A graduate of the Berklee College of Music, 23-year-old singer and saxophone player Grace
Kelly takes the stage on Jan. 30 at Notes, located at 520 S. High St.
She combines both pure and conventional jazz styles to create an inspiring sound for both jazz traditionalists and mainstream listeners.
Kelly got her start in the music world with the clarinet in the fourth grade, but quickly switched to the alto sax. She was drawn to jazz because of the freedom of the medium, which she couldn’t find in her classical piano lessons. Kelly recorded her first album, Dreaming, at age 12, which combined jazz, pop and blues. Using music to express herself, she thrives off of improvisation and spontaneity and always keeps an open mind.
Since her debut in 2005, she has performed more than 600 concerts worldwide and was voted “Best Jazz Act” in Boston for four years in a row. She also performed on stage at President Obama’s Inauguration Celebration. She has gotten the attention of and recorded with Jazz legends such as Phil Woods, Lee Konitz and George Russell Jr. and was a seven-time winner of the Downbeat critics poll.
Kelly will be performing two shows, one at 7:30 p.m. and one at 9:30 p.m. Tickets can be purchased at www.eventbrite.com for $27. Kelly is also offering an Offstage at the Jazz Academy Companion Workshop on Jan. 30 at 2 p.m. For more information, visit www.jazzartsgroup.org.