If you aren't familiar with 22-year-old, Korean-American saxophonist and vocalist Grace Kelly, then you will certainly want to be soon.
Heralded by peers as distinct as Dave Brubeck, Questlove and even Huey Lewis, Classicalite is excited, indeed, to premiere the video for "Working for the Dreamers"--off her forthcoming EP of the same name.
"We wanted to make a video all about creativity and creation," Kelly tells me during our recent phone call. "So, we thought of this idea about sculptures and having them come to life and finding each other."
"And at the end of the reel," Kelly says, "it's about the sculptures discovering life. We wanted to base it all around the creative process. That's why we put in an artist's studio."
Asked if there's a thesis, and Kelly is quick to deliver: "It's about discovering each other and discovering the world."
A curious mix of near ambient sax and trained, sultry vocals, Grace Kelly moves easily here. As the barely-there saxophone bleeds further into the foreground, guitar loops with a bit of added programming give the song a contemporary sheen too often absent in the "jazz" of today.
Apropos, on the topic of programming, Kelly is similarly sure.
"I think it's important that people don't think of jazz as a 'was' music. And the way that we kind of contemporize it is we take the sounds of my generation that we are used to hearing--the production value and all that--and then we put in the gems of what we do."
If you didn't know about Grace Kelly, now you know about one the most promising singing saxophonists since Candy Dulfer.
Jump on the bandwagon, quickly, Classicalites. There's much to be expected from Kelly in the near future.
Specifically, check out her October 5 stand at Iridium (two shows, one at 7 and another at 9 p.m.).
And please do enjoy her brand new music video for "Working for the Dreamers."
