Carri Bella’s exquisite voice calls to mind the whimsy of Annie Ross....

Carri Bella’s exquisite voice calls to mind the whimsy of Annie Ross in one moment and the sultry stylings of Julie London in the next. While much of her repertoire is comprised of standards from the Great American Songbook, she steers clear of tired old stand-bys, instead opting for the quirkier side of Cole Porter or the Mancini tune that is rarely sung. Carri’s passion for story-telling with a twist also leads her to explore instrumental tunes with words added by clever lyricists. In fact, she has even penned a few of those herself. Some of those tunes will appear on her first CD (see blog for updates). In the meantime, you might catch her performing at a club, restaurant, winery or special event in the Pacific Northwest with any of the area’s top jazz instrumentalists. The Carri Bella Combo typically includes guitar or piano along with bass, drums or more intruments depending upon what the scene calls for.

Influences
In college, I was crazy for vocal harmonies, so I idolized Lambert, Hendricks & Ross, Manhatten Transfer, The Hi-Lo's, The Four Freshman and other groups of that ilk. At the same time, I listened to a lot of Ella Fitzgerald, Mel Tormé, Lena Horne, Carmen McRae, Flora Purim, Sarah Vaughan and early Al Jarreau. Somewhat later I discovered many of the superlative singers of the 50s and 60s such as Chet Baker, Nancy Wilson, Astrud Gilberto, Mark Murphy, Julie London, and the oh-so-hip sound of Sergio Mendes. I still listen to all those folks, but nowadays I also love many contemporary jazz vocalists. Two of my favorites hail from across the pond: Ian Shaw and Claire Martin.

Other favorite vocalists include DeeDee Bridgewater, Dianne Reeves, Holly Cole, J.D. Walter, the amazing Kurt Elling and the unparalleled Nancy King. I’m fortunate to live in Portland, so I can see and hear Nancy frequently! My love for vocal jazz remains undimmed, so of course, I am a big fan of New York Voices as well. It’s impossible to be unaffected by any of these vocalists, so they have all influenced me in some way.

However, some of my biggest idols are Jon Hendricks for being one of the most clever lyricists to walk the planet, Kurt Elling for teaching me to be what I would call a “thinking person’s vocalist,” Nancy King for inspiring me to take bigger improvisational risks, and Al Jarreau for being able to make the most unbelievable sounds to come out of anybody’s mouth. He’s the one cat I would absolutely have to take with me if I knew I would be stranded on a deserted island. :-)