An extraordinary
jazz vocalist, Sue Oatts (formerly Sue Tucker), comes from a family
of known jazz musicians. She didn't have to look
far for encouragement when her love for singing
took off. "My father, Jack Oatts, was one of the
first jazz educators in Iowa. Music was always
around... mostly jazz." Her brothers, Jim and
Dick
Oatts, are also internationally known and
respected jazz artists.
Before she took up singing,
Sue was blowin' her tenor sax in jazz band and
playing a duet with Clark Terry at a jazz festival
on her clarinet. "I think playing a horn has had
a great influence on my singing. I've tried to
approach singing from an instrumental mindset.
Space is just as important as sound and attention to the lyric is paramount . The focus of my music is to capture emotion instead of constant embellishment."
After
attending college, Sue began a studio career producing
and singing jingles and industrials with a voice-over
thrown in on occasion. She spent seven years teaching
music theory, vocal studio techniques and coordinating the ensemble dept. at McNally Smith
College of Music in downtown St. Paul and six years as Assistant Director of Education and Registrar at the
Institute of Production & Recording in downtown
Minneapolis. Sue has a Bachelor degree in Business Administration and just ended 8 years at McNally Smith College of Music as the Associate Registrar. You'll find her at various night
spots around the midwest and beyond singing her cool jazz.
All of
Sue's CD's are available at this web site, Amazon.com,
CDBaby, iTunes and at all live performances.
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