Rebecca Shrimpton
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Rebecca Shrimpton, acclaimed for her rare melding of a highly eclectic approach with a sumptuous and agile voice, is an assistant professor of voice at Berklee College of Music. She is a vocalist for Boston's 19-piece Jazz Composers Alliance Orchestra, with whom she has recorded eight CDs, including Why Do You Ride?, named to DownBeat Magazine's best of 2015 list. She also is a vocalist for OddSong, whose debut recording, Jailhouse Doc with Holes in Her Socks, was on Cadence Magazine's top 10 list for 2016. Shrimpton has performed with Norm Zocher's Electric Strings Band, the progressive rock band David Zoffer Differential, and was a guest artist with the ensemble Tapestry.
Shrimpton received international praise in 2005 for her solo CD, Madman's Moon. Her 2009 release, Requited, featured songs by best-selling novelist Anita Diamant (The Red Tent), pianist Bert Seager, and a brilliant band, featuring Rick DiMuzio (tenor saxophone), Jorge Roeder (bass), and Richie Barshay (drums).
Shrimpton, who composes and arranges for her jazz ensembles, recently expanded her writing to the theater. She has been music director for three productions by the Cape Ann Shakespeare Troupe, composing original scores, including eight songs using Shakespeare's lyrics from The Tempest. Her current project is a musical adaptation of A Midsummer Night's Dream.
She has performed at Cornelia Street Cafe and Somethin' Jazz Club in New York, New York; Regattabar, House of Blues, Ryles Jazz Club, the Beehive, Jordan Hall, and Berklee Performance Center in Boston, Massachusetts; and the exquisite Shalin Liu Performance Center in Rockport, Massachusetts. She also was featured on two PBS/NPR concert broadcasts and recordings, performing with singer/actor Theodore Bikel.
Shrimpton has taught voice for nearly 20 years, including at New England Conservatory Preparatory, Longy School of Music, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
- Performances and recordings with Steve Lacy, Joe Lovano, Oliver Lake, George Russell, Ran Blake, George Lewis, Fred Ho, and blues organist Mike Finnigan (from Jimi Hendrix's Electric Ladyland)
- Vocalist for 19-piece Jazz Composers Alliance Orchestra since 1999, recording eight CDs
- Recordings received excellent reviews and named to best-of lists in DownBeat Magazine, All About Jazz, AllMusic, and Jazz Times Magazine
- Career and training focus on jazz and classical music, with eclectic performance experience in rock fusion, western swing, progressive rock, gospel, Appalachian folk, klezmer, opera, and medieval classical
- Recordings include, Red Sea, JCA Orchestra, lead singer/co-composer (2017); Jailhouse Doc with Holes in Her Socks, Oddsong (2016); Why Do You Ride?, Darrell Katz & JCA Orchestra (2015); Requited (2009); Madman's Moon, leader/composer (2005)
- Private lessons with Dominique Eade, John McNeil, Alice Duschak, Sheila Jordan, and Mark Murphy