Mary Ellen Desmond - Darn That Dream (1998)

This classically trained singer made her professional debut in 1988 by performing operatic arias at Philadelphia art openings. Simultaneously she was pursuing an interest in Country & Western music by singing with local bands of this genre over the next five years, until she settled in her niche in the jazz repertoire. Her father played guitar and banjo in society orchestras during the 1940s - 1950s and as a child she grew up listening to this music around the house. Although she sought out classical voice training and experimented with country, the jazz repertoire was the genre she most wanted to perform within as a career. She has since found herself very fortunate to be working with accomplished Philadelphia-based jazz musicians such as pianist Tom Lawton, bassist Lee Smith, tenor sax men Larry McKenna & Robert "Bootsie" Barnes, and trumpeter John Swana.