Album Notes

R E V I E W S/C O M M EN T S

“Marguerite Mariama…knows what she’s talking and singing about…she’s one of the most exciting blues belters on the scene…she’s equally comfortable with a moody ballad…boasts an enviable range with confident intonation to display her straightahead jazz chops and her infectious sense of musical humor.
Harvey Siders, JazzTimes

“Marguerite Mariama’s first recording…is a smashing success right from the opening gate. Her gifted and versatile voice coupled with a wonderful array of songs, serves notice that this is a talent to follow.”
Eric Frazier, Jazz Improv

“Her sultry timbre lined with bluesy intonations immediately demands attention…She swings effortlessly…her sincerity is ever present as a warm sensitivity drawing you into the heart of each song. She turns songs into life experiences.”
Ron Scott, New York Amsterdam News

“Her voice greets you like a hug from a longtime friend. Take this one home to mama.”
Rahsaan Clark Morris, Creativity Magazine, Chicago

“The first thing that stops you in your tracks is the great jazz vibrato jazz singer, actor, educator, & choreographer Marguerite Mariama contains. This is a jazz singer we must immediately reckon with. … Marguerite is a singer’s singer with the concept, chops & vocalese and an intuitive gift for melodic maturity. Also, she possesses a loose & innate delivery…achieving a soft, warm tone.”
George W. Carroll, Musicians’ Ombudsman

“Outstanding Vocal Artistry:”
Wonderful compilation of material, beautifully produced, elegant vocal style with tremendous artistic and technical command of the voice. Collaborations with top jazz artists a highlight. A vibrant, energizing, classy musical experience -- rivaling any "famous name" artists. Buy this record!”
Lisa Johnson, Dean - Mannes College of Music

“Wow! What a Talent!” Marguerite Mariama is beautiful, bright, communicative, and possesses one of the most richly beautiful voices coupled with an instinctive sense of rhythm and phrasing. She not only sings her songs, she interprets them and embellishes them with the quality of the best of jazz vocalists. Pay attention here, music lovers. Marguerite Mariama is a brilliant talent and this CD is one of the best vocal jazz albums in years!”
Grady Harp, Amazon

“Marguerite's vocal sound is rich and warm and she embraces her material with a measure of confidence rare in newcomers...Clearly, this is a singer to look out for in the future.”
Bruce Crowthers, Online Music Critic

P E R F O R M A N C E B I O

Marguerite Mariama
The woman…Marguerite Mariama began singing and dancing as a 2 year old in the middle of her grandmother, Marguerite’s living room, in Chicago. Precocious and passionate, she was always called upon to regale relatives in the windy city and Thomaston, Georgia, where she spent every summer of her childhood, occasionally performing in her great aunt’s café or juke joint. Young Marguerite sang the jazz, blues and gospel she heard in her home. One of her favorite singers was Mahalia Jackson, Thomas A. Dorsey’s protégé. Years later she would be trained and mentored by Dr. Lena McLin, Dorsey’s niece. She also stood out in her dance classes. Later, as an honors high school student, she continued her dance training, played French horn in the band, and led the first alto section of the choir, directed by Dr. McLin. As a college student she majored in sociology, minored in black studies and co-founded an African/modern dance company - MUWARA DADA. The young dancers studied under the guidance of Katherine Dunham in East St. Louis, who, at the time, sponsored African dancers from the continent to teach in her center. “Sitting at Katherine’s feet was awesome, she reminded us of our social responsibilities as young artists.” Traveling around the Midwest, the group used dance as a means of social commentary accompanied by African drums and the music of artists such as Nina Simone. Marguerite graduated from Southern Illinois University with a graduate degree and headed to New York where she studied and performed with former Dunham dancers, Livinia Williams and Charles Moore. While a professor at the City University of New York, she resumed her musical instruction: classical vocal work with Kenneth Stroman and jazz training with Amina Claudine Meyers, Muhal Richard Abrams, Barry Harris and at The Williamsburg Music Center, with Gerry Eastman. Jimmy Sigler, pianist and composer for Gamble and Huff and Dinah Washington’s last music director, was Marguerite’s mentor and accompanist. They worked together for 14 years until his death…her CD is his final recording. Dr. Mariama holds a Ph.D. in Performance Education with a specialization in African American Musical Culture. She lectures and performs worldwide.
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The artist…Marguerite Mariama is a singer and actor, who has appeared in theatre, film and television and has written, shaped and directed numerous productions for theatrical and educational audiences. She is a member of both SAG and AFTRA and has both national and international experience as a big band and small ensemble jazz and blues vocalist. Marguerite has appeared in a number of music festivals including the Chicago Blues Festival, The South Shore Jazz Festival, The Henry Street Music Festival, Ravinia Festival, The Medgar Evers College Jazzy Jazz Festival, The Many Colors Of A Woman Jazz Festival, New York Concerts in the Park. She has been a musical guest on numerous television shows including BET Jazz. During a three-month tour in Singapore, she was voted most popular singer by Dr. Chan, a leading critic there. Marguerite has performed with Barry Harris, Chico Freeman, Buster Williams, Eric Reed, Russell Malone, Lonnie Plaxico, Jimmy Sigler, Jeff Haynes, Lui Satterfield, Famadou Don Moye, Jesse Cheese Hameen, Stanley Banks, Coleridge Taylor Perkinson, Stanley Banks, Norman Hedman, Curtis Robinson, Gerry Eastman, Eric Frazier, Hassan Hamid and others. She has numerous acting credits, including theatre, television and film and is a member of both SAG and AFTRA. She was a researcher for “The Blues” a PBS documentary on the history of blues music, produced by director, Martin Scorsese and made a cameo appearance in director, Mark Levin’s segment on Chicago Blues.

A few M U S I C C O N C E R T S….

CJW Supper Club at The Bund - Shanghai, China
CJW Club at Shintiandi - Shanghai, China
Brown Sugar Supper Club - Taiwan
Hyatt Regency, Chicago - Opened for Najee
Caesar’s Palace, Las Vegas - Somerset's, Singapore
Ravinia Festival, Chicago - IAJE (International Association of Jazz Education Conference), New York - LaFamille, New York - Mo'Better, New York
The Many Colors of A Woman, Connecticut - City World Yacht Cruises, New York - The Cimarron Club, Arizona - The Art Institute of Chicago, Chicago
La Place on the Park, New York - The Sports Club, Georgia
B.L.U.E.S. Etcetera, Chicago - The Chicago Blues Festival, Chicago
The South Shore Jazz Festival, Chicago – Pumpkins, Brooklyn, NY
The 1996 Democratic National Delegate Parties, Chicago - Symphony Space, New York City Concerts in the Park, New York - The Henry Street Settlement, New York - La Cave on 1st, New York - Jazz at 966, Brooklyn, NY
Sweetwater’s, New York Honeysuckle’s, New York
The Macklowe Hotel, New York - Londel’s, New York
Soul Café, Brooklyn, NY - Medgar Evers College Jazzy Jazz Festival, Brooklyn, NY