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Jennifer Jade Ledesna

JENNIFER JADE LEDESNA

Grammy-nominated stage mage & Bronxite polyglot, is an alumna of New School Jazz & LaGuardia Arts. A Montreux Jazz Voice Competition Finalist, Equity actress, & "Betty Carter Jazz Ahead" composer, Ms. Jade often performs at "Aux Trois Mailletz" in Paris, “Jazz Na Avenida” in Brazil, & the she was also the first & former Afro-Latina Artistic Director of the legendary “Minton’s Playhouse” in Harlem, NYC.

She's sung at Carnegie Hall in Bobby McFerrin’s “INSTANT OPERA!”, in the World Premiere Tour of “CHAPEL/CHAPTER” w the Bill T. Jones / Arnie Zane Dance Co. JJ’s also graced the international stages of Switzerland’s CHORUS Jazz Club, Norway's “Silda Jazz Fest” w her group "RAJAFRO", Saint Croix's “Take Five Fest”, Santiago de Chile's "Teatro Municipal de Las Condes", Austria's PORGY & BESS, & Lincoln Center, to name a few.

JJ recently starrred as Tempest in the feature film SINCE I LEFT YOU, Jade in the film MEADOWLARK, “Tinima” in the opera-musical HATUEY: MEMORY OF FIRE!, & “The Angel / Jazz Singer” in the world premiere of the “SUGAR HILL NUTCRACKER” by Ellington & Strayhorn!

She’s performed with Roy Hargrove, David Amram, Elew, Dave Valentin, Bobby Sanabria, Wycliffe Gordon, Joatan Nascimento, Junior Mance, James Carter, Benny Powell, Candido Camero, Janis Siegel, Wynton Marsalis, Brenda Braxton, & David Antonio Cruz, among others.

Check out her album “TRUTH!”

Awards

- The Kennedy Center. "Betty Carter Jazz Ahead Residency"; Original Composition. Washington, DC.

Carnegie Hall. Bobby McFerrin's "Instant Opera Young Artist's Concert." Improvisation. NYC.

"Montreux Jazz Festival International Voice Competition"; Finalist. Montreux, Switzerland.

IAJE Toronto. "MJF Kurt Elling Masterclass- Oustanding Musician Award." Toronto, Canada.

CBS 2's "Nueva Estrella Awards." Semi- Finalist. NYC.

"Jazz Diva Award." New School University. NYC.

"Ambassador of Song." U.S.-Brazilian Consulate. Salvador da Bahia, Brazil.

"Minorities in Medicine" Award. Weill Cornell Medical College. NYC.

"Ambassador of Peace." Central European Tour: Austria, Hungary, Czech/Slovac Republic.

Bobby Sanabria: Vox Humana

Read "Vox Humana" reviewed by Cary Tenenbaum

by Cary Tenenbaum
May 6, 2023

The opening track on Vox Humana could easily have been the encore of this live performance recorded at Dizzy's Club Coca Cola, part of Jazz At Lincoln Center in New York City. It is a rousing version of the Duke Ellington crowd pleaser “Caravan" and a boisterous Latin tinged big band version it is, with Matthew Gonzalez's barril de bomba and requinto pandereta, bandleader and drummer Sanabria and others on congas, bongos and bells prominently leading the percussionists and portending ...

"The Nutcracker take a surreal ride on "The A Train" with a beautiful angel (Jennifer Jade Ledesna) singing what may be Ellington and Strayhorn's signature song. Ledesna has what I consider to be a perfect jazz orchestra voice. Hers is the only other vocal interlude and her stage presence and the song itself make it a highlight!" -Kathy D. Hey (Third Coast Review)

"Joined by Bronx native Jennifer Jade Ledesna, whose exhilarating vocals and lithe dancing commanded the stage during the mambo numbers!"- Joe Lynch (Billboard Magazine)

"Joined by Bronx native Jennifer Jade Ledesna, whose exhilarating vocals and lithe dancing commanded the stage during the mambo numbers!"- Joe Lynch (Billboard Magazine)

"The fierce artistry of Jennifer Jade Ledesna, a smoky-voiced alto and feline dancer, as Tinima." -Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim (New York Times)

"Scatting with Jazz Singer, Jennifer Jade Ledesna. If this isn’t the closest we’ve come to seeing them as angels returned to Earth, I don’t know what is!" -Tristan Bruns (See Chicago Dance)

"Angelic jazz singer Jennifer Jade Ledesna." -Lauren Warnecke (Chicago Tribune)

"The cast of singer/actor/dancers is phenomenal, none more than Jennifer Jade Ledesna as Timina, the revolutionary center of the 1930s action, who functions as a modern-day Hatuey. From the moment she takes the stage alone in a spotlight, her movements are starkly precise and controlled, raising the stakes for everything that follows, as so much of the plot is played from and off of her: as the instigator of an armed insurrection; the lust object of the Cuban dictator Machado; and the muse of Penn’s epic poem, which spins out of her mind into his pen and comes out as the story we see played out in all its tragic consequences." -Seth Rogovoy (Forward Magazine)

"Jennifer Jade Ledesna has the moves and the charisma, as well as the urgent vocalism for Tinima/La India." -John Yohalem (Congas On The Roof)

"When Jennifer Jade Ledesna sang as Tinima, she delivered scintillating Cuban-style numbers with a heart-wrenching and soulful voice and an impressive range." -Anne E. Johnson (Classical Voice America)

"Standouts included Jennifer Jade Ledesna as Tinima, the nightclub singer, with an earthy quality and vibrant voice." -Richard Sasanow (Broadway World)

"Jennifer Jade Ledesna — who plays Tinima, the nightclub’s fiery chanteuse (and a muse for its main character, Oscar) — is the standout vocalist, singing her numbers with show-stopping passion." -Jay Lustig (New Jersey Arts)

"Jennifer Jade Ledesna, whose powerful voice cuts right through any attempted prevarication like a laser." -Kate Dobbs Ariail (Classical Voice of North Carolina)

"The repetition of court transcripts coldly read then sung (with haunting grace by Jennifer Jade Ledesna) take on the quality of a meditative but numbing chant." -Lucia Mauro (The Chicago Tribune)

"The rich vocals of Jennifer Jade Ledesna narrate and interweave through the action." - Lisa Traiger (D.C. Dance Watcher)

"Jennifer Jade Ledesna, a Bronx native who sang a trilingual set of Afro-Cuban boleros, Brazilian bossa nova and American jazz standards. Ms. Ledesna, who is Dominican and Puerto Rican, sang from under her wild curls." -Seth Kugel (New York Times)

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