Skyler Jett
Encyclopedia
Skyler Jett is a singer who has worked with many top musicians, such as Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...

, Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston
Whitney Elizabeth Houston is an American singer, actress, producer and a former model. Houston is the most awarded female act of all time, according to Guinness World Records, and her list of awards include 1 Emmy Award, 6 Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, among...

, Aretha Franklin
Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Although known for her soul recordings and referred to as The Queen of Soul, Franklin is also adept at jazz, blues, R&B, gospel music, and rock. Rolling Stone magazine ranked her atop its list of The Greatest Singers of All...

. He also was briefly the lead singer in The Commodores, touring with them around the world. He is Grammy recognized for his performance with Celine Dion in "My Heart Will Go On".

Early life

Skyler Jett was born in Oakland, California
Oakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...

 in the 50's. He comes from a musical
family, with his Grandmother, Mom and Aunt all gospel vocalist back in the
40's and 50's. Skyler's Aunt, Elsie Davis, was the first black woman to
hire entertainment for San Francisco's Presidio Army base where she booked
mega artist like Bob Hope, Sammy Davis Jr, Bing Crosby, The Rat Pack and
many others.

Skyler's uncles, Arif Khatib and Capus Hope were also Promoters and
Personal Managers for artist such as Ike and Tina Turner
Ike & Tina Turner
Ike & Tina Turner were an American rock & roll and soul duo, made of the husband-and-wife team of Ike Turner and Tina Turner in the 1960s and 1970s. Spanning sixteen years together as a recording group, the duo's repertoire included rock & roll, soul, blues and funk...

 and jazz acts
including Donald Bird and The Blackbirds, Woody Shaw
Woody Shaw
Woody Shaw was an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, composer and band leader, often referred to as the "last innovator" in the jazz trumpet lineage...

, Bobby Hutcherson
Bobby Hutcherson
Bobby Hutcherson is a jazz vibraphone and marimba player. His vibraphone playing is suggestive of the style of Milt Jackson in its free-flowing melodicism, but his sense of harmony and group interaction is thoroughly modern...

,
Pharoah Sanders
Pharoah Sanders
Pharoah Sanders is a Grammy Award–winning American jazz saxophonist.Saxophonist Ornette Coleman once described him as "probably the best tenor player in the world." Emerging from John Coltrane's groups of the mid-60s Sanders is known for his overblowing, harmonic, and multiphonic techniques on...

, Michael White
Michael White
- Academics :*Michael JD White , British zoologist*Michael White , inventor of narrative therapy*L. Michael White, American theologian*Michael White , English Communications Theorist- Journalism and literature :...

 and many others in the '60s.

Music career

As a child, Skyler started singing in church and by age ten he fell in love
with jazz
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...

 and R&B. By age thirteen he was performing on stages all over the SF
Bay Area and traveling up and down the northern states and Canada. Just
out of high school, Skyler moved to New Jersey for three years gigging up and
down the coast opening for superstars like Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Springsteen
Bruce Frederick Joseph Springsteen , nicknamed "The Boss," is an American singer-songwriter who records and tours with the E Street Band...

. Following
those formative years on the road Skyler turned to rock music and fostered
his talents as a song writer.

In 1980 Jett moved back to Hollywood and in 1982 and 1983 replaced Lionel Richie
Lionel Richie
Lionel Brockman Richie, Jr. , is an American singer-songwriter, musician and record producer. Since 1968, he has been a member of the musical group Commodores signed to Motown Records...

 as the lead singer for The Commodores, touring the world and performing in over 32
countries in a two year span. He later moved back to the Bay Area and soon
became one of the finest 'first call' session singers, recording over 2000
songs with a variety of producers. In 1998 he landed the gig of a lifetime singing background on one of the most well known theme songs of all time: "My
Heart Will Go On" with Celine Dion
Celine Dion
Céline Marie Claudette Dion, , , is a Canadian singer. Born to a large family from Charlemagne, Quebec, Dion emerged as a teen star in the French-speaking world after her manager and future husband René Angélil mortgaged his home to finance her first record...

 for the film Titanic
Titanic (1997 film)
Titanic is a 1997 American epic romance and disaster film directed, written, co-produced, and co-edited by James Cameron. A fictionalized account of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, it stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Jack Dawson, Kate Winslet as Rose DeWitt Bukater and Billy Zane as Rose's fiancé, Cal...

. Other notable
movies Skyler has sung on include: Ghost Dad with Bill Cosby
Bill Cosby
William Henry "Bill" Cosby, Jr. is an American comedian, actor, author, television producer, educator, musician and activist. A veteran stand-up performer, he got his start at various clubs, then landed a starring role in the 1960s action show, I Spy. He later starred in his own series, the...

; A Smile Like
Yours with Greg Kinnear
Greg Kinnear
Gregory "Greg" Kinnear is an American actor and television personality who first rose to stardom in 1991. He has appeared in more than 20 motion pictures, and was nominated for an Academy Award for his role in As Good as It Gets.-Early life:Kinnear was born in Logansport, Indiana, the son of...

; Tap with Gregory Hines
Gregory Hines
Gregory Oliver Hines was an American actor, singer, dancer and choreographer.-Early years:Born in New York City, Hines and his older brother Maurice started dancing at an early age, studying with choreographer Henry LeTang...

 and Sammy Davis Jr;
License To Kill 007 with Gladys Knight
Gladys Knight
Gladys Maria Knight , known as the "Empress of Soul", is an American singer-songwriter, actress, businesswoman, humanitarian, and author...

 and Big Bully
Big Bully
Big Bully may refer to:*Jimmy Jacobs, a wrestler*Big Bully * A boss in Super Mario 64...

 with Rick Moranis
Rick Moranis
Frederick Allan "Rick" Moranis is a Canadian comedian, actor, musician, and a magician. Moranis came to prominence in the late 1970s on the sketch comedy show Second City Television, and later appeared in several Hollywood films including Strange Brew; Ghostbusters; Spaceballs; Little Shop of...

 and
Tom Arnold
Tom Arnold (actor)
Thomas Dwaine "Tom" Arnold is an American actor and comedian. He has appeared in many films, perhaps most notably True Lies . He was the host of The Best Damn Sports Show Period for four years.-Early life:...

.

Skyler Jett is also a highly accomplished background vocal arranger, songwriter and producer arranging background vocals on tracks such as Whitney Houston
Whitney Houston
Whitney Elizabeth Houston is an American singer, actress, producer and a former model. Houston is the most awarded female act of all time, according to Guinness World Records, and her list of awards include 1 Emmy Award, 6 Grammy Awards, 30 Billboard Music Awards, 22 American Music Awards, among...

's "I'm Every Woman" for the film The Body Guard. He is also a lyricist and you can find his works on albums by Al Jarreau
Al Jarreau
Alwin "Al" Lopez Jarreau is a seven-time Grammy Award winning jazz singer.- Background :Jarreau was born in Milwaukee, the fifth of six children. His web site refers to Reservoir, Inc., the name of the street where he lived. His father was a Seventh-Day Adventist Church minister and singer, and...

, Eddie Murphy
Eddie Murphy
Edward Regan "Eddie" Murphy is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, singer, director, and musician....

, Patti Austin
Patti Austin
-Life and career:Austin was born in Harlem, New York. She made her debut at the Apollo Theater at age four and had a contract with RCA Records when she was only five. Quincy Jones and Dinah Washington have proclaimed themselves as her godparents....

, Tevin Campbell
Tevin Campbell
Tevin Jermod Campbell is an American R&B singer-songwriter and actor. He scored a string of R&B chart hits as a teenager in the early to mid-1990s.-Music career:...

, The Commodores and Lenny Williams
Lenny Williams
Leonard Charles "Lenny" Williams is an American singer known for his work in the R&B and soul music genres. During the 1970s, he was the lead vocalist for Tower of Power...

.

Skyler is the Entertainment Alliance Director for Ad Publishing, a California-based company promoting online music marketing. He also co-owns First Kiss Records.
He is also co-owner of NAR - New Artist Radio, an online radio station dedicated to promoting new artists.

Environmentalism

Skyler is deeply committed to the Environment
Natural environment
The natural environment encompasses all living and non-living things occurring naturally on Earth or some region thereof. It is an environment that encompasses the interaction of all living species....

 and to bringing awareness of Green issues through his music and throughout the entertainment industry. In 2008, the moment Al Gore
Al Gore
Albert Arnold "Al" Gore, Jr. served as the 45th Vice President of the United States , under President Bill Clinton. He was the Democratic Party's nominee for President in the 2000 U.S. presidential election....

 was presented the Nobel Peace Prize, Skyler was inspired to compose the song "Think Green," which attempts to describe the state of our planet.

In 2007, Skyler Jett created a music video for "Think Green" with Advanced Media Directing Producer Mr. Philip Cacayorin. Cacayorin played guitar on the music piece, and mastered the song. He also directed, shot, produced and engineered the video.
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