Jenna Mammina
Encyclopedia
Jenna Mammina is a jazz
/pop
singer originally from St. Joseph, Michigan
but based in the San Francisco bay area since 1986.
, Michigan State University
, and Laney College
in Oakland, before settling in San Francisco.
After session work with The Spinners
and Narada Michael Walden
, Mammina has gone on to record five albums, all released on her own label, Mamma Grace. She performs as often as 250 times a year, and has performed with Bobby McFerrin
, Bobby Watson
, Nancy King
, Andy Narell
, and Steve Coleman
. Derk Robertson, writing for the San Francisco Chronicle
, picked her debut album, Under the Influence, at number nine in his top albums of that year. Her second album, Meant to Be, was nominated for a California Music Award
in the 'Outstanding jazz album' category.
Mammina is also a music educator, running workshops titled 'Scat for Cats' and 'So You Want to Be a Rock and Roll Star' in schools and universities.
, pop, and jazz, often performing with guitarist Andre Bush. She covers a wide range of music including songs ranging from Abbey Lincoln
(her mentor) to Elvis Costello
, U2
, and Tom Waits
, as well as original compositions. Her voice has variously been described as "sweet and flexible", "whisper-like" with "air-brushed phrasings and silky nuance", and "tiny, thinnish, high-pitched".
Mammina herself says of her style:
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
/pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
singer originally from St. Joseph, Michigan
St. Joseph, Michigan
St. Joseph is a city in the US state of Michigan. It was incorporated as a village in 1834 and as a city in 1891. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 8,789. It lies on the shore of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the St. Joseph River, about east-northeast of Chicago. It is the county...
but based in the San Francisco bay area since 1986.
Biography
Mammina was born in St. Joseph, Michigan, and began singing as a child, singing in church from the age of five, and appearing in school musicals. In her teens she learned piano and guitar and performed with local bands. She attended Central Michigan UniversityCentral Michigan University
Central Michigan University is a public research university located in Mount Pleasant in the U.S. state of Michigan...
, Michigan State University
Michigan State University
Michigan State University is a public research university in East Lansing, Michigan, USA. Founded in 1855, it was the pioneer land-grant institution and served as a model for future land-grant colleges in the United States under the 1862 Morrill Act.MSU pioneered the studies of packaging,...
, and Laney College
Laney College
Laney College is a community college located in Oakland, California, next to the Lake Merritt BART station and the Kaiser Convention Center. Laney is the largest of the four colleges of the Peralta Community College District which serves northern Alameda County.Laney College originally opened in...
in Oakland, before settling in San Francisco.
After session work with The Spinners
The Spinners (U.S. band)
The Spinners is a soul music vocal group, active for over 50 years, and with a long run of pop and R&B hits especially during the 1970s. The group, originating from Detroit, still tours regularly ....
and Narada Michael Walden
Narada Michael Walden
Narada Michael Walden is an American producer, drummer, singer, and songwriter. He was given the name Narada by guru Sri Chinmoy in the early 1970s and his musical career spans three decades, in which he was awarded several gold, platinum and multi-platinum awards...
, Mammina has gone on to record five albums, all released on her own label, Mamma Grace. She performs as often as 250 times a year, and has performed with Bobby McFerrin
Bobby McFerrin
Robert "Bobby" McFerrin, Jr. is an American vocalist and conductor. He is best known for his 1988 hit song "Don't Worry, Be Happy". He is a ten-time Grammy Award winner.-Life:...
, Bobby Watson
Bobby Watson
Bobby Watson is an American post-bop jazz alto saxophonist, composer, producer, and educator. Watson now has 26 recordings as a leader. He appears on nearly 100 other recordings as either co-leader or in a supporting role...
, Nancy King
Nancy King (jazz singer)
Nancy King is a world-renowned jazz singer from Portland, Oregon, United States.- References :...
, Andy Narell
Andy Narell
Andy Narell is a musician and composer specialized in the steelpan.-Biography:He was born in New York City and moved to California in his teens. He took up the steelpan at a very young age in Queens, New York...
, and Steve Coleman
Steve Coleman
Steve Coleman, born , is an African American saxophone player, spontaneous composer, composer and band leader. His music and concepts have been a heavy influence on contemporary jazz.-Chicago:...
. Derk Robertson, writing for the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
, picked her debut album, Under the Influence, at number nine in his top albums of that year. Her second album, Meant to Be, was nominated for a California Music Award
BAM (magazine)
BAM , was a free bi-weekly music magazine founded and published by Dennis Erokan in the San Francisco Bay Area starting in January 1976 and continuing on for 23 years until 1999...
in the 'Outstanding jazz album' category.
Mammina is also a music educator, running workshops titled 'Scat for Cats' and 'So You Want to Be a Rock and Roll Star' in schools and universities.
Musical style
Mammina combines together folk musicFolk music
Folk music is an English term encompassing both traditional folk music and contemporary folk music. The term originated in the 19th century. Traditional folk music has been defined in several ways: as music transmitted by mouth, as music of the lower classes, and as music with unknown composers....
, pop, and jazz, often performing with guitarist Andre Bush. She covers a wide range of music including songs ranging from Abbey Lincoln
Abbey Lincoln
Anna Marie Wooldridge , better known by her stage name Abbey Lincoln, was a jazz vocalist, songwriter, and actress. Lincoln was unusual in that she wrote and performed her own compositions, expanding the expectations of jazz audiences.-Biography:Born in Chicago, Illinois, she was one of many...
(her mentor) to Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello
Elvis Costello , born Declan Patrick MacManus, is an English singer-songwriter. He came to prominence as an early participant in London's pub rock scene in the mid-1970s and later became associated with the punk/New Wave genre. Steeped in word play, the vocabulary of Costello's lyrics is broader...
, U2
U2
U2 are an Irish rock band from Dublin. Formed in 1976, the group consists of Bono , The Edge , Adam Clayton , and Larry Mullen, Jr. . U2's early sound was rooted in post-punk but eventually grew to incorporate influences from many genres of popular music...
, and Tom Waits
Tom Waits
Thomas Alan "Tom" Waits is an American singer-songwriter, composer, and actor. Waits has a distinctive voice, described by critic Daniel Durchholz as sounding "like it was soaked in a vat of bourbon, left hanging in the smokehouse for a few months, and then taken outside and run over with a car."...
, as well as original compositions. Her voice has variously been described as "sweet and flexible", "whisper-like" with "air-brushed phrasings and silky nuance", and "tiny, thinnish, high-pitched".
Mammina herself says of her style:
"I don't want to categorize the music. It's not that I don't know who I am. I don't sing classical, and I'm not a soul singer, or an R&B singer, but I have been influenced by that stuff too. I can sing a Patsy Cline tune, a James Taylor tune or a Led Zeppelin tune, but I do it with my own flair."
Discography
- Under the Influence (1999)
- Just a Little Bit (2000)
- Meant to Be (2001)
- Art of the Duo (2003)
- Inner Smile (2005)