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Chris McNulty

Chris McNulty is a vocalist-composer-educator-author based in NYC for several decades, currently residing just outside Melbourne, Australia.

About Me

Chris McNulty is an award winning jazz vocalist, composer and educator. She is the recipient of the 2013 Australian Bell Award for Best Vocal Jazz album for ‘The Song That Sings You Here’. She is also the recipient of a 2019 Bundanon Trust Prelude Composer Residency award.

McNulty is among the new generation of modern vocal jazz artists who also compose and arrange their own material. Her warm, soulful tones and liquid phrasing meld seamlessly across a wide range of styles and idioms. Acclaimed by critics for her emotive delivery, storytelling gifts and technical mastery, McNulty's effortless synergy with fellow musicians has been captivating audiences worldwide for several decades. Her vocal influences range from Sarah Vaughan, Carmen McRae, Ella Fitzgerald, a generous tip of the hat to Streisand as well as early Rnb artists. As a composer, McNulty’s influences range from Wayne Shorter, Charles Lloyd, Joe Henderson, Cedar Walton, Kenny Wheeler, Charlie Hayden, Keith Jarrett and Horace Silver among others.

McNulty became a fixture on the New York vocal jazz scene after moving to the USA in 1988 with her then 7 year old son. Her emergence on the international jazz scene began around 1991 with the release of her critically acclaimed Waltz for Debby (Discovery). Since then her recordings and performances have garnered 4 and 5 star reviews in publications including DownBeat, Jazz Times, The Irish Times, Jazz Wise, All About Jazz, JazzIs and The Australian, among many others.

Her 1995 release A Time For Love (Amosaya) co-produced with guitarist, the late Peter Leitch featured the late John Hicks and Gary Bartz. McNulty went on to release several more albums on the Elefant Dreams label, a record company co-founded with her then colleague-partner guitarist, Paul Bollenback. Among those releases, I Remember You, Dance Delicioso and Whispers the Heart received substantial international press and radio coverage. This enabled McNulty to develop and maintain a consistent presence on the international touring scene, performing at festivals including: Edinburgh and Dundee Jazz Festivals, Brecon-Beacon Jazz Festival (UK); Kilkenny Arts Festival (Ireland); Kharkov (Ukraine); Petrozavodsk (Russia). McNulty also had numerous return invitations to perform in Australia at the Melbourne International Jazz festival, Perth International Jazz Festival, Stonnington Jazz festival and Wangaratta Jazz and Blues Festival.

In 2012, Challenge International (NL) released Chris McNulty’s 6th album ‘The Song That Sings You Here’ which garnered more international press and further cemented McNulty’s reputation as a composer-lyricist. Among the many jazz luminaries McNulty has performed and recorded with are the late jazz greats Mulgrew Miller, John Hicks, Frank Wess, George Mraz, Montez Coleman, Tony Reedus and Peter Leitch, along with Gary Bartz, Gary Thomas, Billy Hart, Marcus Gilmore, Greg Hutchinson, Matt Wilson, Kenny Washington, Ingrid Jensen, Dave Pietro, David Budway, John Di Martino, Tineke Postma, Ugonna Okegwo, Paul Bollenback, Andrei Kondakov and Igor Butman. 

Chris McNulty’s 2015 groundbreaking release ‘Eternal’ which melded chamber ensemble and jazz quintet (orchestrations by Steve Newcomb and core ensemble arrangements by John Di Martino) received outstanding 5 and 4.5 star reviews in All About Jazz and DownBeat among many others. The album placed 11th on the 80th DownBeat Readers Poll 2015 for ‘Album of the Year’ and was listed in the ‘Best Albums of 2015’ category in both DownBeat.

After several decades performing and touring extensively across Russia, the UK, Ireland, Europe, Lebanon and Australia, Chris returned to Australia in late 2015 to then tour her Eternal Chamber Ensemble project nationwide. Since her return she has made multiple appearances at the Perth International Jazz festival as well as Melbourne International Jazz festival, Wangaratta Jazz Festival, Stonnington Jazz Festival and Dunsborough Jazz By the Bay.

In August 2017 McNulty published a jazz vocal methodology ’Vocalist As Complete Musician - VCM’ and in late 2018 she was among six Australian composers awarded a 2019 Bundanon Trust Prelude Composer Residency. In January 2019 McNulty traveled to Perth, WA to complete her residency at Gallop House. The year-long residency culminated in the completion of a 12- piece suite, ‘Finding Home’ - Bringing Musical Voice to Stories of Refugee and Immigrants through the lens of their artists. McNulty remained in Perth, WA for an additional 3 years due to the Covid pandemic. In May 2022, Chris McNulty was the featured Artist-in-Residence for ABC Jazz hosted by Mal Stanley. 

McNulty returned to the east coast of Australia In early 2023. Now based in the regional Victorian town of Ballarat, she is about to release her 8th album ‘Soul Journey’. This will be McNulty’s first release recorded in Australia featuring Australian, American and expatriate European jazz musicians. Her previous releases were all recorded in NYC and released on American labels.

McNulty's 'Soul Journey' uses her sonic and compositional skills to explore a deeply personal journey through past, present and future. The album features seven McNulty originals along with five of her favourite standards from the Great American Songbook with Melbourne based American-Australian Brett Williams (piano); Ben Robertson (bass); Lewis Pierre (drums); Carl Mackey (tenor, sop sax); Tony Hicks (flutes, clarinets); Gianni Marinucci (trumpet-flugelhorn) and John Di Martino (NYC) piano.