The pick of the world's best jazz musicians freelance in New York City and are accessible for my gigs, and for private parties, corporate events and recording. My long-standing vocal duet with Jim Malloy can be heard on my website on my CD and in-person in NY and elsewhere. Let me know the kind of instrumentation and tone you need and you got it.
Influences
MUSICAL INSPIRATION - Chet Baker, Ella Fitzgerald, June Christy, Carmen McCrae and Frank Sinatra were major.
In the early '50s, when I first heard Ella on WNEW, my eyes and ears popped wide open.
She would go around and away from the melody, yet was never lost. That was the game: how far out could you go and still come back, yet making it all understandable? That was the creative challenge that got to me.
Chet Baker was my first big influence. I loved the phrasing on his debut instrumental album, then he put one out with the same tunes and feel, this time as a vocalist! WOW! All my initial repertoire came from that record until I figured out that the story in "But Not For Me" didn't work as a light-hearted medium swing! But that cut had already done its job and there are so many great lyrics which do fit that kind of feel, still a favorite in any set.
I hired Joe Magnarelli (flugelhorn) because he's also a Chet Baker fan. When we met years before, his then-girlfriend and I had a regular gig together. Joe and I talked then about Chet's huge effect on each of us and I decided some day he'd be on my first album. On one solo, he and Harry Whitaker (piano) sound so much like early Chet stuff -- which I know nearly note-for-note from listening to it so much back then -- that I can't believe it! One phrase totally captures the essence of those old records and I don't know if these 2 guys ever even heard it or, as Joe says, it's just "all out there."
When we moved out of New York to a tiny little town for my last year of high school, "Something Cool," June Christy's breakout solo album, practically saved my life! We lived 7 miles from anything, me a 17-year-old with no driver's license who at first knew no one. A classmate took pity on me and we went and listened to her copy (probably the only copy for 100 miles) of that album everyday after school. The title tune seemed so romantic and I didn't realize for years just how devastating the story actually is. I had to include the song "Something STILL Cool" in my first CD
Sounds Like
Diana Krall, Elli Fitzgerald, Carmen McCrae, June Christy, Anita O'Day, Claire Martin, Chet Baker, Tony Bennett
Record Label
First indie CD is nearly done, look for it in 2007
In addition to listening to radio, native-New-Yorker Elli Fordyce’s earliest exposure to jazz was when as a teen she watched many on-going live jam sessions played in by her best buddy, then-drummer Bobby (“Darin”) Cossotto, which went on as they surreptitiously cut their Bronx Science H.S. school classes! Soon she was singing with a local dance band, followed by a summer with a jazz trio. Months after a triumphant debut before a thousand-plus other freshmen at UMass in Amherst, Elli chose marriage and a family over singing.
After returning to performing and studying Music Ed, at 30 Elli and fellow-student Randy Fordyce helped form what was her first jazz group. The next 14 years often found her “on-the-road,” plyingand honing her craft. From cruise ships to Playboy Clubs, hotels to restaurants, and in concerts -- in the U.S. as well as surrounding countries and islands – she sang, fronted and emceed. When a year-long tour by jazzy pop quartet “Elli Fordyce And Her Favorite Things” ended in tragedy, she decided to focuse dedicately on needed physical and spiritual healing.
15 years later, Elli finally returned to her first love -- singing -- and soon found renowned jazz educator/pianist Barry Harris, whose jazz-vocal workshops put her squarely on track making inevitable a return to performing. She has since sung a lot in the NY-Metro area, including in a Town Hall Cabaret Convention and many clubs and restaurants, meanwhile getting training in on-camera acting, performance, voice, and music theory and improv. Her first CD still in-progress, Elli currently acts in films and on TV (has co-hosted a local show), was in “Guys and Dolls” off-Broadway, coaches privately and much more. As she says, “It’s never too late!”
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: NYC Now a night out in NY to see a show at a VERY AFFORDABLE price! Joan Crowe started this Wednesday night series. Dana Lorge and Richard Skipper have now put their OWN spin on it and are now hosting this weekly variety show in NYC at The Iguana VIP Lounge (http://www.iguananyc.com) in the heart of NYC (240 West 54th Street 8-11PM/with an intermission). WEDNESDAY NIGHT AT THE IGUANA! What they are doing is NOT being done anywhere else! Each week will showcase 5 entertainers. Other entertainers that show up will be inserted throughout the show as time permits/this is done by lottery! AND each are joined by the maestro Barry Levitt on keyboard and Saadi Zain on bass.Each week will be different. The price is ONLY $10.00 with NO food or drink minimum (although the food at The Iguana is top notch).CASH ONLY TO BE PAID AT DOOR! This is a nice night out with the family! The show will also be done with class and elegance. A "throw back" to the variety shows we grew up with. For more info, please call 845-365-0720 or visit _www.RichardSkipper.com_ (http://www.richardskipper.com/) . RESERVATIONS A MUST!!!!!!!!! 212-765-5454. No one admitted before 7:30.
THIS WEEK! July 29th: 2009 Bistro Award Winner for Outstanding Debut: Deb Burman, Jenna Esposito, Jana Robbins, Maureen Taylor, and Susan Winter.
August 5th: Sandi Durell, Bobbie Horowitz, Carolyn Ohlbaum, Brent Winborn, and Yaffa
August 12th: Arianna, Barbara Gurskey, Barbara Porteus, Rachel Stone and MAC HANSON AWARD WINNER Leslie Orofino
August 19th: Helene Feldman, Helena Grenot, Jillian Laurain, Travis Moser, Alan Palmer
August 26th Dana Lorge hosts! (Richard Skipper is out of town). Special Guest stars Val Ryder, Tanya Mobley, Bryn Holdsworh!
September 2nd: Dana Lorge hosts. Guests TBA
SEPTEMBER 9th: Richard returns from Malibu! Special guest star: John Demarco, Jackie Draper, Robin James, Sue Matsuki!
Hello from Ruthie Foster! Thank you for the friend request! Please visit www. RuthieFoster. com for exclusive fan content, tour info, merchandise and more!
Hey Elli - great to be able to keep in touch with you on both sites! Your vocals sound fantastic, I love your version of Wouldn't It Be Lovely. Nice arrangement with the solo bass out front. When you get a chance, stop by The Latin Jazz Corner, you'll find some good stuff there! Keep in touch.
