In recent years there has been a resurgence of interest in what was known in the war era as ‘the girl singer’, the name coined for the female vocalist who could be found in all the great big bands of the day. Contemporary jazz vocalists, such as Natalie Cole and Diana Krall, have shown that a whole new generation is interested in that sound.

Jennifer Sutton first heard that sound when she heard Ella Fitzgerald and right away she had the bug. Growing up in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, she was exposed to many different styles of music. “When I was a little girl, I used to listen to my mother sing in harmony to the songs on the radio and in church, and I always tried to imitate her.” As was her family tradition, she sang in the church choir. Her family listened to a plethora of music, from Barbra Streisand (“My father named me after the song ‘Jenny Rebecca’ from her ‘My Name Is Barbara’ album.”) to Edyie Gorme; from Elvis Presley to Tammy Wynette. Jennifer discovered Frank Sinatra, Tony Bennett and Burt Bacharach by rummaging through her mother’s record collection as a young girl. In fact, it was from pillaging the old vinyl LPs of her great uncle, former vaudevillian ‘Smilin’ Eddie Stoner’, that she first experienced the sounds of the big band era: Glenn Miller, Peggy Lee, Artie Shaw, Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey and Frank Sinatra. Through imitation, she was subliminally learning the nuances and stylistic inflections that her favorite singers had gleaned from the great instrumentalist band leaders in whose bands they came up through the ranks.

From age 5 through her college years, Jennifer sang alto in every school choir of every genre, from jazz to renaissance. From age 10 she played the flute and tenor sax in all the school stage bands and orchestras. After sitting in the pit bands gazing longingly at the performers on stage, Jennifer finally put down the sax and picked up the microphone.

However, music had to beat out several other competitors for Jennifer’s time in school. She took tap, jazz and ballet as a young child, traded in the toe shoes for private art classes, and became an award winning oil painter in her teens. From age 10 she was coached by her father in both softball and basketball, and played on her schools varsity basketball teams. “I was also a certified lifeguard, so you’ll never drown at one of my shows…maybe in your cups, but that I can’t control that...”

Jennifer attended Kutztown University as a Fine Art major. Upon landing the lead as a freshman in the college musical, and realizing that she was spending more time in the choir room than the art rooms, Jennifer changed her major to music. She began singing with the school’s jazz band, under the direction of Dr. A. Alan Apple, who taught her the differences between jazz vocals and legit singing, and the importance of phrasing and intonation in jazz vocal interpretation. It was during these critical years that she fell in love with Ella Fitzgerald, and made the connection between the Broadway show tunes and her favorite jazz standards.

After completing her first year of music study, Jennifer left school and headed for Manhattan, where she performed in dinner theater, cabarets, and musical theater. She has shared the stage with the likes of Robert Cuccioli, Jeff Harner, Annie Hughes, Robin Field and Bill Daugherty. She has trained vocally with Anthony DiLeva, has studied acting under the direction of Mary Boyer at T. Schreiber Studios. During this time she recorded several voice-overs, both for industrial films, commercials, and corporate voice-mail systems throughout the metropolitan area.

After an unintentional few years hiatus from singing, a close friend of Jennifer’s, jazz vocalist Joseph Walsh, discovered that they had a mutual love of Johnny Mercer and Bobby Darin. “After seeing one of Joe’s shows, knowing I used to sing, he insisted we sing a duet at his next gig at Detour, and wanted me to pick the song. I had recently been listening to Nancy LaMott’s version of Mercer’s ‘Have You Got Any Castles’, pretty obscure by my standards. I emailed Joe asking if he knew the song. No sooner did I hit the ‘send’ key, I received an email from Joe suggesting that very same song! Of all the songs to pick… It was Kismet. And that started the ball rolling.”

Through Joseph Walsh, Jennifer was introduced to jazz guitarist/arranger/composer David O’Rourke. During one of Joe’s performances with David at Bar On A in the east village, Jennifer was asked to sit in, and David suggested she sing “Send In The Clowns”. The chemistry between the two of them was unmistakable, and they have been collaborating ever since. David has since become Jennifer’s musical director/arranger/guitarist, and Jennifer in turn has guested with the Jazz Standard Youth Orchestra under David’s direction at Jazz Standard.

Jennifer performs regularly at the East Village jazz club Detour where she has garnered a loyal and growing following. She also performs at Bar On A, also in the east village, Clemente’s in East Harlem, Jazz Standard with the JSYO, the Waterfront Alehouse in Brookyn. Jennifer has also shared the stage with the likes of Nathan Lucas, Max Lucas, Jeremy Pelt, Abraham Burton, Fintan O’Neill, Richard Clements, David Mason, Matt Parker, Ken Gotschall, Alan Hampton, Kat Roche and Ryan Cavan.

Jennifer’s natural performing style and effortless stage presence is best described by the caption on Detour’s website whenever she has an upcoming performance: “BANG, ZOOM, Jennifer has entered the room!”