Karrin Allyson, five-time Grammy nominated artist, opens the last week of the festival

• Tomorrow, Tuesday she will perform at the Theatre Leal in La Laguna and on Wednesday at the Theatre Pérez Galdós (20.30 hours)

Karrin Allyson -© Jim O’Keefe

From tomorrow Tuesday, the Festival Internacional Canarias Jazz & Más Heineken enters the final phase of its 28th edition, featuring one of the best international jazz vocalists, North American Karrin Allyson, a five-time Grammy nominee. Her first performance will be tomorrow Tuesday 16 july, at 20.30 hours, at the theatre – Teatro Leal de la Laguna, and the second the following day, Wednesday 17th at the theatre – Teatro Pérez Galdós (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria). The singer from Kansas will present numbers from her latest album release, Some of that Sunshine, her first disc featuring original pieces while also reviewing some of those which have consolidated & established her over the course of her long professional career.

Vocalist, pianist & songwriter, nominated for a Grammy award on five occasions, she has been widely recognized as one of the most gifted voices of her generation. With fifteen albums under her belt, she has built a mastery of The Great American Songbook, and also the blues, pop, be-bop, Brazilian, and French chansons. Allyson rose to prominence in the ‘90s, releasing a string of albums including her debut I Didn’t Know About You in 1992. The album earned such accolades as to place her in the same league alongside such greats as Ella Fitzgerald and Shirley Horn.

Subsequently, Allyson assembled a fine backing band consisting of fellow Kansas City musicians including pianist Paul Smith, guitarists Danny Embrey and Rod Fleeman, bassists Bob Bowman and Gerald Spaits, and drummer Todd Strait, along with Minneapolis-based pianist Laura Caviani; all of whom have played on many of her recordings.

Allyson continued releasing albums at a steady pace, picking up Best Jazz Vocal Album Grammy nominations for 2001’s Ballads: Remembering John Coltrane, Footprints in 2006, Imagina: Songs of Brasil in 2007, 2011’s ‘Round Midnight, and Many a New Day: Karrin Allyson Sings Rodgers and Hammerstein in 2015.

Born in Great Bend, Kansas, Allyson now lives in New York City, where her band has consisted of such musicians as Bruce Barth, Ed Howard, James Williams, Adam Cruz, Steve Wilson, Miro Sprague, Jerome Jennings & Jeff Johnson.

Allyson’s impressive discography culminated with the release of Some of that Sunshine, her first collection of all-original tracks and a further testament to her already impressive creative output. She is accompanied on the record by Miro Sprague on keyboard, Chris Caswell, who also serves as producer and co-writer on many of the tracks, bassist Jeff Johnson, guitarist Rod Fleeman, and drummer Jerome Jennings, with special guests Regina Carter and Houston Person. At the Festival Canarias Jazz & Más Heineken, she will be accompanied by musicians Miro Sprague (piano & Rhodes), Marty Jaffe (bass) and Jerome Jennings (drums).