Joanna Pascale

“When I happen on a new discovery, I just can’t wait to shout out my secret to the world. From seemingly nowhere comes…Joanna…and I’m absolutely like putty in her able hands.” – Dan Singer, New YorkSince emerging onto Philadelphia’s jazz scene, Pascale has established herself as a compelling and skilled vocalist. “Joanna is a highly sophisticated singer,” claims Philadelphia Metro. She has a working repertoire of over four hundred songs and has appeared at some of Philadelphia’s premiere jazz venues including the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts and Zanzibar Blue. In May of ’06, Pascale and her qunitet was selected to perform every Wednesday, Thursday and Friday evenings at Loews Hotel, plus she has appeared with internationally touring, Philadelphia jazz giants such as trumpeter and Director of Jazz Studies at Temple University, Terell Stafford; sax pyrotechnic and New York Times critic’s rave, Tim Warfield; former Dizzy Gillespie drummer, Mickey Roker, and others. In June of ’06, Pascale received an invitation to perform in Hong Kong. She was one of only thirty-five new artists selected for the Pennsylvania Performing Arts on Tour roster in August, 2006.Joanna’s latest album, When Lights Are Low, showcases her approach to the timeless standards of American music. The album features Stafford on trumpet, former Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra pianist, Farid Barron; Gary Moran, piano; former Joey DeFrancesco guitarist, Craig Ebner; collaborator and frequent musical partner, Madison Rast, bass; and peripatetic drummer, Byron Landham.According to All Music Guide, “She not only has solid vocal chops; she has soul.” This and other accolades helped nudge Pascale back to the studio a brand-new recording project scheduled for a winter, 2008 release entitled, Through My Eyes.On top of a busy performing and recording schedule, Pascale is a member of the vocal faculty at Temple University.Pascale began her musical education as a listener. “I gravitated to Billie Holiday, Carmen McRae, Sarah Vaughan, and Nat King Cole albums,” recalls Pascale. “I memorized these songs as if they were a part of my generation’s popular music.” Her love for jazz voice eventually took her to Philadelphia’s Performing Arts High School, where she began to develop her uncommonly large catalog of jazz standards, and then to Temple University where she studied music with Stafford and Max Jazz recording artist, Bruce Barth.“When I started going to jam sessions, singers would always perform the same couple of songs,” stated Pascale. “It would amaze me that gems like Serenade in Blue or Once In a While, for example, would fall through the cracks. I made it my mission to learn under performed standards, and to search for other songs that I felt should be remembered.”What really sets Pascale apart from other vocalists, though, is not just her repertoire, but also her musicianship. She has gained the admiration of Philadelphia’s most prominent musicians. “Joanna has her own style,” stated legendary saxophonist Robert ‘Bootsie’ Barnes. “She has been influenced as have all young ‘song birds’, but once you hear Joanna you’ll know it’s her. Copycats don’t last, but Joanna will be around for a long time. You get this feeling like she’s out there singing only to you.”