About1
About1
About
introducing Jennifer Williams
Jennifer Williams is an outstanding vocalist. Completing her Honors Degree in Jazz at the Guildhall School of Music, she now works professionally around London and the south of England. During her time at Guildhall, Jennifer attended workshops with the likes of The Lincoln Center Jazz Band, Randy Brecker, Gretchen Parlato and John Scofield. Her innate passion for music leads her to draw inspiration from a wealth of artists, contributing to a skillful and versatile talent. Alongside Jazz, Jennifer has strong affinities for Soul, Funk, Reggae, Latin, Gospel and Classical music. Her abundant professional experience reflects this dynamic love of music.
As well as leading her own projects such as ‘A Night of Funk and Fusion’ hosted at the Vortex Jazz Club featuring music by The RH Factor, Jennifer has collaborated with some of the top musicians in the UK for session, choral, lead and backing vocal work.
As a member of the original six-part acapella group Vive, Jennifer has performed at The Stables supporting Dame Cleo Laine, The London Jazz Festival featuring Jacqui Dankworth, The 606 and The Barbican to name a few. She has also supported The Eclectic Voices and Liane Carroll with the prestigious Guildhall Jazz Choir at venues such as St Martin In The Fields and Hackney Empire, singing songs of Gene Puerling, Donald Fagen’s ‘The Nightfly’ and Quincy Jones'
rendition of Handel’s Messiah. Jennifer’s love of Gospel music furthered her to collaborate with The ACM Gospel Choir, performing at The Royal Albert Hall for national award ceremonies. Utilising a strong classical background, Jennifer’s experience extends to performances of John Adams’ Pianola Music and Steve Reich’s Drumming with the Guildhall UBU Orchestras.
Alongside organising her own groups for performances at venues including The Spice of Life, The London Guildhall and The Lancaster London Hotel, Jennifer’s expertise in fronting a band has been exercised for a diversity of projects. Featuring with groups such as The Chosen Few Big Band, Gerry Brown and the Mission Hall Jazz Band, Sounds of Steel (Steel Pan Orchestra), The Jazz Pops and The Baltic Ceilidh Band, Jennifer’s exceptional vocals are in high demand. Touring internationally with The Global Voices Big Band, Jennifer has performed at the famous Artscape Theatre in Cape Town as well as The V&A Waterfront and Mama Africa. Performances in the UK include The Royal Albert Hall, The Anvil, The Concorde Club and Ferneham Hall. She has also been a member of Moondance Swing Band, Thunderfunk Party Band, Electro-Swing Project and Mode Showband, singing at numerous events around the country in prestigious venues such as The Shangri-La Hotel at The Shard, The Four Seasons Hotel - Mayfair and Wembley Stadium.
Jennifer’s accomplishments as a backing vocalist have helped forge her musical versatility. As a valued component of reggae band Zion And The White Boys, Jennifer toured the country supporting acclaimed reggae artists such as Dawn Penn and The Easy Star All Stars together with numerous gigs around London, Oxford, Guildford, Reading and Southampton. Jennifer appeared at Beach Breaks Festival and featured on Balcony TV with the group. Additionally, her work in backing vocals extends to soul and RnB, joining forces with The Urban Jazz Station and The Abatements, with whom she performed at The Royal Festival Hall.
Jennifer is an accomplished recording artist. As well as session recording she has also written, recorded and produced a
number of her own songs. These resonate as uniquely alluring with an integrated mix of Jennifer’s many influences from Ella to Esperanza, Bootsy to Beyonce!
As 2023 unfolds, Jennifer continues her involvement and support for a variety of musical projects, capturing inspiration from all around her. She is now organising her own groups for ventures in the UK and internationally: Most recently, traveling far and wide singing for Celebrity, P&O Australia, Fred Olsen, Norwegian and Royal Caribbean cruise lines as well as performing in prestigious hotels in London and around the country. Jennifer’s established jazz group, Meraki Jazz, regularly lights up events nationwide. Take a look at the hire page for more info.
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About2
Background
I was born and raised in the coastal suburbs between Southampton and Portsmouth. I loved growing up near the sea and with both of my parents being mariners, my passion for music really did come out of the blue! The embers of my singing career began when we moved to Florida when I was just nine years old. An opera singer worked at the school I attended and after auditioning me for the production, told me with enthusiasm how I must pursue singing. Luckily, I come from a very supportive family and when we moved back to the UK, my mum arranged for me to take up lessons. Ever since then, singing has been my life. I would practice every day after school and began writing my own songs from an early age.
Throughout school I was encouraged more and more by some wonderful teachers and feel very lucky to have had the support of a brilliant music department. I soon got involved in all the school bands and it was while singing in the school big band that I developed a particular interest in Jazz. As I got older, the encouragement I received gave me the confidence to forge my own pathways in music. I joined Hampshire Youth Jazz Orchestra and also began to do gigs with a local swing band. I was a frequent guest vocalist at Gosport Jazz Club and received great encouragement from all around me to pursue singing and jazz, soon after securing my place at The Guildhall School of Music.
Meanwhile, with the support of an excellent vocal coach, I began focusing greatly on vocal technique and exploring my voice. Completing the ABRSM grade eight and wanting to move to the next step, I took on the ABRSM Performance Diploma. The classical training really opened up my voice and enabled me to control and craft it while singing some extremely technical music from Purcell to Faure. This focus and discipline was invaluable and to this day I use challenging classical music, where the need for flawless technique is critical, as a tool to help maintain top-form in my voice overall. Of course, achieving this brings me great enjoyment and has instilled a huge appreciation for classical music in me.
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Why i love to sing
Singing is such a natural thing to do. Everywhere in the world and everyplace in time, from the earliest tribes to modern day society – there has been singing. Perhaps not how we might recognise it, but in some form of it’s fantastic versatility. It is ingrained in our very being and comes from an instinctive place, making it a pleasure to be able to do as a profession!
Leading on from its presence in the human condition, singing is a pastime that brings people together regardless of wheather the circumstances are joyous or sorrowful. Singing with others brings a sense of unity and comfort, allowing you to form relationships by sharing emotions conjured from the lyrics and feel of the music.
I love that you can sing anywhere. You only need yourself to do it and the sound that comes out is completely unique to you. This makes singing very personal. I like relating to other people's songs and can often visualise situations in my own life that compare to the lyrics and messages that others are transmitting. I really enjoy the poetic side of singing and having something meaningful to convey to an audience.
Lastly and quite simply, singing is a lot of fun. I get rushes of fulfillment and satisfaction from singing and I can feel that it is doing me good through and through, mind, body and soul!
