest guy. He comes up to me and goes, 'Grace, you sound good! Why don't you try this one?' "
It was love at first sight.
"So then he brought out this really old case, I opened it up and a there was just this beautiful, beautiful horn," she continued. "I didn't know what it was, but, I picked it up and tried it. Even when all the pads were all dried up and the screws weren't necessarily working, it made just a beautiful sound. I fell in love with it."
Although the sax was showing its age, it had very low mileage.
"It's been under a doctor's bed for 50 years!" explained Kelly. "It has a beautiful color. It is just really, really nice."
According to her father and manager Bob Kelly when Grace — who had dabbled in piano and clarinet — discovered the joy of sax, there has been no turning back.
"Once she picked up the saxophone and started writing songs," he said, "it's been like 'Grace, go to bed. Put it down. Stop practicing!' She just has this personal dedication and commitment and it is amazing for me to see."
Since that fateful day at Rayburn's, the relationship between Kelly and her sax has grown exponentially.
Kelly, who will be headlining with her band tonight at the First Baptist Church on South Street, has begun to accumulate accolades and awards.
The amazingly versatile prodigy took four categories in Downbeat's 29th Annual Student music awards (Jazz Soloist-Alto Sax, Pop/Rock/Blues Soloist, Original Composition, and Jazz Vocalist). Kelly was also the youngest finalist in the history of the Fish Middleton Jazz Scholarship staged during the East Coast Jazz Festival. She finished third in a field of 10 finalists, all college-age or older, winning $1,500 and an invitation to perform at next year's festival.
The youngster has begun to develop a business sense as well.
"Can I just add one more thing?" she asked. "I just wanted to give the Web site in case people wanted to check it out: www.gracekellymusic.com.
"And, if anyone wants to find out where to get my CDs, you can go to amazon.com, cdbabay or iTunes."
» In concert
What: An Evening of Jazz
Who: Grace Kelly and Friends
Where: First Baptist Church, 88 South St., Pittsfield
When: Tonight 7 (doors open at 6)
Tickets: $18; children under 12 — $5
Ticket information: In person — Visitors Center, South Street, Pittsfield; First Baptist Church. Telephone — (413) 499-0457; (413) 499-1829
Berkshire-area fans who caught her co-headlining performance with James Montgomery in Pittsfield in early July are sure to get a full dose of Kelly's eclectic skills as a sax player, songwriter and singer at tonight's concert.
Kelly recalled the Montgomery show and her budding partnership with the blues harp ace.
"That was just an awesome, awesome show," the teen said. "James is just the nicest, most generous guy and I have been so lucky.
"We first met when I was having my CD release show at Scully's in Boston, which was a sold-out performance and was really fun. And then, there was James Montgomery sitting in the front row!
"Afterwards he came up to me and he was like, 'oh Grace, you could do all these projects with us, would you be up for any gigs?' I said 'Oh yeah, I'd love to do it.' So he kinda took me under his wing."
Asked to describe her eclectic approach to performing, she replied "the kind of sound I do now I like to call 'Pazz.'
"I play sax and study jazz, but my songwriting and singing is more contemporary. Onstage, I do a bunch of standards, sing some of my own songs.
"In the past I've played piano and even tap-danced but I don't know if I am going to get those two down."
Kelly has been fortunate enough to be mentored by a number of other renowned musicians, jamming with the likes of Lee Konitz, Jeremy Udden, Bo and Bill Winiker, and Jerry Bergonzi.
"I am so lucky that I play and sit in with a lot of musicians around here that are very well-known," she said. "It is fabulous that I get to play with people that are much better than me. It's the only way to grow and to really get better."
BROOKLINE A Duke Ellington poster hangs on her bedroom door. By her bedside sits a stack of CDs by Stan Getz and other jazz masters. One more clue that Grace Kelly is not your typical eighth-grader: Tonight at Scullers Jazz Club she'll be playing selections from her latest recording, a two-disc set titled "Grace Kelly Times Too." A virtuoso on the alto saxophone, the 13-year-old Kelly is also a talented songwriter and vocalist who promises "some fun surprises" during the Scullers show. Such as? "Well," says Kelly, seated in the living room of her family's home near Coolidge Corner, "I have been known to tap dance while playing the saxophone. We'll see." When it comes to Kelly's talents, seeing and hearing is believing. Or so goes the buzz around the local jazz community, where audiences and musicians are raving about the range, taste, and sophistication she already exhibits at an age when most players are still mastering their scales.
In Maryland last month, Kelly became the youngest finalist in the history of an annual scholarship competition staged during the East Coast Jazz Festival. She finished third in a field of 10 finalists, all college-age or older, winning $1,500 and an invitation to perform at next year's festival. Her two CDs the first came out a year ago boast a group of veteran accompanists including John Lockwood on bass, Doug Johnson and Ken Berman on piano, Yoron Israel and Guy Godwin on drums, and Adam Larrabee on guitar.
Onstage, she's jammed with the likes of Lee Konitz, Jeremy Udden, Bo and Bill Winiker, and Jerry Bergonzi. Konitz, Udden, Bergonzi, and Berman have also tutored Kelly, who attends the Driscoll Elementary School and takes classes at the New England Conservatory and Brookline Music School. While many of his younger students are capable technicians, says Udden, "Grace plays with an emotion that's almost strange to see in a 13-year-old. You not only hear it, you see it in her face when she's playing."
For her age, says Udden, "she's easily the most talented student I've seen."
And one of the most time-challenged students around, according to Kelly and her parents, Bob Kelly and Irene Chang, who own the Wild Goose Chase gift store on Beacon Street.An A student, Kelly adheres to an extracurricular schedule crammed with lessons and practicing. Weekday activities include saxophone tutorials, jam sessions, piano lessons, dance classes, and vocal training. On Saturdays she takes an all-day class at NEC. Sundays she'll often rehearse with a Brookline Music School ensemble or take a monthly master class with Bergonzi, a tenor saxophonist who toured for many years with Dave Brubeck.
Kelly has played the Regattabar, the Acton Jazz Cafe, the Center for Arts in Natick, and Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola at New York's Jazz at Lincoln Center, among other venues. With two CDs and several TV and radio interviews behind her, she's been fielding offers to perform everywhere from local schools to jazz festivals as far away as Spain and Singapore.
"I try to balance my music, life, and homework," Kelly says. "But there's not much time for anything else." She smiles and adds, "I don't just hang out with my friends a lot. Although I have turned them on to Miles Davis and Charlie Parker."
Bring up the p-word, though, and Kelly's smile quickly disappears. "I don't like the term `prodigy,' " she says. "It sounds like something you have, not something you work hard on."
"I'm not a musician, so I get my validation from other musicians," says Bob Kelly, who serves as his daughter's booking agent, publicist, roadie, chauffeur, and sometimes lyricist. "So when Nat Hentoff [the respected jazz writer and critic] calls up to say how much he loves Grace's music, I start believing for real."
Her mother notes that Grace is not the only family member with musical aptitude. Both Chang's mother and her grandmother taught piano in their native South Korea, and her sister is a classically trained violinist. Grace's older sister Christina, now a freshman at Harvard, has been involved in music and drama at a high level, too.
"We've always had music playing in the house," Chang says, "from Broadway musicals to Stan Getz albums to public radio shows like Ron Della Chiesa's [on WGBH-FM]. Grace has been exposed to it all her life." Kelly jokes that because she is young and Asian, people often assume she must be (a) Japanese-American and (b) a violin whiz. "I've threatened to write a song called `What Country Are You From, Violin Girl?' " she says mischievously.
Kelly's first song, "On My Way Home," was composed when she was 7 years old. At 10, she took up the clarinet but soon switched to the alto saxophone ("The clarinet didn't do it for me"), which suited her much better. Berman, a Berklee College of Music graduate, was teaching music at Driscoll and thought enough of Kelly's composition skills to introduce her to bass player Lockwood and Peter Kontrimas, owner of a Westwood recording studio In 2004, Kelly and friends went into the studio to cut a one-track demo. The project kept expanding, however, until they had enough for a 12-song CD, mixing six of Kelly's tunes with arrangements of "Blue Skies," "Stardust," and other jazz standards. Singer-songwriter Ann Hampton Callaway, who met Kelly three years ago, supplied the liner notes. "Grace is following her heart," Callaway wrote, "and that path is sure to lead her on a great adventure that all listeners . . . will relish." On her latest recording, Kelly plays and sings a jazz-pop blend that pays homage to influences as varied as Ella Fitzgerald, Paul Desmond, Stevie Wonder, and the Beatles. "I'm very lucky to make even one CD," she says. "My goal is having my music reach as many people as possible and touch them in a personal way."
For someone Kelly's age the braces came off her teeth two weeks ago that goal seems, frankly, rather lofty. Then again, this is a 13-year-old who falls asleep at night listening to Sonny Rollins. When she picks up her 1954 Selmer Mark VI alto sax, magical things have been known to happen. "It would have been cool to see guys like John Coltrane and Charlie Parker play live," says Kelly. "But it's also cool to rediscover their music and fuse jazz with contemporary pop. I'm glad I'm exposed to today's music, even if I don't listen to Kiss-108."
DriscollSchool student Grace Kelly, who will headline a CD release party at St. Paul's Church on March 18, practices her saxophone. (Courtesy photo)
Young saxophonist hits the right note By Ed Symkus/ SENIOR Staff Writer Thursday, March 17, 2005
Grace Kelly is a young saxophone player who knows her stuff. On her new CD, "Dreaming," she plays alto and sings, performing both standards and some self-penned tunes, and is backed up by top-notch players, including Ken Berman and Doug Johnson (piano), John Lockwood (bass) and Guy Goodwin and Jordan Perlson (drums).
Kelly believes she first got a taste for jazz "when I was younger. My mom always loved [saxophonist] Stan Getz and would be playing him at home. I always wanted to play saxophone, but they didn't let you take it until fifth grade. So I started on clarinet. But I also took classes privately on saxophone" - she never uses the word "sax" - "because I didn't want to wait. Once I started taking private lessons, I got into the jazz and began listening to more artists."
So who does she like to listen to?
"Oh, Sonny Rollins, definitely, but there are so many people I love listening to. And I'm always looking for new sounds and new artists. But, let's see, Charlie Parker, Dexter Gordon, Lee Konitz, Miles Davis. Well, he's not a saxophone player, but ... umm, Gerry Mulligan, Paul Desmond, Lester Young, of course Stan Getz. I was influenced by him when I was younger."
When she was younger? Kelly is only 12.
"But I'll be 13 in May," she says excitedly. "I started with alto saxophone. And I think I want to try soprano and tenor. Maybe once I grow a little taller I can play tenor."
Kelly, a Brookline resident who attends Driscoll School, will display her musical talents on Friday, when she headlines a CD-release concert at St. Paul's Church this Friday, leading a band composed of John Lockwood, bass; Ken Berman, piano; and Yoron Israel, drums.
But while saxophone and jazz are her first choices of instrument and music, Kelly isn't locked in to either one.
"I listen to all kinds of music," she says. "I listen to a lot of oldies, like Stevie Wonder. I love Stevie Wonder, and of course, the Beatles. (She covers "Can't Buy Me Love" on her CD.) Saxophone and singing are my main instruments, but I also study piano, I do composition, and I recently took up a little bass guitar."
Kelly says that at this point in time, she wants to have a career in music, and that she really loves writing songs. But she's well aware that it's a risky and possibly rocky business.
"We went to see [singer] Rebecca Parris once, and we were talking and she was saying, 'Oh my gosh, God bless her for wanting to do this, but she's also insane to want to be a jazz musician.'
"But I just love the music," adds Kelly. "And my parents are my managers - my dad especially. He's learning; we're all learning. It's kind of cool."
In her spare time - and there's not a lot of it - Kelly is in the chorus at Driscoll, rehearses every Tuesday with her band Blue Infinity - an all-girl jazz ensemble made up of Brookline residents - does a little acting and dancing, and manages to hang out with her friends.
Of her brushes with acting, she says, "I was in a very young troupe, then I was in an older troupe. My sister has been acting all her school life, too. So we're a very performing arts kind of family. I'm more into playing music, though. My sister is like a drama queen" - she giggles here - "and I enjoy it, but I think I like doing music a little more."
She'll be doing a little of all kinds of musical things at the upcoming concert.
"It will feature a lot of what's on the CD," she says. "A bunch of my tunes, and we're adding some jazz standards, like 'Blue Skies' and 'Straighten Up and Fly Right'."
She is thrilled by the CD, admitting that "it's so amazing to hear all these amazing musicians play my music and make it come alive."
She's also learning the fine art of marketing.
"You can buy the CD on my Web site, gracekellymusic.com," she points out, "or at my Mom and Dad's store, Wild Goose Chase. And we're trying to get other places to sell it, too."
Grace Kelly performs at her CD release party at St. Paul's Church (15 St. Paul St.) on March 18 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $12. Call 617-738-8020.
Ed Symkus can be reached at esymkus@cnc.com.
Grace Kelly Had Them Standing
Standing room only and standing ovations were the order of the night for Grace Kelly’s professional debut and CD release of her first CD “DREAMING”. This twelve year old Brookline seventh grader whose haunting voice, amazing saxophone tones, and lyrical compositions left you amazed as to what was really happening before your eyes and ears when almost 200 people filled St. Paul’s Episcopal Church last Friday night. As one concert goer said, “You could not have put into words beforehand to prepare me for what I witnessed tonight” This young singer, songwriter, saxophonist belies her age of 12. Grace was in total control of the evening. She started with the tunes “Isfahan” and “All the Things You Are” played beautifully on the saxophone and backed by some of the best musicians on the jazz scene today. There was the very best John Lockwood on bass, the world famous Yoron Israel on drums, and the masterful Ken Berman on piano. Both John and Ken recorded with Grace on the CD. Grace then proceeded to serenade the crowd with her sweet and soulful voice. She sang three of her vocal compositions, including the title track “Dreaming”. She then pick-up her saxophone again and played her instrumental composition “Tinkerbell” which is a velvety smooth jazz song that sets an appealing dusky mood. Then, speaking of mood she changed it quick by jumping into another of her compositions “G-Bop”. An up tempo Charlie Parker style tune she wrote in a 5/4 rhythm, a real crowd pleaser. Finishing the first set with another change of pace showing her versatility with a blues arrangement of the Beatles’ “Can’t Buy Me Love”.
Throughout the night she was witty and informative discussing the anecdotes about the pieces between songs, and the audience was amused every time Grace mentioned, “You can take me home with you by buying one of my CD’s there in the back”.
Opening the second set with a tapping duet with drummer Yoron Israel was a unique and awesome spectacle. The magnificent drumming prowess shown through when Yoron Israel was free to let loose, and he sure did, trading back and forth with Grace showing of her rhythmic footwork. Grace finished playing the song “My Little Suede Shoes” playing the saxophone while tap dancing at the same time. I don’t know where she got all the breath for that one. Her rendition of “’Round Midnight” would have left Thelonius Monk with a smile on his face. Grace has always loved jazz and standards and next she sang three of her favorites, Nat King Cole’s “Straighten up And Fly Right”, Charlie Chaplin’s “Smile”, and a rendition of “Blue Skies” which was arranged over Thelonius Monk’s “In Walked Bud”and showed she could scat too. A final treat was when one of her saxophone teachers, Jeremy Udden from NEC Prep came on stage in an impromptu collaboration with Grace on a tune Stevie Wonder made famous, “Signed Sealed and Delivered ( I’m Yours)” during which there was a battle of saxophone solo’s that brought the house down.
As Ann Hampton Callaway, a famous singer songwriter, says about Grace in the liner notes on the CD “Dreaming” “There is no telling how far this child prodigy will go with the limitless possibilities of her voluminous talents. Grace is following her heart and that path is sure to lead her on a great adventure that all listeners, lucky enough to discover her, will relish.” I could not agree more. If you have a chance to see her, don’t miss it.
Representing Brookline: A Bite-Sized Jazz Sensation
Angelic harp melodies are not the only strains of music to be heard on a cloud.Not this cloud, at any rate.On November 20th,Cloud Place in Boston was buzzing and bustling – not only due to the many moms and dads who were preparing their artistic progeny for a performance, but also to members of the National Guild of Community Schools of the Arts gathering for their yearly convention.Music and dance students in grade school and high school were invited to display their talents at this prestigious event (it’s not every day an opportunity appears to perform in front of leaders of music schools from all across New England) with home states ranging from Massachusetts to Connecticut and New Hampshire.
Representing BrooklineMusicSchool was Grace Kelly, a singer-songwriter-saxophonist whose talent and musical sophistication belie her age: twelve years old.Accompanied on piano by Jacob Sherman, on drums by Evan Winter – both BrooklineMusicSchool students – and on bass by BMS teacher and ensemble coordinator John Purcell, Ms. Kelly’s warm sax tones and refreshingly agile voice were showcased by jazzy takes on the Beatles’ “Can’t Buy Me Love” and Berlin’s “Blue Skies,” among other tunes.The four-song set was an immediate hit with the audience, garnering open admiration and invitations to music programs for the preteen prodigy.
