Roseanna Elizabeth Vitro (born February 28, 1951) is a

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 teacher from Arkansas.

Biography

Born Roseanna Elizabeth VitroScott Fredrickson and Gary W. Kennedy.
Vitro (Wickliffe), Roseanna
" In ''The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz'', 2nd ed., edited by

Barry Kernfeld Barry Dean Kernfeld (born August 11, 1950) is an American musicologist and jazz saxophonist who has researched and published extensively about the history of jazz and the biographies of its musicians. Education In 1968, Kernfeld enrolled at U ...

Grove Music Online ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and theo ...

Oxford Music Online ''The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians'' is an encyclopedic dictionary of music and musicians. Along with the German-language ''Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart'', it is one of the largest reference works on the history and theo ...

. (accessed February 15, 2011). in

Hot Springs, Arkansas Hot Springs is a resort city in the state of Arkansas and the county seat of Garland County. The city is located in the Ouachita Mountains among the U.S. Interior Highlands, and is set among several natural hot springs for which the city is n ...

, on February 28, 1951, Vitro began singing at an early age, drawing inspiration from

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words an ...

, rock,

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...

, musical theatre, and classical music.Vitro, Roseanna
" In ''

Encyclopedia of Popular Music ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music'' is an encyclopedia created in 1989 by Colin Larkin. It is the "modern man's" equivalent of the '' Grove Dictionary of Music'', which Larkin describes in less than flattering terms.''The Times'', ''The Kno ...

'', 4th ed., edited by

Colin Larkin Colin Larkin (born 1949) is a British writer and entrepreneur. He founded, and was the editor-in-chief of, the ''Encyclopedia of Popular Music'', described by ''The Times'' as "the standard against which all others must be judged". Along wit ...

. Oxford Music Online. (accessed February 15, 2011). During the 1950s, her father owned a night club in Hot Springs called The Flamingo. He loved

Dean Martin Dean Martin (born Dino Paul Crocetti; June 7, 1917 – December 25, 1995) was an American singer, actor and comedian. One of the most popular and enduring American entertainers of the mid-20th century, Martin was nicknamed "The King of Cool". M ...

's music and opera, and her mother's family sang gospel. By the 1960s, she was determined to be a rock singer. Vitro was exposed to jazz and it became her genre of choice after moving to Houston, Texas in the 1970s. Ray Sullenger discovered Vitro and presented her to the Houston jazz community where she sang frequently with Arnett Cobb.M. G. Nastos, "Riffs: Vitro Makes Major Label Debut," ''

Downbeat ' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chi ...

'', February 1994. She worked for two years at the Green Room in Houston with her group Roseanna with Strings and Things and hosted a radio show on KUHF-FM. The band performed with

Oscar Peterson Oscar Emmanuel Peterson (August 15, 1925 – December 23, 2007) was a Canadian virtuoso jazz pianist and composer. Considered one of the greatest jazz pianists of all time, Peterson released more than 200 recordings, won seven Grammy Awards, ...

Bill Evans William John Evans (August 16, 1929 – September 15, 1980) was an American jazz pianist and composer who worked primarily as the leader of his trio. His use of impressionist harmony, interpretation of traditional jazz repertoire, block ch ...

Tommy Flanagan Thomas Lee Flanagan (March 16, 1930 – November 16, 2001) was an American jazz pianist and composer. He grew up in Detroit, initially influenced by such pianists as Art Tatum, Teddy Wilson, and Nat King Cole, and then by bebop musicians. ...

, and

Keter Betts William Thomas "Keter" Betts (July 22, 1928 – August 6, 2005) was an American jazz double bassist. Early life and education Born in Port Chester, New York, he was nicknamed "Keter", a short form of the word mosquito. He graduated from Port ...

. Cobb, Peterson, and Sullenger encouraged her to dedicate herself to jazz. In 1978, she moved to New York City with guitarist Scott Hardy and began to study with

Gabor Carelli Gabor Carelli (born as ''Krausz'', Gábor Pál) (1915 – 22 January 1999) was a Hungarian classical tenor who had an important career in operas and concerts in North America during the mid-20th century. He was notably committed to the Metropolit ...

, a professor from the

Manhattan School of Music The Manhattan School of Music (MSM) is a private music conservatory in New York City. The school offers bachelor's, master's, and doctoral degrees in the areas of classical and jazz performance and composition, as well as a bachelor's in mu ...

, and began to perform with

Kenny Werner Kenny Werner (born November 19, 1951) is an American jazz pianist, composer, and author. Early life Born in Brooklyn, New York, on November 19, 1951 and then growing up in Oceanside, Long Island, Werner began playing and performing at a young ...

and

Fred Hersch Fred Hersch (born October 21, 1955) is an American jazz pianist, educator and HIV/AIDS activist. He was the first person to play weeklong engagements as a solo pianist at the Village Vanguard in New York City. He has recorded more than 70 of his ...

. She sang with

Lionel Hampton Lionel Leo Hampton (April 20, 1908 – August 31, 2002) was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, and bandleader. Hampton worked with jazz musicians from Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, and Buddy Rich, to Charlie Parker, Charles M ...

and toured with him. She appeared at

The Blue Note ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

Iridium Iridium is a chemical element with the symbol Ir and atomic number 77. A very hard, brittle, silvery-white transition metal of the platinum group, it is considered the second-densest naturally occurring metal (after osmium) with a density of ...

, Birdland, and Dizzy's Jazz Club at

Lincoln Center Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts (also simply known as Lincoln Center) is a complex of buildings in the Lincoln Square neighborhood on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. It has thirty indoor and outdoor facilities and is host to 5 millio ...

. She appeared with

Steve Allen Stephen Valentine Patrick William Allen (December 26, 1921 – October 30, 2000) was an American television personality, radio personality, musician, composer, actor, comedian, and writer. In 1954, he achieved national fame as the co-cre ...

at The Town Hall at

The Apollo Theater The Apollo Theater is a music hall at 253 West 125th Street between Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard (Seventh Avenue) and Frederick Douglass Boulevard (Eighth Avenue) in the Harlem neighborhood of Upper Manhattan in New York City. It is a no ...

and recorded an album of Allen's songs. In 2005 she performed and recorded with the Kenny Werner Trio at the John F. Kennedy Center in Washington D.C. She has worked with

Kenny Barron Kenny Barron (born June 9, 1943) is an American jazz pianist, who has appeared on hundreds of recordings as leader and sideman and is considered one of the most influential mainstream jazz pianists since the bebop era. Biography Born in Philadel ...

Christian McBride Christian McBride (born May 31, 1972) is an American jazz bassist, composer and arranger. He has appeared on more than 300 recordings as a sideman, and is an eight-time Grammy Award winner. McBride has performed and recorded with a number of j ...

Elvin Jones Elvin Ray Jones (September 9, 1927 – May 18, 2004) was an American jazz drummer of the post-bop era. Most famously a member of John Coltrane's quartet, with whom he recorded from late 1960 to late 1965, Jones appeared on such widely celebrate ...

Gary Bartz Gary Bartz (born September 26, 1940) is an American jazz saxophonist. He has won two Grammy Awards. Biography Bartz studied at the Juilliard School. In the early 1960s, he performed with Eric Dolphy and McCoy Tyner in Charles Mingus' Jazz Wor ...

Kevin Mahogany Kevin Bryant Mahogany (July 30, 1958 – December 17, 2017) was an American jazz vocalist who became prominent in the 1990s. Particularly known for his scat singing, his singing style has been compared with those of Billy Eckstine, Joe William ...

, and

David "Fathead" Newman David "Fathead" Newman (February 24, 1933 – January 20, 2009) was an American jazz and rhythm-and-blues saxophonist, who made numerous recordings as a session musician and leader, but is best known for his work as a sideman on seminal 1950s and ...

, all of whom have appeared on her recordings. She was a guest on Marian McPartland's radio program ''

Piano Jazz ''Piano Jazz'' is a weekly one-hour radio show produced and distributed by National Public Radio (NPR). It began on June 4, 1978, and was hosted by jazz pianist Marian McPartland (1918–2013) until 2011. It is the longest-running cultural pro ...

''. Her album '' The Music of Randy Newman'' received 4 1/2 stars in ''

Down Beat ' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chi ...

'' magazine and a Grammy nomination for

Best Jazz Vocal Album The Grammy Award for Best Jazz Vocal Album is an award presented at the Grammy Awards, a ceremony that was established in 1958 and originally called the Gramophone Awards, to recording artists for quality works (songs or albums) in the vocal jazz ...

in 2012. Vitro taught vocal jazz at the State University of New York at Purchase and retired in 2017 as Vocal Jazz Chair at

New Jersey City University New Jersey City University (NJCU) is a public university in Jersey City, New Jersey. Originally chartered in 1927, and known as Jersey City State College for 40 years of its history, New Jersey City University consists of the School of Business, ...

and

New Jersey Performing Arts Center The New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), in downtown Newark, New Jersey, United States, is one of the largest performing arts centers in the United States. Home to the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra (NJSO), more than nine million visitors ( ...

. She holds workshops, concerts, and master classes. She has studied classical voice, ear-training, classical Indian vocal technique, Portuguese, piano, and jazz technique and concept.

Awards and honors

* 1998 – Inducted into Arkansas Jazz Hall of Fame with Bob Dorough and John Stubblefield. * 2004 – Selected U.S. Jazz Ambassador for The John F. Kennedy Center and The U.S. State Department, and The Rhythm Road: American Music Abroad featured artist in 2009 with her band JazzIAm.The Rhythm Road 2009 Bands
Jazz at Lincoln Center. Retrieved February 7, 2014. * 2012 – Grammy nomination, Best Vocal Jazz Album for ''The Music of Randy Newman'' (Motéma, 2011)

Discography

*'' Listen Here'' (Texas Rose Music, 1984; reissue: Skyline, 2021) * ''

A Quiet Place ''A Quiet Place'' is a 2018 American post-apocalyptic horror film directed by John Krasinski and written by Bryan Woods, Scott Beck and Krasinski, from a story conceived by Woods and Beck. The plot revolves around a father (Krasinski) and a mo ...

'' (Skyline, 1987) * '' Reaching for the Moon'' (Chase Music, 1991) * '' Softly'' (

Concord Jazz Concord Jazz is a record company and label founded in 1973 by Carl Jefferson, the former owner of Jefferson Motors Lincoln Mercury dealership in Concord, California. The label was named after the city in the East San Francisco Bay area, and the j ...

, 1993) * '' Passion Dance'' (

Telarc Telarc International Corporation is an American audiophile independent record label founded in 1977 by two classically trained musicians and former teachers, Jack Renner and Robert Woods. Based in Cleveland, Ohio, the label has had a long associ ...

, 1996) * '' Catchin' Some Rays: The Music of Ray Charles'' (Telarc, 1997) * '' The Time of My Life: Roseanna Vitro Sings the Songs of Steve Allen'' (Sea Breeze, 1999) * '' Conviction: Thoughts of Bill Evans'' ( A Records, 2001) * '' Tropical Postcards'' (A Records, 2004) * '' Live at the Kennedy Center'' (Challenge, 2006) * '' The Delirium Blues Project: Serve or Suffer'' with Kenny Werner (

Half Note ''Half Note'' is a live album by saxophonist Clifford Jordan which was recorded in 1974 and first released on the SteepleChase label in 1985.

, 2008) * '' The Music of Randy Newman'' ( Motéma, 2011) * '' Clarity: Music of Clare Fischer'' (Random Act, 2014) * ''Tell Me the Truth'' (Skyline, 2018) *''Sing a Song of Bird'' (Skyline, 2021) Except where indicated, all information is from ''The Encyclopedia of Popular Music'' at Oxford Music Online.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vitro, Roseanna 1951 births Living people Jazz musicians from Arkansas Musicians from Hot Springs, Arkansas Singers from Arkansas American women jazz singers American jazz singers Jazz educators Motéma Music artists 21st-century American women