Kathy Ingraham

Kathy Ingraham

Musicians | Instrument: Vocals | Location: New York City

 

As for the genesis of Jazz Dreams, Ingraham was stimulated by two events. First, she watched an old film, 1943’s Heavenly Music, which won the 1944 Academy Award for best short film. “That was the first seed to take songs to demonstrate the film’s theory that a great melody can transcend the genre for which it was originally created,” Ingraham says. “The next experience was when I watched a show that celebrated Howard Stern’s birthday party in 2014 where Aerosmith’s leader Steven Tyler played a great version of their hit ‘Dream On’ on piano. I felt a little spark. He sang a jazz riff in the middle of the song. I thought maybe I could do the same with it. That led to the whole notion of doing contemporary songs with a jazz slant.”

The leadoff of the album is its inspiration, “Dream On,” where she sings with a beauty that whispers with an anxious urgency to keep going, to keep dreaming. She reached out to Randy Brecker who responded with a rapturous fluegelhorn accompaniment that at times wraps its notes around her voice. A special appearance is the superb vocal background of her daughter Lily Del Rosso

One of the highlights of the album is Ingraham’s original “Melusina” where she sings the many colors of her voice. The tune is beautiful and enchanted. “This is my deep dive into the world of myth,” she says. “I started researching my family genealogy and discovered that I was a direct descendant of the kings and queens of England and Scotland. I found out more about the mystical characters of the House of Plantagenet. The jazz lyrics here reach back to the ring in the water.” It’s all about Jazz Dreams whether it’s reviving the old tunes by the serving of new attention or opening up the new music that ripens in a creative cloudland.  

—Dan Ouellette

Updated: April 10, 2026

Born: December 15

Press Release Jazz Dreams March 2026
Eclectic jazz chanteuse and composer Kathy Ingraham returns with the release of her latest album, Jazz Dreams, marking her fourth album dedicated to the genre.  Ingraham employs jazz arrangements to revisit rock ballads of cultural and personal significance. The project was initially inspired by the artist’s happenstance viewing of the 1944 Oscar winning best short film, Heavenly Music, which tells the tale of a bebop jazz band leader (Ted) who must justify his entry into the heavenly Hall of Music before a committee of elitist classical composers. Ted’s goal is to gain “eternal residence into the sanctum sanctorum of music.” Ultimately Tchaikovsky, Beethoven, Bach Wagner et al are convinced to perform their own interpretations of Ted’s jazz tune in their own notable styles. This inspired Ingraham’s genesis for Jazz Dreams proving the film’s theory that a great song can transcend genre with her interpretation of iconic rock songs. At once nostalgic and innovative, the album approaches these songs with a refreshing interpretation, revealing colors and shadows of lyric and melody that were previously obscured by the songs’ original styles. Each one featured is familiar and yet features a sensitivity that only Ingraham’s experience, both musical and personal, can offer. Her unique vocal style has been compared to Nina Simone for its mighty richness and Blossom Dearie for its whimsical, intimate quality. Her voice offers a wide bouquet. “She swings a velvet hammer” Ingraham defies the restrictions of genre just as naturally as the timeless melodies with which she converses.  This mellifluous dialogue with the past includes "Dream On" (Aerosmith), "House of the Rising Sun" (famously recorded by the Animals), "Ruby Tuesday" (Rolling Stones), "Eli’s Comin'" (Laura Nyro) and "Stairway to Heaven" (Led Zeppelin). The album also features two original songs including "Little Things", featured in the Johnny Depp film The Professor, which earned her an international fan base to include over 120 countries, along with Melusina, an ethereal homage to a mythical ancestor from whom she descends through the House of Plantagenet. In Jazz Dreams, Ingraham evokes magic with talented musical collaborators to include Randy Brecker (Fluegelhorn), Pete Levin (Piano, Bass), Elliott Randall (Guitar), Joel Rosenblatt (Drums), Evan Christopher (Clarinet), Matt Wensor (Guitar), William Galison (Harmonica) and Lily Del Rosso (Backing Vocals). 

I live in New York but am originally from a small seacoast town in Maine. I’m a very private person sharing my music.  The average attention span for people right now is about 5 seconds. This is maybe two or three measures of music. Guessing. But you get my point.  Here is a little bit about me.  Most of my writing inspiration occurs in places other than at the keyboard. Driving, walking, doing the dishes, re-potting a plant, shopping at the supermarket. Living my Ordinary Life….just doing simple everyday things.I am currently working on a new album and hoping for a June 2022 release date.

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All About Jazz Articles

8
Album Review

Kathy Ingraham: Jazz Dreams

Read "Jazz Dreams" reviewed by Richard J Salvucci


Occasionally an album comes along that is different and original, but not contrived. It can be unusual, but somehow familiar. Jazz Dreams is that kind of recording, a blues treatment of several canonical rock tunes that evokes shades of Blossom Dearie and Nina Simone with a touch of Steve Winwood's Traffic. Kathy Ingraham--who has imagination, chops and pipes to spare--manages this alchemy, doubtlessly a big part of her talent. Putting players like Randy Brecker and Evan Christopher into the mix ...

14
Album Review

Kathy Ingraham: Everlasting Cool

Read "Everlasting Cool" reviewed by Richard J Salvucci


If you have a lovely mezzo-soprano voice, lots of chops, a feel for selling a song, a talent for storytelling, and some sense of why tradition is what it is, you end up with Kathy Ingraham. Ms. Ingraham is also not afraid of the big no-no, singing standards (and, lo and behold, their verses too), although she has been known to write her own material too. Whatever the case, she is a treat to listen to and, with a nonpareil ...

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3

Recording

Kathy Ingraham Evokes Jazz Dreams In Her New Release

Kathy Ingraham Evokes Jazz Dreams In Her New Release

Source: Kathy Ingraham

Eclectic jazz chanteuse and composer Kathy Ingraham returns with the release of her latest album, Jazz Dreams, marking her fourth album dedicated to the genre. Ingraham employs jazz arrangements to revisit rock ballads of cultural and personal significance. The project was initially inspired by the artist’s happenstance viewing of the 1944 Oscar-winning best short film, Heavenly Music, which tells the tale of a bebop jazz band leader (Ted) who must justify his entry into the heavenly Hall of Music before ...

3

Music Industry

The Unique 'Everlasting Cool' Mystique Of The Elusive Kathy Ingraham

The Unique 'Everlasting Cool' Mystique Of The Elusive Kathy Ingraham

Source: Powderfinger Promotions

As a session singer in New York City, millions have heard her voice on TV commercials and movie themes. She prefers singing behind the glass fortress of a recording studio, the happy place for this very private person. Getting her to talk about herself or credits and accomplishments in the past is nearly impossible. When asked, she quotes Alice In Wonderland “It’s no use going back to yesterday because I was a different person then.” What we do know is ...

1

Recording

Vocalist Kathy Ingraham's Inspiring New Jazz Album, 'Everlasting Cool' Is Out Of This World

Vocalist Kathy Ingraham's Inspiring New Jazz Album, 'Everlasting Cool' Is Out Of This World

Source: Powderfinger Promotions

“Everlasting Cool features Kathy Ingraham in top form.” —Scott Yanow Out of this world jazz vocalist and composer Kathy Ingraham returns with the release of her third solo album, Everlasting Cool. Adding to the catalogue of her debut album Cool Night (2017) and follow up album Paper Doll (2020), which are comprised primarily of original works, she wanted to pay homage to the artists who have inspired her as a composer. Maintaining the style that is uniquely her own, Everlasting ...

Press Release 8/22/2022

PRESS RELEASE
Kathy Ingraham Everlasting Cool Album Release Date 8/26/2022

Out of this world jazz vocalist and composer Kathy Ingraham returns with the release of her third solo album, Everlasting Cool (08/26/22). Adding to the catalogue of her debut album Cool Night (2017) and follow up album Paper Doll (2020), which are comprised primarily of original works, she wanted to pay homage to the artists who have inspired her as a composer. Maintaining the style that is uniquely her own, Everlasting Cool is her loving interpretation of some favorite jazz standards. The album also features one original composition, “Cyex & Alcyone.”

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Music

Melusina

From: Jazz Dreams
By Kathy Ingraham

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