Mary Foster Conklin

Her voice is smoky with a tart twist of lemon. Her style has been described as both recognizably traditional yet unmistakably contemporary, as she puts her personal stamp on a repertoire that spans over eight decades. “Scratch her witty tough-girl-from Jersey patter,” wrote The Washington Post, “and you’ll find a sensitive artist (but not frail) with a wide-ranging boldly colored voice and an open ear for off-beat material.”MARY FOSTER CONKLIN has appeared in theatres, jazz clubs and cabarets in the metropolitan New York area and throughout the United States and Canada. A New Jersey native who came to New York to pursue acting, she ended up working more as a vocalist. Her transformation from actor to jazz singer began over ten years ago when she joined drummer/composer Art Lillard’s 15-piece Heavenly Band and her song selections naturally shifted from show tunes to blues, Latin and bebop. As a leader, her choice of songs has always been an eclectic mix of contemporary material and standards, creating a hybrid sound that combines big band swing, straight ahead jazz, traditional pop and cabaret. She also has a passion for discovering lesser known standards. In New York, Conklin’s talents have earned her a place on the stages of The Blue Note, The Iridium, Nuyorican Poets Café, Sweet Rhythm, and the Triad Theatre.On the West Coast she has performed in San Francisco at The Plush Room, as well as the In House Jazz Series in Los Angeles and the Jazz Bakery. She has appeared in Chicago at the Cultural Center and at Park West. Ms. Conklin was awarded the 1999 MAC Award for Jazz Vocalist, and has been praised by The New York Times as “a highly creative singer whose style blends cabaret and jazz so thoroughly as to defy any easy categorization.” Her debut CD, Crazy Eyes, was listed as one of the ten best CDs of 1998 by In Theatre Magazine, and won the 1999 Bistro Award presented by Backstage Magazine for Outstanding Recording. Her second recording, You’d Be Paradise, was released in September 2001 to critical acclaim, worldwide airplay and was a jazz bestseller for two years on www.CDBaby.com.In 2003, what began as a simple quest for some lesser known Matt Dennis material (she recorded “Everything Happens to Me” on her last CD) quickly became an all-out obsession, which began at the Library of Congress. The following year, she teamed with LA vocalist Mark Winkler at the Triad in New York City and later at The Vic in Santa Monica to present a bi-coastal tribute to the music of Bobby Troup and Matt Dennis. She returned to the studio in May 2005. Her latest recording, Blues For Breakfast - Remembering Matt Dennis (Rhombus Records) is a collection of songs by the late Matt Dennis, best known for his hits “Angel Eyes” and “Violets for your Furs”. The award winning CD has been hailed by the press as ”delightfully dramatic” (Jazz Times) “a work of art and heart” (powerlineblog.com), and “an overdue reminder of the honored place of Matt Dennis in American music” (Jazz Society of Oregon). She can also be heard on Art Lillard’s latest recording “Reasons to Be Thankful”, on Summit Records.