
"Cheryl Fisher is one of the greatest
jazz singers we've ever produced in this country." Vicki Gabereau
Cheryl Fisher is one of those rare
artists who, as soon as she begins to sing transforms the room and turns a
chatty crowd into a rapt audience. Her commanding stage presence, assurance and
vocal mastery transcend artistic mediums. Cheryl is as comfortable performing
in a small intimate setting as she is outdoors or in large concert halls.
After several years on the Canadian jazz
scene, Cheryl Fisher spent 2 1/2 years studying and performing in Paris with
brilliant Berkeley Graduate, pianist Olivier Caillard. She was a regular
performer at Le Speakeasy Club, Sam Kearney's American Bar, La Pinte and the
Bibloquet. In London she appeared with Scott Hamilton at Pizza on the Park,
Peter Ind at The Bass Clef and has performed many times at the 606 club. In the
US, Fisher has shared the stage with John Stowell, Jack Sheldon, John Handy and
Randy Porter while studying with the greats including Mark Murphy, Nancy King
and Madeline Eastman.
Since her return to Canada and the
release of her debut CD, Slow Hand Jazz (1995), Fisher's career has
rocketed. Canadian legends Tommy Banks and saxophonist P.J. Perry are strong
supporters of Fisher's work and have performed with her in many concerts and on
all of her recordings. Her work has garnered rave reviews nationally and
internationally and Fisher was honoured at the Festival International de
Jazz de Montreal (1996) where she was billed as "Canada's New Diva of
Jazz". CBC profiled Fisher's rise on the national scene with several
features on her career and has recorded her performances for both regional and
national radio and television. Canadian broadcasting icon Vicki Gabereau
welcomed her as a guest on her nationally broadcast television show introducing
Cheryl as "
one of the best jazz singers we've ever produced in this
country." She has also been profiled on a national television special "The
Discovery Project" as one of Canada's brightest rising stars and was nominated
by ARIA as Best New Jazz Recording Artist.
With the release of her second CD, Too
Late To Hurry (1997), Fisher's reputation spread into the US market. She
was invited to perform, representing Canadian artists, at the Western Alliance
of Arts Administrators annual conference. Her CDs have been reviewed and
featured in Jazz publications in France, England, the US and Canada.
In 1998, Cheryl Fisher was
accepted into the University of Miami School of Music and in May 2000 attained
her Master's of Music degree. While studying in Miami Cheryl had the
opportunity to perform and record with some great jazz musicians including Sir
Roland Hanna and well-known horn man Eric Allison who is featured on Fisher's
newest release, God Bless The Child. Fisher has just returned from a
very successful cross Canada tour promoting her latest national release which
culminated in an encore performance at Festival International de Jazz de
Montreal (2001) where she was billed as, "
one of the greatest female
singers in the history of Canadian jazz."
Some of Fishers 2004 highlights in
Canada included a concert appearance and CBC Recording at the Jack
Singer Concert Hall in the successful Jazz At The Jack concert
series as well as being a featured performer at the 4th annual Cjazz
Festival in Calgary. Fisher also performed at the Jazz City
International Jazz Festival, and was a featured performer at the second
annual Jazz At The Lake Festival held in Sylvan Lake, Alberta. Since
returning to Florida last fall, she has been teaching voice at the University
Of Miami, is being featured in a Gold Coast Jazz Society concert series
performing music of the 1940s and is scheduled to perform in the concert
series at the Hollywood Beach Band Shell this spring. Since her return from
Canada Fisher has had feature articles about her career in the Ft Lauderdale
Sun Sentinel, and Heat Beat as well as appearing as the featured guest on WLRN
Radios hour long Tropical Currents program which was recorded live and
rebroadcast twice on national radio in the U.S.
Fisher is currently booking festival
appearances, concert performances, master classes and clinics across Canada in
support of her stellar new release JOYRIDE (Life In The Jazz Lane) that
features Canadas best jazz musicians including Neil Swainson, Terry
Clarke, Reg Schwager, Eric Allison and south Florida jazz piano monster Phil
Strange.
Now on her fourth
CD, JOYRIDE, we have another lovely batch of
nobodyelsesounds-like-Cheryl. Take a ride in the Jazz
Lane Senator Tommy Banks |