The sounds and styles of vocalist/composer Jocelyn Medina cross cultures, creeds and continents. Her original music fuses elements of Brazil, Spain, Africa and India with jazz harmonies, neo-soul/funk grooves and adventurous improvisations.
鈥淢edina offers the jazz listener a musical journey that takes the foundation of Latin and Jazz idioms and successfully redefines the experience with thought provoking lyrics and vocal abilities far beyond the norm. Medina uses her voice as an instrument and storyteller and invites the listener to delve into the corners of their mind with lyrics that reflect life and human conditions...鈥�
鈥擟onstance Tucker, All About Vocals
鈥淎 jazz artist whose compositions encompass the musical ethos of many different cultures 鈥� A voice seductive, delicate, resonate and crystalline鈥攁 major humanist who happens to communicate through singing.鈥澨�(5 stars)
鈥擥rady Harp, Amazon
Born into a family of singers, Medina determined her identity as a musician at age 5. She later pursued opera work at Stanford University, earned a bachelor鈥檚 in professional music from Berklee College of Music and a master鈥檚 in vocal jazz performance from the Manhattan School of Music.听
Further musical explorations brought Medina to Ghana, West Africa, as well as Salvador, Brazil and鈥攎ost recently鈥攕ix months teaching, performing and studying in Mumbai, India, where she was exposed to more of the wide-ranging elements that continue to inspire her creative projects. Medina is certified in all levels of master vocal pedagogue Jeannette LoVetri鈥檚 Somatic Voicework鈩⑩�攁 functional, body-based method of vocal training whose techniques have been adapted by a number of her previous and most influential teachers including vocal jazz virtuosos Theo Bleckmann and Luciana Souza.
Between her formal studies, Medina gathered much of her eclectic mix of artistic influences during her time living and performing abroad in Madrid, Spain. Before returning to the United States, she recorded her first full-length CD of original compositions, 鈥淭he Journey Begun,鈥� featuring fellow expatriate musicians Dan Rochlis (guitar) and Bob Sands (tenor sax), as well as legendary Spanish harmonica player Antonio Serrano. In 2011, she released her second album of original work, 鈥淲e Are Water,鈥� featuring Rodrigo Ursaia (flute), Miles Okazaki (guitar), Kristjan Randalu (piano), Aidan Carroll (bass) and Bodek Janke (drums) which topped national and international jazz radio charts and continues to receive widespread air play and flattering reviews. In 2017, she released her third album, 鈥淐ommon Ground,鈥� blending jazz with the world music styles of India and Africa. This latest project features Art Hirahara (piano), Pete McCann (guitar), Evan Gregor (bass), Mark Ferber (drums), Hadar Noiberg (flute), Robert Levin (percussion) and two virtuoso masters of Indian music鈥擲teve Gorn on bansuri flute and Samir Chatterjee on tabla.
As an educator, Medina has over 18 years of experience as a private voice instructor, and has worked as a choral music and ensemble director in public and private education throughout the five boroughs including at Fordham鈥檚 Jazz at Lincoln Center and as an adjunct lecturer at LaGuardia Community College. Internationally, she served as head of the vocal department at the True School of Music, an affiliate school of Manhattan School of Music, in Mumbai, India. As a master class clinician, Medina has been invited around the world to present workshops in voice, composition, improvisation and vocal jazz to students at both the college and professional level, and is on the voice faculty of the Bloomingdale School of Music, the Dalton School and the New York Jazz Workshop School of Music.
As a bandleader, she has toured with jazz ensembles at venues and festivals throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and South America including Spain鈥檚 JAZZPARLA festival, Alte Feuermache in Mannheim, Germany, Voicingers Jazz Festival in Zory, Poland, the Mahindra Blues Festival in Mumbai, India, and the Goethe Institute in Salvador, Brazil. Her most recent U.S appearances have been at such New York venues as Jazz at Kitano, the Iridium Jazz Club, Cornelia Street Caf茅, Bar Next Door, Zinc Bar and 55 Bar with her own group; at Lincoln Center with the Manhattan School of Music Jazz Orchestra; and at Carnegie Hall with Calpulli鈥檚 Music of Mexico. Since moving to New York City in 2005, she has established herself as a unique and powerful voice in the local jazz scene.
Currently based in Brooklyn, Medina plays regularly throughout the New York City area showcasing her compositions, and curates and hosts a weekly Sunday vocal jazz concert and jam session at Spoonfed NYC. In addition to her original repertoire, she sings, plays percussion and arranges for her Brazilian-Jazz project; sings and drums and with the New Jersey-based Rhythm Monsters West African ensemble; and is a member of the classical Brooklyn Conservatory Chorale.