© Brian Nation

Laura Crema has a rare interpretive gift that allows her to inhabit a song and dive deeply into the lyrics of an old standard to suggest new meanings, shades and inferences that have lain dormant until they were lit up by the resonance, depth and warmth of her voice.

Born and raised in Vancouver BC, Laura Crema has performed and recorded with some of the finest musicians in Canadian jazz, country, roots and new and improvised music. She has toured and performed across Canada and Europe. She also has had the great honor to play many of Canada’s most prestigious jazz venues, including The National Art Centre in Ottawa, The Yardbird Suite, Ironwood Stage, The Rex, Upstairs, the Cellar, Frankie’s Jazz Club, The Whitehorse Jazz on the Wing Series. She has performed at The Vancouver International Jazz Festival, Copenhagen Jazz Festival, Aarhus Jazz Festival and sung with Canada’s finest vocalists at the ‘Divas for Life’ benefits in Vancouver. She has been featured and recorded on CBC radio’s Studio One Jazz Series during The Vancouver Jazz Festival in 2002, 2004 and 2010 as well as appearing on ‘Hot Air’, ‘North by Northwest’, ‘The Sunday Edition’ and several other influential radio programs. She has studied with jazz luminaries such as Sheila Jordan, Kurt Elling and Nancy King and with Extended Voice master Richard Armstrong.

Her 2005 recording Almost Blue, 2007’s Spring Is Here and 2014’s Fotografia, produced by the celebrated trumpeter and bandleader Brad Turner, have received airplay worldwide and positive notices in ‘Downbeat’, ‘Coda’ and other taste making journals. Spring is Here was named Vocal Jazz Recording of 2007 by Jazz Journalist James Hale (Downbeat, Coda) in the Village Voice Annual Jazz Poll Ballots. Her most recent CD, Blue Shadows On The Trail was co-produced with multi-instrumentalist Scott Smith and recorded by acclaimed engineer John Raham. Blue Shadows on the Trail showcases both her stunning voice and ingenuity. Along with one original song on the album, Crema has reimagined some of the finest classics while making them uniquely hers at the same time, recreating them for a new generation of folk, jazz, and country lovers. This album is a feast with rich flavors that will satisfy your musical palette. A collection of blended genres that gives birth to revitalized originals. Her captivating voice and independent vision allows her to transcend the limitations of covers and produce reimagined songs that have a life of their own. Rich, languourous and breath taking, you won’t hear another record like Blue Shadows On The Trail.
Opportunities to experience such deep and pure musical expression don’t come around everyday, so if you ever have the chance to take in Laura Crema and her incredible live band, don’t even dream of passing it up!

TESTIMONIALS:

“Vancouver jazz vocalist Laura Crema and trumpeter/producer Brad Turner make for a powerful combination. Hers is a wonderfully deep, expressive voice and Turner has surrounded her with some great players and sounds. This is quite the inspired treat!” – The Vancouver Province

“She has a knack for bringing out a tune’s inherent emotional contours.” – Coda Magazine

“Crema makes low notes glow like coals.” – Mark Andrews, The Vancouver Sun

“An uplifting and atmospheric album, the most impressive offering yet from this accomplished West coast singer.”  – Roger Levesque, The Edmonton Journal

“On this CD the jazz singer takes on American roots and country music and the results are disturbingly good. She yodels like she was born in a saddle.” – BC Musician Magazine

“Crema favors substance over decoration, eschewing both affection and surface perfection in favor of direct, emotional renderings of her disparate and imaginative material…” – Stuart Broomer, The Whole Note

“New Album from Laura Crema reimagines country and jazz classics with spellbinding vocals…her voice shifts from mysterious to magical.” – No Depression Magazine

“All great jazz singers have at least three qualities in common. The first is that unique timbre that sets their voice apart. The second is the material they choose to sing. And the third is the fresh ideas and insights they bring to those songs. Laura Crema has all three in spades.” – CBC Radio

“Vancouver’s Laura Crema has an ageless quality to her dry, dark voice.” – Downbeat Magazine

“Jazz vocalist Laura Crema is not only a great singer but also an evocative musician. Her new album Blue Shadows on the Trail showcases both her stunning voice and ingenuity. Crema has reimagined some of the finest classics while making them uniquely hers at the same time, recreating them for a new generation of folk, jazz, and country lovers.” – No Depression Magazine – The Journal of Roots Music

“Vocalist Laura Crema is poised to take center-stage on the international jazz scene. Possessed of a powerful voice with great depth and resonance, she bring a warm and strongly emotive approach to classic torch songs.” – Tom Keenliside, flutenotes

“Laura Crema’s sultry vocals pulls you deep into the dark, smoky room of some 40’s speakeasy where torch songs spoke volumes from the heart, unadulterated musical silk, and not to be missed.” – CBC radio 3

“Crema’s rich, vibrant voice held the audience spellbound with a set that ranged from Cole Porter to Elvis Costello.” – Paul Grant, Host of CBC Radio’s Hotair

“Fotografia is… a classy appropriately understated affair from a singer who deserves wider recognition.” – John Sharpe, Scene Magazine