Brighter Day Album Out Now on
ITunes, Spotify, CDBaby
VOCALIST & EDUCATOR
"A young jazz vocalist delightfully blowing off the bullshit of the modern world leads with her old school soul and delivers the goods. Whether scatting on Gershwin or giving good reading to Joni Mitchell, her pure performance is a welcome tonic to jaded ears that just want it true and direct. A winner throughout and a great beginning." - Chris Spector, Midwest Record
“McLean understands the prestige of the “jazz musician” label, yet she is personal, expressive and keeps up with her instrumental counterparts, never losing her personality in her music.” - Valerie Vampola, Bandwagon Magazine.
“With a beginning like this, her potential could be limitless.” - Thomas Cunniffe, Jazz History Online
ABOUT JENNA
Jenna McLean is a jazz vocalist and Lecturer in Music and Entertainment at the University of Memphis Lambuth in Jackson, TN. As an accomplished performer, vocal technician, songwriter and educator, she finds her artistic drive in bringing new twists to timeless standards of the Great American Songbook as well as pop, funk and soul tunes. With a love and devotion for jazz, opera, R&B, and folk music, she maintains the belief that all music is good music as long as it speaks to the soul and grooves.
Jenna has a Doctor of Arts degree in Jazz Studies from the University of Northern Colorado where she completed a dissertation entitled "A Study in Effective Teaching Methods in Jazz Voice Technique in Higher Education". She has completed a secondary emphasis in vocal pedagogy studying under Dr. Melissa Malde. She also completed her Master of Music Degree in Jazz Studies at UNC, and has a Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance from the University of Wyoming. During her career she has studied with Julia Dollison, Kerry Marsh, Ben Markley, Steve Kovalcheck, Maureen Boddicker, Larry Hensel and others. She has participated in masterclasses with Dawn Upshaw, Martin Katz., Rodney Whitaker, Karrin Allyson and Carmen Bradford. Jenna is a member of NATS (National Association of Teachers of Singing) and JEN (Jazz Education Network) and is certified in Level I of Somatic Voicework™ with Jeanie LoVetri.
Jenna was a semi-finalist in the 2023 American Traditions Vocal Competition, the 2019 winner of the Downbeat Student Music Awards Graduate Vocal Soloist Category, and a 2019 recent recipient of the Pathways to Jazz Grant. She performs regularly at renowned Colorado Jazz Venues including Dazzle and Nocturne, and has performed and presented multiple times at the Jazz Education Network conference and the Five Points Jazz Festival in Denver. She has had the pleasure of performing alongside renowned musicians such as Bobby McFerrin, Aubrey Logan and the New York Voices, and also performs regularly with incredible Denver-based jazz musicians such as Annie Booth, Ben Markley, Eric Gunnison, Tom Amend, Dawn Clement, and others.