Barbra Lica is a Canadian

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

singer and songwriter based in Toronto. She was named one of Canada's top upcoming female jazz artists and was the first runner-up in the 2013 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Competition. Lica received her first

Juno Award The Juno Awards, more popularly known as the JUNOS, are awards presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music. New members of the Canadian Music Hall of ...

nomination in 2017 for ''I'm Still Learning'' under the category Vocal Jazz Album of the Year.

Career

Barbra Lica was born in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada. She grew up in a musical family, and discovered jazz at the age of six. She studied at the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

, receiving a

Bachelor of Music Bachelor of Music (BM or BMus) is an academic degree awarded by a college, university, or conservatory upon completion of a program of study in music. In the United States, it is a professional degree, and the majority of work consists of prescr ...

along with a major in Human Biology. In 2012, Lica released her debut album ''That's What I Do''. It was released with a live-to-air concert broadcast on

JAZZ.FM91 CJRT-FM (91.1 Hertz, MHz) is a Canadian public radio station and charitable arts organization in Toronto, Ontario, known as JAZZ.FM91. The studios are on Pardee Avenue in the Liberty Village neighbourhood of Toronto. The station describes itself ...

. The album opened at #1 on

iTunes iTunes () is a software program that acts as a media player, media library, mobile device management utility, and the client app for the iTunes Store. Developed by Apple Inc., it is used to purchase, play, download, and organize digital mul ...

Canada's jazz chart, and was released the following year in Japan by

Universal Records Universal Music Group N.V. (often abbreviated as UMG and referred to as just Universal Music) is a Dutch–American multinational music corporation under Dutch law. UMG's corporate headquarters are located in Hilversum, Netherlands and its ...

. ''That's What I Do'' was produced by

Juno Juno commonly refers to: *Juno (mythology), the Roman goddess of marriage and queen of the gods *Juno (film), ''Juno'' (film), 2007 Juno may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional characters *Juno, in the film ''Jenny, Juno'' *Ju ...

-winning jazz producer/bassist/recording artist Paul Novotny, and featured instrumentalists Reg Schwager, Kevin Turcotte,

Joe Sealy Joseph Arthur Sealy (born 16 August 1939) is a Canadian jazz musician. He was awarded the Order of Canada in 2010. Awards * Juno Awards of 1982 - Nominee for Best Jazz Album - ''Clear Vision'' * Juno Awards of 1995 - Nominee for Best Contemporary ...

Robi Botos Robi Botos is a Hungarian-Canadian jazz pianist. He has recorded several albums as a leader and was the winner of the Concours de Jazz, TD Grand Jazz Award at the 2012 Montreal International Jazz Festival. In 2016, Botos won the JUNO Award for Bes ...

, Archie Alleyne, Steve Heathcote, Perry White, Brian Dickinson, and Rob Piltch. Novotny and Sealy had first been introduced to Lica when she guest-starred on the duo's acclaimed 2009 album, ''Songs''. The track featuring Lica, "You're Gonna Miss Me," was played on JAZZ.FM91, marking the first time Lica was on the radio. In November 2013, Barbra competed in and placed first runner-up in the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition in

New Jersey New Jersey is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York; on the east, southeast, and south by the Atlantic Ocean; on the west by the Delaware ...

. Judges for the competition included Al Jarreau, Gretchen Parlato, and

Janis Siegel Janis Siegel (born July 23, 1952) is an American jazz singer, best known as a member of the vocal group The Manhattan Transfer. Musical career In 1965, Siegel made her recording debut with a group called Young Generation on Red Bird Records. Af ...

The Manhattan Transfer The Manhattan Transfer is a Grammy award–winning vocal group founded in 1969 that has explored a cappella, vocalese, swing, standards, Brazilian jazz, rhythm and blues, and pop music. There have been two editions of the Manhattan Transfer, ...

. Lica's second full-length album, ''Kissing You'', was first performed in public in December 2014 at

Koerner Hall The Royal Conservatory of Music (RCM), branded as The Royal Conservatory, is a non-profit music education institution and performance venue headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was founded in 1886 by Edward Fisher (musician), Edward ...

, and was officially released in January 2015. The album was produced in collaboration with Lou Pomanti, and was mixed by Juno-winner Jeff Wolpert, and features Reg Schwager, Kevin Turcotte,

Mark Kelso Mark Alan Kelso (born July 23, 1963) is a former American football player. He was a member of the Buffalo Bills teams that appeared in four consecutive Super Bowls from 1990 to 1993, and served as the color commentator for the Buffalo Bills Rad ...

Marc Rogers Marc Rogers is a Canadian acoustic and electric bassist. Career Rogers studied at the University of North Texas College of Music, where he was a member of the One O'Clock Lab Band directed by Neil Slater. He is a member of the band The Philosop ...

, and Kevin Fox. Lica has performed at numerous venues, including at the

Rogers Cup The Canadian Open (french: Tournoi de tennis du Canada), also known as the Canada Masters, and currently branded as the National Bank Open presented by Rogers for sponsorship reasons, is an annual tennis tournament held in Ontario and Quebec. T ...

(2010) and Honda Indy (2014), with

Bob Dorough Robert Lrod Dorough (December 12, 1923 – April 23, 2018) was an American bebop and cool jazz vocalist, pianist, composer, songwriter, arranger, and producer. Dorough became famous as the composer and performer of songs in the TV series ''School ...

at Toronto's ''Jazz Bistro'' (2013), at JAZZ.FM91's annual ''Jazz Lives'' concert among jazz greats

Pat Metheny Patrick Bruce Metheny ( ; born August 12, 1954) is an American jazz guitarist and composer. He is the leader of the Pat Metheny Group and is also involved in duets, solo works, and other side projects. His style incorporates elements of progre ...

Terence Blanchard Terence Oliver Blanchard (born March 13, 1962) is an American trumpeter and composer. He started his career in 1982 as a member of the Lionel Hampton Orchestra, then The Jazz Messengers. He has composed more than forty film scores and performed ...

, and

Bill Charlap William Morrison Charlap (born October 15, 1966, pronounced "Shar-Lap") is an American jazz pianist. In 2016, '' The Silver Lining: The Songs of Jerome Kern'', an album produced by Charlap and Tony Bennett, won the award for Best Traditional Pop V ...

(2013), as well as a featured performance with

Sylvia Tyson Sylvia may refer to: People *Sylvia (given name) * Sylvia (singer), American country music and country pop singer and songwriter *Sylvia Robinson, American singer, record producer, and record label executive * Sylvia Vrethammar, Swedish singer cre ...

and

Serena Ryder Serena most commonly refers to: * Serena Williams (born 1981), professional tennis player Serena may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Serena (genre), 13th-century Occitan poetic genre * ''Serena'' (1962 film), a British crime th ...

on CBC's 75th Anniversary Special with host Michael Enright. Lica has been called one of Canada's Top 5 Female Jazz Singers by

CBC Radio 2 CBC Music (formerly known as CBC FM, CBC Stereo and CBC Radio 2) is a Canadian FM radio network operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. It used to concentrate on classical and jazz. In 2007 and 2008, the network transitioned towards a ...

host

Tim Tamashiro Tim Tamashiro is a Canadian jazz singer, radio broadcaster and speaker. Tim was the host of '' Tonic'', a nightly jazz program on CBC Radio 2 from March 2007 until late June 2017. He became the full-time host of ''Tonic'' on April 2, 2012, after ...

('' Tonic''). She has also been described as one of Toronto's top 5 up-and-coming jazz artists by blogTO. On February 7, 2017, Lica's album ''I'm Still Learning'' was nominated for a

in the category ''Vocal Jazz Album of the Year''.

Discography

As leader

* ''That's What I Do'' (Triplet/Universal Jazz Japan), 2012) * ''Kissing You'' (2015) * ''Love Songs'' (2015) (Japan) * ''Christmas Present'' * ''Who Knows?'' (2016) (Japan) * ''I'm Still Learning'' ( Justin Time, 2016) * ''You're Fine'' (Justin Time, 2018)

As guest

* ''Songs'',

(2009) * ''Sophisticated Ladies'',

Peter Appleyard Peter Appleyard, (26 August 1928 – 17 July 2013) was a British–Canadian jazz vibraphonist, percussionist, and composer. He spent most of his life in the city of Toronto, where for many years he was a popular performer in nightclubs and ho ...

(2012)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lica, Barbra Canadian women jazz singers Singers from Toronto 21st-century Canadian women singers Living people Year of birth missing (living people)