Renowned vocalist Dominique Eade and formidable pianist Miro Sprague combine forces in the spirit of fearless collaboration, delving into new arrangements of old songs, exploring each otherโs compositions, and sharing their love of communication through improvisation.
Artist/Group Bio(s)
Miro Sprague
https://www.mirosprague.com/bio
Dominique Eade
"Eade's vocal control and imagination are peerless," says the Boston Phoenix.
โSheโs one of the few imaginative artists to have emerged in the field of jazz singing in this decade,โ says New York Newsday of vocalist Dominique Eade. Peter Watrous of the New York Times praises her โ...immensely appealing soundโฆโ and in a New York Times review of a recent performance, Ben Ratliff writes that Eade โโฆhad absorbed some of Sarah Vaughanโs fearsome techniqueโฆHer voice was rich and clear and strong in all ranges; she had musicianship and cool intelligence and didnโt seem to be ahistorical or to have arrived at jazz by accident.โ David Hajdu wrote in the New York Times Magazine, โI already knew who the Next Thing in jazz singing would be: Dominique Eade. An impossibly versatile vocalist, composer, lyricist and instrumental arranger...โ
Entertainment Weekly named Eade Best Jazz Singer in their article on up-and-coming artists of 1996. The 1998 First Annual Jazz Awards in NYC nominated Eade for Best Debut Artist. She was voted in the top ten for Best Jazz Singer, and TDWR categories in the 1999 Downbeat Critics' Poll, and TDWR in the1998 Downbeat Critics' poll. She has been nominated five times for Best Jazz Vocalist in the Boston Music Awards and was voted Best Jazz Vocalist in 1996 and 1999. Eade was nominated for Best Jazz in Boston in the 2001 boston.citysearch.com. Signed to RCA Victor in 1996, Eade has been a featured performer in festivals including the Porto Jazz Festival in Portugal, The Bell Atlantic Jazz Festivalโs โDivaโs of Jazzโ concert with Terri Thornton and Abbey Lincoln (NYC), the Toulon Jazz Festival in France, the Molde International Jazz Festival in Norway, The Knitting Factory's โWhat is Jazz?โ Festival, the Iowa City Jazz Festival, the Litchfield CT Jazz Festival and many Boston Globe and Regatta Bar Jazz Festivals in Boston. In 1994 she was an artist-in-residence at the Wichita Jazz Festival, and she has been a clinician and performer throughout the United States and Europe.
Eade has recorded seven CDโs under her own name, including four for independent labels and two for RCA Victor. Eadeโs most recent release for Sunnyside Records is a collaboration with McArthur recipient and pianist extraodinaire, Ran Blake. โTown and Countryโ garnered 41/2 stars from Downbeat Magazine and appeared on many top ten lists including Best Jazz Vocal CD by NPR. In 2011, Eade released her first, long-awaited recording with long-time collaborator Ran Blake to wide critical acclaim. Downbeat Magazine awarded their CD, Whirlpool, four and a half stars and named it one of 2011โs best. JazzTimes praised Eadeโs โโฆeffortless and seemingly limitless ability to vary both her vibrato and tonal qualityโ and said their effort โโฆmay be the best yet.โ Jon Garelick calls their music โ...cinema for the ear.โ
Her previous recording, Open, a duo with pianist Jed Wilson, was called โ...a sublime, daring mix of jazz and โsinger-songwriterโ sensibilities...โ with โ...humor, honesty, lyric imagination, and vocal agiility (Jon Garelick, The Boston Phoenix.) Open was chosen as one of the ten best recording of 2006 by critics in the Jazz Journalist Association and received five stars from the French jazz magazine, Jazzman.
Eadeโs second recording for RCA Victor, The Long Way Home, features Dave Holland, Victor Lewis, Bruce Barth, Mick Goodrick and Cyro Baptista. A combination of songs by some of Eadeโs favorites, including Harold Arlen and Hoagy Carmichael, and Eadeโs own originals, the new CD explores the theme of home and the roads that lead you there. The Long Way Home reached the top ten on the Gavin Poll and was voted one of the yearโs ten best by many critics. CDNowโs Ken Micallef writes, โWithin the first few bars you know Eade is something seriously special. Eade makes you reconsider everything she touches as she eloquently interprets each song.โ Of her original songs on the CD Ed Hazell of The Boston Phoenix says, โComposer Eade pens melodies and lyrics that display the classic values of great American songwriting without sounding old-fashioned. For instance, โRounding the Bendโ has a knowing irony about heartache and a poetic use of metaphor and imagery that make it refreshingly witty and not at all self-serious.โ Jason Koransky of Downbeat Jazz says โ the album creates a focused, lyrical and conversational atmosphere full of subtle nuance and superb musicianship.โ
Her 1997 RCA Victor debut, When the Wind Was Cool, โ...a magnificently conceived and executed nod to June Christy and Chris ConnorโโThe Boston Globe, was voted one of the Top Ten CD's of 1997 by critics for Jazz Times, Jazziz, The Boston Globe, The Boston Herald and the Boston Phoenix. Produced by Ben Sidran, the CD revisits the repertoire of Connor and Christy with arrangements by Eade, Phillip Johnston, Fred Hersch and Allan Chase, and features Benny Golson, Steve Nelson, Fred Hersch, Matt Wilson and Peter Leitch. โEade's rich voice, her effortless delivery and the tasteful assurance with which she embellishes melodies make her sound totally at home with this repertoire.... Benny Golson could have easily stolen the scene if not for Eade's commanding vocals.โโAtlantic Monthly. The Boston Herald calls it โ...poignant and more often than not, downright gorgeous.โ
Prior to signing with RCA, Eade released two self-produced CDs on the Accurate Records label. Both CDs combined a repertoire of lesser known standards and Eade's own compositions. Her debut CD, The Ruby and the Pearl (Accurate CD 3924), featuring Stanley Cowell and Alan Dawson, won critical acclaim from Billboard, Jazz Times, The Boston Phoenix, CD Review, Jazz Hot, Jazziz, and many other journals in the United States. Critics for Cadence Magazine selected The Ruby and the Pearl as one of the ten best jazz recordings of 1991. Nationwide airplay helped to make her debut recording one of the best-selling CDs on the Accurate label.
The follow-up release, My Resistance is Low (Accurate CD 3925), features her longtime collaborator pianist Bruce Barth, along with bassist George Mraz and drummer Lewis Nash. It was voted one of the Top Ten jazz releases of 1995 by Billboard Magazine, #1 Jazz Vocal Record of 1995 by Ann Arbor News, and received four stars from Down Beat. With her โ...dark and enveloping alto, penchant for melodic risks and the ability to resolve them with assurance and grace, she covers obscure gems, writes intriguing originals and swings ballads into deep, delicious grooves.โโThe New Yorker
A look at Eadeโs performing companions reveals her wide-ranging musical taste. She has worked extensively with pianist Ran Blake in duo performances and as a member of the Ran Blake Quintet with Ricky Ford. She was a soloist under the baton of Anthony Braxton in two Braxton operas performed at the Kitchen in NYC. In Boston, she co-led a group for several years with guitarist Mick Goodrick and led her own trio with pianist Donald Brown. While in New York, she had a working group with bassist Ben Street and drummer Kenny Wolesson, and she and bassist Mark Helias formed a duo. She has also performed with Bill Frisell, Cecil McBee, Fred Hersch Gene Bertoncini, Billy Hart, Bill Pierce, Billy Drummond, Larry Goldings, John Medeski and Bob Moses, and worked frequently with guitarist Brad Shepik. Eade has been a soloist with Butch Morris, Orange Then Blue, the Either/Orchestra, Marimolin, Boston Musica Viva, Composers in Red Sneakers, and the Jazz Composersโ Alliance.
Since 1984, Eade has been on the faculty of New England Conservatory, where she teaches voice, composition and improvisation. She founded and oversees the Jazz Vocal program that includes classes, private lessons and ensembles. She is the recipient of the 2006 Outstanding Alumni Award. The list of Eadeโs accomplished students is impressive and continues to grow. In the 1994 Thelonious Monk Jazz Vocal Competition, three of the eleven finalists, including the winner, Sara Lazarus, were Eadeโs students. The 1998 third -place winner Roberta Gambarini also studied with Eade. In the 2004 competition, Eadeโs students Rachel Price (currently with Lake Street Dive) and Jo Lawry (currently with Sting) were both finalists. In the 2010 Thelonious Monk Competition, Richard Saunders (Third Story) placed as a finalist. Other outstanding students include grammy-nominated artists Luciana Souza and multiple grammy winner Sara Jarosz , Akenya Seymour (with Chance the Rapper, Noname), Michael Mayo (Monk Institute), Sara Leib, Lisa Thorson, Patrice Williamson, Kris Adams, Julie Hardy, Sara Serpa, Aoife OโDonovan (Crooked Still, Goat Rodeo, Dave Douglas), Heather Masse (Prairie Home Companion and Wailinโโ Jennies), Rebecca Schrimpton (Jazz Composerโs Allliance), classical soprano Beth Keutsch, Sofia Rei Koutsovitis, and Aubrey Johnson.
After a six-year stay in New York City, Eade returned in 1996 to the Boston area, where she currently resides with husband, saxophonist Allan Chase, and sons, Julian and Stephen.
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