Grace Kelly

Grace Kelly's musical accomplishments are very impressive for someone so young. For seven years in a row the twenty-four year old has been named as a Rising Star in the saxophone category on DownBeat's Critics Poll. Since last December she has received a great deal of public attention as a regular guest in Jon Baptiste's Stay Human, the house band for Stephen Colbert’s Late Show. Whether performing well-known standards from the Great American Songbook, or branching off into more modern configurations of post-bop jazz and contemporary pop song arrangements, Grace insists on following her own muse and playing what she finds enjoyable and inspiring. She first came to national attention as a teenage protégé of the late alto saxophone legend Phil Woods. Saxophonist Lee Konitz was also an influential early mentor for Grace and appears on her 2008 album GRACEfulLEE. Even as a teenager, her abilities were impressive enough to earn guest appearances with Wynton Marsalis' Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra and the Boston Pops. Today, Kelly continues to infuse the jazz credo of her mentors into everything she plays, from straight-up bebop to trance inducing trip-hop and light-hearted pop, all of it done with style and – naturally – grace. Her newest album Trying To Figure It Out is an example of Kelly's eclectic path and her openness to all styles of music. Billboard calls Grace, “... a leading member of a growing contingent of young jazz innovators.”