MICHELE THOMAS
Press Kit
“Bold in concept and brilliant in execution, The Assumption finds co-producer Darren Scorza working with Michele Thomas to produce an album of originals and covers that dazzle from beginning to end.”
~ Preston Fraizer, Something Else Reviews - Best Jazz of 2022
“Chicago-based singer compels attention through her edgy and intense delivery of standards, lesser-known songs and originals” ~ Bruce Crowther, Jazz Journal
“(She) has her own vocal sound, which is beautiful by the Grace of God.” ~ Yusef Lateef
"Best singer by far! Great feeling! Great voice! I'm in love!” ~ Kevin Mahogany, Warner Bros. recording artist
“Michele Thomas” uses every arrow in her musical quiver on The Assumption.” ~ Howard Dukes, Soul Tracks
MUSIC
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BIO
Jazz singer-songwriter, entrepreneur, and educator Michele Thomas is a suave innovator. With silken grace she eases in her formative background in gospel, and her love of R&B, soul, and neo-soul, into a musical language that shows a dedication and a passion for jazz, spanning all of its defining eras. Michele’s restless creativity reflects jazz’s improvisatory spirit—for jazz, like life, is a journey and not a destination.
Michele’s latest album, her third album, The Assumption, is her most profound musical evolution. It is loosely a conceptual piece that over three song-suite groupings examines notions of trust, as it relates to familial connections, race relations, gender, interpersonal relations, and our relationship to ourselves. It represents much artistic growth as half the songs here are original jazz compositions. “I stopped worrying about pleasing jazz critics in my head, or feeling like I had to live up to the American Songbook,” Michele says. “I felt the need to say something, and I wrote from the heart.”
Not only does it showcase Michele’s fine songcraft, it also full embraces who she is and where she comes from. It’s a bold synthesis of styles incorporating her gospel roots, her love of folk and neo-soul, and even a passion for rock. Though it siphons from a broad array of stylistic sources, it just feels like the spirit of jazz—an improvisatory music always shapeshifting; never stagnant.
Michele has garnered favorable comparisons to powerful African-American singers such as Ella Fitzgerald, Dianne Reeves, Cassandra Wilson, and Anita Baker, but she also draws inspiration from composer-artists like Kurt Elling, Jon Hendricks, James Taylor, and Sting. She has earned the praise of Warner Bros. recording artist Kevin Mahogany, and Grammy Award-winning jazz artist Yusef Lateef who commented, “(She) has her own vocal sound, which is beautiful by the Grace of God.”
