Biography
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Born
24 October 1964 (age 59)
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Born In
St. Joseph, Michigan, United States
Jenna Mammina is a jazz and pop singer from Michigan.
Mammina was born in St. Joseph, Michigan, and began singing in church from the age of five and performing in school musicals. In her teens, Mammina learned to play piano and guitar, performing with local bands. She attended Central Michigan University, Michigan State University, and Laney College in Oakland, before settling in San Francisco.
After session work with The Spinners and Narada Michael Walden, Mammina has gone on to record five albums, all released on her own label, Mamma Grace. Mammina, who performs as many as 250 times a year, has performed with Bobby McFerrin, Bobby Watson, Nancy King, Andy Narell, and Steve Coleman. Derk Robertson, writing for the San Francisco Chronicle, picked her debut album, Under the Influence, as number nine in his top albums of 1999. Her second album, Meant to Be, was nominated for a California Music Award in the Outstanding Jazz Album category.
Mammina is also a music educator, presenting workshops titled "Scat for Cats" and "So You Want to Be a Rock and Roll Star'" in schools and universities.
Mammina combines folk music, pop, and jazz, often performing with guitarist Andre Bush. She covers a wide range of music, including songs ranging from Abbey Lincoln (her idol) to Elvis Costello, U2, and Tom Waits, as well as original compositions. Her voice has been described as "sweet and flexible", "whisper-like" with "air-brushed phrasings and silky nuance", and less flatteringly, as "tiny, thinnish, high-pitched".
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