Photo credit: Megan Kruitbosch
Lea Grant is a jazz singer, songwriter and music educator.
A transplant from the west coast, Lea Grant has gigged extensively throughout the San Francisco Bay Area with her indie-folk-jazz piano trio. She has had the honor of performing in a wide variety of venues from the bar at Yoshi's Lounge, which is one of San Francisco's premier jazz venues, to the PLACE for Sustainable Living, an educational eco-collective in Oakland.
Ms. Grant earned her Master’s of Music in Jazz Studies, Vocal Performance from the internationally renowned University of North Texas. While completing her degree she was blessed to be able to learn from some incredible singers and instrumentalists including Rosana Eckert, Jennifer Barnes and John Murphy. Outside of academia, she has had the opportunity to study with acclaimed artists Theo Bleckmann, Sara Gazarek, Laurie Antonioli, Art Lande and Jay Clayton.
Whether interpreting her original songs or Great American Songbook classics, Grant brings a pureness of spirit to the music. Listeners may identify the influences of Shirley Horn, Carmen McRae and Betty Carter, but Grant's calming presence, humor and sweet voice are all her own. She offers charming and engaging musical entertainment for both public venues and private events as a duo, trio, quartet and quintet.
In addition to her work as a jazz vocalist and a singer/songwriter, Grant has also sung background vocals for various indie artists, including Derek Sup, Anita Stryker and Andy Mason. Over the years, she has also lent her voice to commercial and t.v. spots for Disney, Pepsi and Barbie.
Grant’s most recent album of originals, "Cities of Snow," examines loss and rebirth, which is represented in the chorus of the title track, "We build and we outgrow the homes we love and know. I think it's time to let go these cities of snow." All of her songs are at least partially autobiographical, exploring themes of integrity, vulnerability, and navigating the rapids of personal relationships. “I love how honest, conversational and incredibly poetic Joni Mitchell's lyrics are. I endeavor to be as profound, expressing big ideas through minute details.”
The tracks are stylistically diverse, drawing on influences from classic rock and 60’s folk as well as jazz and classical genres. Growing up steeped in the lush film music written by her composer father, Grant’s ballads lean into a shadowy orchestral texture and quality. An audience member once remarked, "It's like starlight through trees.”
The title track of her debut EP, "Earthbound," was composed while living in a yoga ashram near Dolores Park in San Francisco, CA. It deals with finding balance through a connection with nature and gradually putting down roots in a new place. The track "Gravity Always Wins" was used in a YouTube promo for the SoundBox app and was also chosen as a finalist in the Cocktails w/Patrick Breaks the Band contest on Sirius XM in 2009. The song, "Earthbound" was featured on the VoiceBox program on San Francisco’s public radio station, KALW.
"She is a clever, brilliant songwriter who takes elements of pop and steers them far away from their safe, mild waters, and melds them with layers of jazz, blues, and other more progressive elements, to create something altogether her own. And the intricate beauty of her voice is something to behold." - Brendan Getzell, The Hotel Utah
"Lea’s original compositions are part jazz, part folk-rock, with hints of Regina Spektor and Tori Amos. Her crystal clear voice, however, is completely her own, the product of natural talent honed by years of operatic training.” - Ann Lam, Untapped Cities Blog
A transplant from the west coast, Lea Grant has gigged extensively throughout the San Francisco Bay Area with her indie-folk-jazz piano trio. She has had the honor of performing in a wide variety of venues from the bar at Yoshi's Lounge, which is one of San Francisco's premier jazz venues, to the PLACE for Sustainable Living, an educational eco-collective in Oakland.
Ms. Grant earned her Master’s of Music in Jazz Studies, Vocal Performance from the internationally renowned University of North Texas. While completing her degree she was blessed to be able to learn from some incredible singers and instrumentalists including Rosana Eckert, Jennifer Barnes and John Murphy. Outside of academia, she has had the opportunity to study with acclaimed artists Theo Bleckmann, Sara Gazarek, Laurie Antonioli, Art Lande and Jay Clayton.
Whether interpreting her original songs or Great American Songbook classics, Grant brings a pureness of spirit to the music. Listeners may identify the influences of Shirley Horn, Carmen McRae and Betty Carter, but Grant's calming presence, humor and sweet voice are all her own. She offers charming and engaging musical entertainment for both public venues and private events as a duo, trio, quartet and quintet.
In addition to her work as a jazz vocalist and a singer/songwriter, Grant has also sung background vocals for various indie artists, including Derek Sup, Anita Stryker and Andy Mason. Over the years, she has also lent her voice to commercial and t.v. spots for Disney, Pepsi and Barbie.
Grant’s most recent album of originals, "Cities of Snow," examines loss and rebirth, which is represented in the chorus of the title track, "We build and we outgrow the homes we love and know. I think it's time to let go these cities of snow." All of her songs are at least partially autobiographical, exploring themes of integrity, vulnerability, and navigating the rapids of personal relationships. “I love how honest, conversational and incredibly poetic Joni Mitchell's lyrics are. I endeavor to be as profound, expressing big ideas through minute details.”
The tracks are stylistically diverse, drawing on influences from classic rock and 60’s folk as well as jazz and classical genres. Growing up steeped in the lush film music written by her composer father, Grant’s ballads lean into a shadowy orchestral texture and quality. An audience member once remarked, "It's like starlight through trees.”
The title track of her debut EP, "Earthbound," was composed while living in a yoga ashram near Dolores Park in San Francisco, CA. It deals with finding balance through a connection with nature and gradually putting down roots in a new place. The track "Gravity Always Wins" was used in a YouTube promo for the SoundBox app and was also chosen as a finalist in the Cocktails w/Patrick Breaks the Band contest on Sirius XM in 2009. The song, "Earthbound" was featured on the VoiceBox program on San Francisco’s public radio station, KALW.
"She is a clever, brilliant songwriter who takes elements of pop and steers them far away from their safe, mild waters, and melds them with layers of jazz, blues, and other more progressive elements, to create something altogether her own. And the intricate beauty of her voice is something to behold." - Brendan Getzell, The Hotel Utah
"Lea’s original compositions are part jazz, part folk-rock, with hints of Regina Spektor and Tori Amos. Her crystal clear voice, however, is completely her own, the product of natural talent honed by years of operatic training.” - Ann Lam, Untapped Cities Blog
