Profile
Amy London is known and loved in New York City jazz and Broadway circles for her effortless sound, impeccable musicianship and depth of emotion. Her most recent CD on Motema, The Royal Bopsters Project, features a vocal jazz quartet with Ms London as the leader and soprano; Holli Ross, swinging alto; the legendary Darmon Meader, tenor; and bright newcomer Dylan Pramuk, bass. Together they arranged and recorded 12 songs, including 4 with the late bop master Mark Murphy, and one each with Annie Ross, Jon Hendricks, Sheila Jordan and Bob Dorough. This remarkable project received 4 and 1/2 stars in Downbeat, a video feature in the Wall Street Journal, rave reviews in JazzTimes and other jazz periodicals, and was on the Best CDs of 2015 lists of Downbeat, JazzTimes, All About Jazz and Talkin’ Broadway. The CD release event in September 2015 was celebrated by a sold out 6 night run at Birdland.
Ms. London’s two previous critically acclaimed CD’s on Motema as a leader, ‘Let’s Fly’ and ‘When I Look In Your Eyes’ feature some of the world’s top jazz musicians, and have led her to engagements in Russia, Italy, Turkey, France, Brazil, England, Belgium, Czechoslovakia and Canada, as well as cities across the US.
London’s fully seasoned career also includes three years in the 6 Tony award winning Broadway hit ‘City of Angels’ (singing on its Grammy nominated original cast album), and City Center’s production of ‘Promises Promises’ starring Martin Short, plus tours with Charles Aznavour, Larry Elgart and Tom Browne. Ms London has enjoyed more than 25 years of performing at New York’s top rooms, such as Dizzy’s, The Rainbow Room, Lincoln Center, Birdland, Blue Note, The Kitano, BB King’s, Cornelia Street Cafe, North Square Lounge and many others.
In addition to her crowning achievement as the lead singer in the Angel City Four in City of Angels, Ms. London has enjoyed a lengthy vocal group career. She began her choral jazz career as the middle voice in the Jazz Babies vocal trio, as Alto I in Vocal Jazz Inc., a vocal quintet that entertained children in the NYC public school system and as Soprano II in the renowned Trinity Church Choir.
Ms. London was invited to be the fifth voice with the Grammy winning New York Voices on Robert Lepley’s ‘Ancient Tower’ CD. She was also invited by Jim Snidero to be the vocalist on his ‘Jazz Conceptions’ singalong CD/book of 21 jazz etudes which has been used by jazz vocal students worldwide for 15 years, and she is the vocalist, along with Ella Fitzgerald, on the Scholastic animated DVD ‘Ella Fitzgerald: The Tale of a Vocal Virtuosa’. She originated the role of ‘Yetta’ in the 2009 world premier of ‘Meester Amerika’, a new musical based on Yiddish Theatre, which won the New Jersey Star Ledger 2009 ‘Tony’ award for Best Score. She has appeared regularly as ‘Mary’ and quartet soprano in Anne Phillips’ and Bob Kindred’s Christmas jazz celebration, ‘A Jazz Nativity’, sharing the stage with such luminaries as Jon Hendricks, Tito Puente, Lionel Hampton and Wycliffe Gordon.
As a jazz educator, Amy London has been teaching voice since 1984. She has been faculty at New School University’s Jazz BFA program since 1992, and is one of the principal architects of the highly successful vocal department there. In early 2014, Amy launched the Vocal Jazz Academy at Jazz House for Kids, in Montclair, NJ, at the invitation of Christian McBride and Melissa Walker. In the Fall of 2016, she will join the renowned vocal faculty of the BFA jazz program at City College, CUNY, NYC. She has also led vocal jazz workshops nationally and internationally, for the IAJE, JEN and a variety of summer jazz camps. Ms. London received her BA in Opera from Syracuse University, under the tutelage of bass-baritone Donald Miller, as well as vocal coaching at age 16 from Milt Wiener, the former music director of WLW radio in Cincinnati, who also coached Doris Day and Rosemary Clooney.
Ms. London is also in demand at jazz camps worldwide, and this summer, she is returning to Veneto Jazz Workshop in Italy, and Jazz House for Kids in Montclair, NJ. In a decade of jazz camping, she has been vocal jazz director at camps in Istanbul, Turkey; Veneto Jazz, Italy; St. Cezaire, France; Paraty, Brazil; Bar Harbor, Maine and Cabo Rojo, Puerto Rico. In Schroon Lake, NY, and Green Mountain College, Vermont, she directs her own camps, Amy London Vocal Jazz Camp.Amy London is known and loved in New York City jazz and Broadway circles for her effortless sound, impeccable musicianship and depth of emotion. Her four critically acclaimed Motema CD's, Party of Four, The Royal Bopsters Project, Let's Fly and When I Look In Your Eyes, and her self produced 2017 release, Bridges, have led her to engagements in Greece, Russia, Italy, Turkey, France, Brazil, England, Belgium, Czech Republic, Canada, and across the US. Party of Four, will be released November 13, 2020. It represents Ms. London’s decade long work as the soprano in the vocal quartet, The Royal Bopsters, with alto Holli Ross, tenor Pete McGuinness and 2009 New School grad, bass Dylan Pramuk. Inspired by the recordings of Lambert Hendricks and Ross, with in-house arrangements by Pramuk and 3 time Grammy nom McGuinness, and original lyrics by London and Ross, The Bopsters carry on the tradition of harmonized bebop and vocalese, while adding their own original compositions and spices as well. The group’s first recording, The Royal Bopsters Project, received excellent reviews, including 4 and 1/2 stars from Downbeat, and Best CD’s of 2015 from Downbeat, JazzTimes, Jazziz and Talkin’ Broadway. The Royal Bopsters performed to standing ovations at The 2019 Newport Jazz Festival with bebop royalty Sheila Jordan. They were broadcast on Sirius radio, New Year’s Eve 2019, singing with Christian McBride.
London’s fully seasoned career also includes three years in the 6 Tony award winning Broadway hit City of Angels (singing on its Grammy nominated original cast album), and City Center's production of Promises Promises starring Martin Short, plus tours with Charles Aznavour, Larry Elgart and Tom Browne. Ms. London has enjoyed more than 30 years of performing at New York's top rooms, such as Dizzy's, The Rainbow Room, Lincoln Center, Birdland, Blue Note, Jazz Standard, Kitano, BB King's, Jazz Forum, Small’s and more. Ms. London’s 2017 CD, Bridges, is a retrospective of her recordings from the 1980’s and 90’s with such luminaries as Fred Hersch, Bob Mintzer, Dr. Lonnie Smith, and received rave reviews and worldwide airplay.
A world renowned jazz educator, Ms. London is one of the principal architects of New School’s Jazz BFA vocal program, and has been faculty there since 1992. She is also faculty at City College Jazz at CUNY, Hofstra University and Jazz House Kids, and has presented her ‘Sing Along With Ella’ workshops at IAJE/JEN. She is the vocalist on NS faculty Jim Snidero’s Jazz Conceptions sing along book of 21 bebop etudes. As an avid jazz camp educator, Ms. London was the director of vocal jazz at New School’s Summer Jazz Workshop in Italy from 2008 to 2018.
About Amy London:
“Swinging and Sophisticated,” New York Times
“An immense talent deserving of national attention,” JazzTimes
“Lovely choice of songs, underdone, but new and imaginative. What I liked best is her showing us what joy is!” Mark Murphy, legendary jazz singer
“Amy London is a world class singer.” Fred Hersch, multi Grammy nominated pianist/composer.