Acclaimed jazz vocalist Dianne Reeves at Edison Theatre May 19

Dianne Reeves, one of the pre-eminent jazz vocalist in the world today, will conclude Edison Theatre’s 2006-07 OVATIONS! Series with a performance at 8 p.m. Saturday, May 19.

Edison Theatre is located in Washington University’s Mallinckrodt Student Center, 6445 Forsyth Blvd. Tickets are $30; $25 for seniors and Washington University faculty and staff; and $18 for students and children. Tickets are available at the Edison Theatre Box Office and through all MetroTix outlets. For more information, call (314) 935-6543 or visit edisontheatre.wustl.edu.

Reeves is the only artist to ever win three consecutive Grammy Awards for “Best Jazz Vocal Album” — a first in any category — for A Little Moonlight (2003), The Calling: A Tribute to Sarah Vaughan (2001) and In the Moment (2000). In 2006 she received her fourth Grammy, for the soundtrack to George Clooney’s critically acclaimed film Good Night, And Good Luck.

Born in Detroit in 1956, Reeves was raised in Denver and performed as a featured singer with her high school big band. At the age of 17, she was discovered by the trumpeter Clark Terry when the band was invited to perform for the National Association of Jazz Educators Conference in Chicago. Reeves began performing with Terry while attending the University of Colorado and later moved to Los Angeles, where she joined the group Night Flight and did session work for Lenny White, Stanley Turrentine and Billy Childs. In 1981 she won a spot on Sergio Mendes’ world tour and, with Childs’ help, cut her debut album the following year.

In 1987 Reeves became the first singer signed to the re-launched Blue Note label, She has released more than a dozen solo albums, including the best-selling I Remember (1991) and the Grammy-nominated Quiet After the Storm (1995).

“Reeves is, in every sense, a jazz musician,” notes the San Francisco Chronicle. “Her voice — among the most fabulous around — is her instrument, and she improvises both in lyric and melodic delivery on every selection.” Billboard magazine adds that “Reeves can wrap her voice around a melody like few other current jazz singers, hitting the high notes, the low notes, and everything in between as she caresses every phrase with palpable warmth and joy.”

In addition to her solo work, Reeves has recorded and performed extensively with Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra as well as with such artists as Harry Belafonte, Herbie Hancock and Joshua Redman. In recent years she has recorded with Daniel Barenboim and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and performed with Sir Simon Rattle and the Berlin Philharmonic.

In 2002, Reeves became the first Creative Chair for Jazz for the Los Angeles Philharmonic, overseeing jazz programming and educational workshops for both the historic Hollywood Bowl and the new Walt Disney Concert Hall, designed by Frank Gehry. She was the first singer to perform at the Disney Concert Hall. Other honors include performing at the closing ceremony of the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City, and the 2002 Ella Fitzgerald Award from the Montreal International Jazz Festival.

Edison Theatre

Edison Theatre’s OVATIONS! Series serves both Washington University and the St. Louis community by providing the highest caliber national and international artists in music, dance and theater, performing new works as well as innovative interpretations of classical material not otherwise seen in St. Louis. Focusing on presentations that are interdisciplinary, multicultural and/or experimental, Edison Theatre presents work intended to challenge, educate and inspire.

Edison Theatre programs are made possible with support from the Missouri Arts Council, a state agency; the Regional Arts Commission, St. Louis; and private contributors.