Nedelle Torrisi is an American

musician A musician is a person who composes, conducts, or performs music. According to the United States Employment Service, "musician" is a general term used to designate one who follows music as a profession. Musicians include songwriters who wri ...

who lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Biography

Torrisi grew up studying classical

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

and performing in musicals. Her mother is an ex-nun and pianist, while her father was an ex-Jesuit priest and

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 ...

drummer. Her brother is a clarinetist and neuroscientist. Torrisi studied jazz voice at

Berklee College of Music Berklee College of Music is a private music college in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the largest independent college of contemporary music in the world. Known for the study of jazz and modern American music, it also offers college-level cours ...

, and earned her BA in jazz/world music history from

San Francisco State University San Francisco State University (commonly referred to as San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers 118 different b ...

Musical career

She has released and toured using her first name only, her full name, and as

Cryptacize Cryptacize is a California pop band founded by Nedelle Torrisi and Chris Cohen in 2006. They released two records on the Asthmatic Kitty label. After seeing percussionist Michael Carreira's solo cowbell videos on YouTube, Cohen and Torrisi ask ...

with

Chris Cohen Christopher David Cohen (born 5 March 1987) is an English former professional footballer and is currently assistant manager at Southampton. Primarily a midfielder, he was able to operate equally in the centre or on the left, but was also emplo ...

. As a solo act, she has opened tours for Of Montreal,

Deerhoof Deerhoof are an American musical group formed in San Francisco in 1994. They currently consist of founding drummer Greg Saunier, bassist and singer Satomi Matsuzaki, and guitarists John Dieterich and Ed Rodriguez. Beginning as an improvised noi ...

Destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, manoeuvrable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against powerful short range attackers. They were originally developed in ...

, Fred Thomas,

Jens Lekman Jens Martin Lekman (; born 6 February 1981) is a Swedish musician. His music is guitar-based pop with heavy use of samples and strings, with lyrics that are often witty, romantic, and melancholic. His work is heavily influenced by Jonathan Ric ...

Julia Holter Julia Shammas Holter (born December 18, 1984) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, composer, artist and academic, based in Los Angeles. Following three independent album productions, Holter released ''Tragedy'' as her first official ...

Magnolia Electric Co. Jason Andrew Molina (December 30, 1973 – March 16, 2013) was an American musician, singer and songwriter. Raised in northern Ohio, he came to prominence performing and recording as Songs: Ohia, both in solo projects and with a rotating cast of ...

, and

Xiu Xiu Xiu Xiu ( ) is an American experimental band, formed in 2002 by singer-songwriter Jamie Stewart in San Jose, California. Currently, the line-up consists of Stewart (the only constant member since formation) and Angela Seo. The band's name co ...

. Her first solo album, ''From the Lion's Mouth'' was released by

Kill Rock Stars Kill Rock Stars is an independent record label founded in 1991 by Slim Moon and Tinuviel Sampson, and based in both Olympia, Washington, and Portland, Oregon. The label has released a variety of work in different genres, but was originally known ...

on February 22, 2005. The album ''The Locksmith Cometh'' was released in 2007 via the Tangrams7 label. Her debut album using her full name was self-titled, and released in 2013. It was made available through online distribution only. In February 2015 this self-titled album was reissued on vinyl LP through the Ethereal Sequence record label, and distributed by

Drag City Records Drag City is an American independent record label An independent record label (or indie label) is a record label that operates without the funding or distribution of major record labels; they are a type of small- to medium-sized enterprise, ...

. The vinyl LP was renamed ''Advice from Paradise.'' In 2017 Torrisi released a collaborative split 7" with

, Ramona Gonzalez, aka

Nite Jewel Ramona Gonzalez (known professionally as Nite Jewel) is an American singer-songwriter from Los Angeles, California. Biography Ramona Gonzalez began as Nite Jewel in 2008 as the result of her juggling music with undergraduate studies.

, and the producer Cole M.G.N. The 7" record, released by the Domino record label, featured two versions of a

Depeche Mode Depeche Mode are an English electronic music band formed in Basildon, Essex, in 1980. The band currently consists of Dave Gahan (lead vocals and co-songwriting) and Martin Gore (keyboards, guitar, co-lead vocals and main songwriting). Depeche ...

cover song, "Condemnation." Proceeds from the sales were donated to a mental health organization in honor of their late friend and collaborator, director Travis Peterson. In May 2018 a solo album ''Only For You'' was released on

Frenchkiss Records Frenchkiss Records is an independent record label based in New York City. The label was started in 1999 by Syd Butler, bassist and founder of Les Savy Fav. The label's first purpose was to release Les Savy Fav's second album '' The Cat and The Co ...

. Torrisi has also collaborated with Billy Uomo on a series of ten EPs that he is currently releasing on

Terrible Records Terrible (formerly Terrible Records) is a Los Angeles-based record label and artist management company founded by Chris Taylor and Ethan Silverman in 2009. Originally based in Brooklyn, New York, the label operated as a joint venture imprint ...

Collaborations

She was a member of the band

, who as of April 2009 had released two full-length albums on

Asthmatic Kitty Records Asthma is a long-term inflammatory disease of the airways of the lungs. It is characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and easily triggered bronchospasms. Symptoms include episodes of wheezing, coug ...

entitled ''Dig That Treasure'' and ''Mythomania''. Torrisi has performed background vocals on an album by

Ariel Pink Ariel Marcus Rosenberg ( ; born June 24, 1978), professionally known as Ariel Pink, is an American musician, singer, and songwriter whose work draws heavily from the popular music of the 1960s–1980s. His lo-fi music, lo-fi aesthetic and home ...

's Haunted Graffiti, entitled

Before Today ''Before Today'' is the eighth studio album by American recording artist Ariel Pink, credited to "Ariel Pink's Haunted Graffiti", and released on June 8, 2010. The album marked Pink's debut on the record label 4AD. It was his first official LP ...

Sufjan Stevens Sufjan Stevens ( ; born July 1, 1975) is an American singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. He has released nine solo studio albums and multiple collaborative albums with other artists. Stevens has received Grammy and Academy Award nomi ...

Carrie & Lowell ''Carrie & Lowell'' is the seventh studio album by American musician Sufjan Stevens. It was released on March 31, 2015, by Asthmatic Kitty. It is executively produced by Stevens, and features guest contributions from Thomas Bartlett, Sean Car ...

, and a

Devonte Hynes Devonté Hynes (born David Joseph Michael Hynes, 23 December 1985), also known as Blood Orange and formerly Lightspeed Champion, is an English singer, songwriter, record producer and director based in New York City. From 2004 to 2006, Hynes was ...

/ Blood Orange album called Coastal Grooves. She played violin on an album by

, and provided lead vocals for a song by

Saturday Looks Good To Me Saturday Looks Good to Me is an American experimental indie pop band that formed in 1999. The group is led by singer-songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Fred Thomas (former member of His Name Is Alive). Albums by the group are know ...

. Torrisi sang and played keyboards in the touring lineup of

The Rentals The Rentals are an American rock band fronted by vocalist Matt Sharp. Sharp has been the only consistent member since the group's inception. The band's best selling single is "Friends of P" (1995). The Rentals released two albums, ''Return of t ...

in 2014, supporting the album

Lost in Alphaville ''Lost in Alphaville'' is the third full-length studio album by The Rentals, released on August 25, 2014, through Polyvinyl Records. The album is available on CD, vinyl, cassette and as a digital download. It marks the band's first full-length ...

. She also sang on their 2020 album, ''Q36''. She was a touring member of

The Curtains The Curtains is an American band founded by Chris Cohen and visual artist Trevor Shimizu in San Francisco, California in 2000. Style Their first three albums are mostly instrumental music which uses electric guitar, Moog Concertmate MG-1 and d ...

in 2006. She has performed with

intermittently from 2009-2012 as a background singer, dancer, keyboardist, and violinist during his U.S. and world tours for The Age of Adz album, also appearing on

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon ''The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon'' is an American late-night talk show hosted by Jimmy Fallon that airs on NBC. The show premiered on February 17, 2014, and is produced by Broadway Video and Universal Television. It is the seventh incar ...

. Following this, Torrisi played in Stevens' band for a Christmas-themed tour in 2012.

was also the opening band for Steven's U.S. tour in the fall of 2009. Torrisi collaborated with Terrible Records solo artist Billy Uomo on several shared musical projects. Torrisi and Uomo have appeared in music videos, and produced scores for film and television. In 2021 Torrisi self-released an EP of jazz and pop cover songs with jazz organist and pianist

Larry Goldings Lawrence Sam “Larry” Goldings (born August 28, 1968) is an American jazz keyboardist and composer. His music has explored elements of funk, blues, and fusion. Goldings has a comedic alter ego known as Hans Groiner. Life and career Gold ...

, entitled ''Five Songs''. She has performed as a singer and multi-instrumentalist in Rodrigo Amarante's live band for performances and tours in 2021-2022.

Discography

Albums

* ''Republic of Two'' (2003) * ''Summerland'' with Thom Moore (2004) * ''From the Lion's Mouth'' (2005) * ''The Locksmith Cometh'' (2007) * ''Dig That Treasure'' Released by

(2008) * ''Mythomania'' Released by

(2009) * ''Nedelle Torrisi'' (2013) * ''Advice From Paradise'' (2015) * ''Only for You'' (2018) * ''Five Songs'' EP Released by Nedelle Torrisi and

(2021)

Singles

* Split cassingle with

(2006) * "Friends and Ancestors" with Fred Thomas of

Saturday Looks Good to Me Saturday Looks Good to Me is an American experimental indie pop band that formed in 1999. The group is led by singer-songwriter, producer, and multi-instrumentalist Fred Thomas (former member of His Name Is Alive). Albums by the group are know ...

(2005) * "I Love Thousands Every Summer" b/w "Psychic Returns" Thin Wrist Recordings (2012) *
Condemnation
Depeche Mode cover in collaboration with Julia Holter, Ramona Gonzalez and Cole M.G.N. Domino (2017)

References

External links

''Don't Play Dumb'' video directed by Travis Peterson''Can't Wait'' video directed by Forrest Borie''Double Horizon'' video directed by Robert Schober''Sufjan Interviews Nedelle'' Pitchfork article''Condemnation'' single press release Stereogum article''Only for You'' review at San Francisco ChronicleNedelle Torrisi interview at Vacaville Reporter newspaper''From the Lion's Mouth'' review at NadaMucho''Summerland'' review at SF Weekly''Nedelle Torrisi'' review at AllMusic
{{DEFAULTSORT:Torrisi, Nedelle Living people 1980 births Kill Rock Stars Musicians from Oakland, California Singer-songwriters from California 21st-century American singers