About Jazz Vocalist Alexis Cole
Alexis Cole is an accomplished jazz vocalist. Her sophisticated, urbane style and warm, resonant voice have earned her a reputation as a distinctive performer in the jazz world.
Cole has shared the stage and recording studio with renowned musicians including Fred Hersch, Bucky Pizzarelli, Don Braden and Matt Wilson.
Cole lives in New York City and has performed and taught internationally. Her teaching career has included positions with jazz voice programs at the State University of New York at Purchase, William Paterson University and Western Connecticut State University, as well as an affiliate of Berklee College of Music in Ecuador.
Cole also served in the U.S. Army. From 2009 to 2015, she was a vocalist with the West Point Band’s big band, The Jazz Knights.
Born in Queens, New York, in 1976, Cole learned jazz standards from her grandmother, a pianist and singer. Her father, a pianist, singer and composer, gave her first piano lessons.
Cole studied at the New World School of the Arts. She earned a bachelor’s degree in music from William Paterson University, where she studied with Nancy Marano, and later earned a master’s degree from Queens College.
Alexis Cole Recordings and International Career
Cole’s 2021 album, “Sky Blossom: Songs From My Tour of Duty,” released on Zoho, features arrangements written for her by Jazz Knights music director Scott Arcangel. Her more recent project, “Jazz Republic: Taiwan, The United States and the Freedom of Swing,” brings together her work with the big band across international borders. It includes string arrangements by Arcangel and material from arrangers Rich DeRosa and Chris Walden.
Cole’s recordings explore traditional jazz standards, swing, contemporary material and creative collaborations. They include:
- “Very Early”
- “Nearer the Sun”
- “Zingaro”
- “Someday My Prince Will Come”
- “I Carry Your Heart”
- “Close Your Eyes”
- “A Kiss in the Dark”
- “A Beautiful Friendship,” with guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli
- “Dazzling Blue,” her tribute to Paul Simon, which debuted on the Billboard jazz chart
Cole has performed in Japan, Taiwan, Korea, India, Ecuador, Canada and throughout the United States and Europe. In 2022, she spent a month in Taiwan working with the Taipei Jazz Orchestra. In 2023, she toured the United States and Europe with pianist Monika Herzig’s Joni Mitchell Project, “Both Sides of Joni.”
Cole also teaches jazz. In 2020, she founded JazzVoice.com, an online educational community for jazz vocalists. In 2021, she co-founded the Virginia Beach Vocal Jazz Summit.
Read more on the Alexis Cole official website.