About Me
Jeff Ramsey comes from generations of singers. His grandparents as well as his mother and aunt sang in church, talent contests, and local radio broadcasts while his uncle toured many countries performing.Jeff's musical talents were discovered at the early age of three by his mother who found her son playing Beethovens 5th on a toy organ, something he learned from a family friend who was taking lessons at the time.Jeff's artistic abilities became more apparent in high school. Jeff started playing the trombone and found himself performing in a variety of ensembles like the orchestra, jazz band, marching band, and singing in the choir. He also attended a two-month summer arts program at Wesleyan University. It was there that he got the encouragement to concentrate more on the voice. Jeff recieved numerous awards in high school for achievement including a scholarship giving him the opportunity to attend the esteemed Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts.Jeff developed his vocal style while attending Berklee and was very active in and out of school. The spectrum of performances included everything from student concerts, faculty shows, recitals and singing with the Berklee gospel choir to performing with such big artists as Earth, Wind, and Fire, Shirley Caesar, Bobby Jones and New life, and opening for artists like Stacey Lattisaw, Roy Ayers, and Norman Connors. He received a scholarship award and a faculty performance award for his accomplishments.After graduating from Berklee, Jeff started singing background for Polygram/Mercury recording artist Walter Beasley and Virgin recording artist Lalah Hathaway. This led the way to working with such artists as the following: Gerald Albright, Joe Sample, Marcus Miller, and Al Jarreau. Jeff has performed on The Arsenio Hall Show, Showtime at the Apollo, The Joan Rivers Show, and Natalie Coles Big Break with some of the artists mentioned and can also be seen in Lalah Hathaway's video "It's Something". Jeff has also recorded with various local acts during his time in Boston.Shortly after, Jeff moved to Los Angeles, California where he continued to tour and record with Al Jarreau. Jeff's 7 year tenure of professional work in LA now includes commercials and movie soundtracks such as Amistaad, Rosewood, Steel, The Preachers Wife, and Face-Off. Jeff has also added to his resume producers David Foster, Mervyn Warren (formerly of take six), and recording artists such as Whitney Houston, Diana Ross, Dianne Reeves, Patrice Rushen, Celine Dion, Barbara Streisand, Randy Crawford, George Duke, Maxwell, Marvin Winans, Tina Arena, Laura Fabion, Al McKay (of Earth, Wind, and Fire fame) and Rocco Prestia (of Tower of Power fame).Life has come full circle as Jeff is currently teaching at the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Ma as an assistant professor in the voice department. Jeff continues to sing doing session dates and performing around the New England area. Jeff's voice can be heard on three cuts on James Day's "Better Days" cd, a tribute to 80's R&B which is Soultracks.com CD of the month. Checkout http://www.myspace.com/jamesdaybiz for more info.
