Jazz in the Crawlspace is excited to feature Grammy® nominated vocalist Johnaye Kendrick in our jazz club style listening room in downtown Kalamazoo. Johnaye Kendrick received a Bachelor of Music from Western Michigan University, a Master of Music from Loyola University and an Artist Diploma from the prestigious Thelonious Monk Institute. She focuses on graceful renditions of jazz standards and composes music and lyrics where she often accompanies herself on harmonium, violin, viola and percussion. The legendary Jimmy Heath said “Johnaye is a complete musician with a beautiful instrument and open ears.” A dedicated educator, Johnaye serves as Professor of Music at the Cornish College of the Arts in Seattle. In 2014, she founded her johnygirl record label in efforts to release honest music representative of her world, removed from the superficial constructs surrounding contemporary music in today’s recording industry. On this label she recorded, produced and released two albums: HERE, a collection of heartfelt originals and FLYING which was nominated for Earshot Jazz’s NW Recording of the Year. Johnaye is a recipient of the Artist Trust Fellowship Award, the Chamber Music America 2020 Performance Plus Grant, the 2021 South Arts Jazz Road Creative Residency and the 2022 Marble House Project Residency.

Matthew Fries (piano), Carlo De Rosa (bass) & Keith Hall (drums)

Thank you to the John Stites Jazz Awards for generously supporting this series.