For the past 18 years, Lauren has been best known as a member of New York Voices....

About Lauren Kinhan
For the past 18 years, Lauren has been best known as a member of New York Voices. Always a goal of her musical pursuits, to use her voice and writing skills in challenging ways, she won the coveted spot with NYV in 1992. NYV was an extraordinary opportunity to work with 3 other exceptional musicians.

They are celebrating 22 years in the biz and a career that shares a Grammy Award with the Count Basie Orchestra on a live CD recorded in 1997, and one with Paquito D'Rivera on a CD they recorded in 2003; both on the MCG Label. The group continues to rise in it's notoriety as interesting commissions and gigs continue to come their way. You can find two of Lauren's original compositions on their most recent CD, A Day Like This.

To learn more about NYV, go to www.newyorkvoices.com. Before she sang those beefy charts, Lauren was writing and producing her own music. In 2000, she was signed by the legendary Phil Ramone. He put together a crack-shot team of producers to help Lauren launch her original solo CD entitled "Hardly Blinking." Frank Filipetti (James Taylor) gave the CD its rich, rootsy heartbeat while showcasing Lauren's voice and songs. Rob Mounsey brought a pop perspective, and closed the CD with a chamber piece orchestrated for piano, strings and oboe.

The CD has a story to tell at every turn and lets the musical styles be the whim of Lauren and the song. Lauren has just finished production on her follow-up CD titled, Avalon. It melds more closely her love of the Jazz Standard and the Singer/Songwriter narrative. Both an extension of each other, her new songs speak of the current day events and woes, often depicting the immediate lives around her and posing them in relatable ways.

The musical palate is hearty, yet not over produced. Lauren produced it with the singer/songwriter "whisperer," Ben Wittman. His chops go above and beyond as he plays drums, percussion, keyboards, arranges, records, mixes and makes a mean cup a joe - a mandatory requirement of a modern day producer. Talents such as Jonatha Brooke, Romero Lubambo, Donny McCaslin and Andy Ezrin make guest appearances.

The CD will be released by E1 Entertainment on May 18, 2010. Lauren is also busy working with two new vocal groups, the first called Moss and the second JaLaLa. When Luciana Souza and Peter Eldridge (of New York Voices) were talking about creating a local voice collective, they put together a short list of five singers they would most like to collaborate and eat food with. The other members of the group are Kate McGarry and Theo Bleckmann.

So began Moss. The music is defined most often individually, and tends to feature random voices in group or sparse ways. It was meant to be a sounding board for ideas, and soon found itself in the care of Sunnyside Records and in the studio October of 2007. The CD is comprised of originals from the members as well as covers.
Photo by Chris Carroll, 2007.

All five singers have full-fledged solo careers, so the CD is a chance to capture their ideas and book special engagements when time permits. "Moss" was released in April of 2008 to rave reviews. Moss was included in Downbeats Best CDs of the 2000s this past January! Go to Mossproduced.org for more information. JaLaLa made it's debut in July of 2009 with their CD paying tribute to the great Johnny Mercer, "That Old Mercer Magic." Janis Siegel (of Manhattan Transfer) and Laurel Masse' (the original soprano in Man Tran) asked Lauren to join them in this all female band.

The Mercer project seemed the perfect launch pad for this group that had been developing this project in between their busy schedules. Janis produced and arranged this first outing for Dare Records and happily brought the ladies in for group and solo moments. One of the tracks, "Spring, Spring, Spring," was chosen for the recent Clint Eastwood documentary celebrating Mercer's Centennial entitled "The Dream's on Me."

Over the years Lauren has sung with Bobby McFerrin, Ornette Coleman, Kenny Rankin, Jonatha Brooke, Nancy Wilson and Donna Summer. Her range is part of the charm of her resume'. You can purchase Hardly Blinking at newyorkvoices.com and soon the launch of Lauren's own website, www.laurenkinhan.com! Make sure to sign up for Lauren's email list so you are abreast of all the exciting news coming down the pike. I edited my profile with Thomas Myspace Editor V4.4 (www.strikefile.com/myspace)

Read more: http://www.myspace.com/laurenkinhan#ixzz0uXxTpXnz