Jazz Vocal Collective presents “Sisters in Song”

JAZZ AT PRINCETON UNIVERSITY serves to promote this uniquely American music as a contemporary and relevant art form. Its goals are to convey the vast musical and social history of jazz, establish a strong theoretical and stylistic foundation with regard to improvisation and composition, and emphasize the development of individual expression and creativity. Offerings of this program include academic course work, performing ensembles, master classes, private study, and independent projects. Jazz at Princeton
University thanks you for joining them on this evening’s journey of beauty, exploration, discovery, and hope.

JAZZ VOCAL COLLECTIVE is a small jazz ensemble that features solo voice and a rhythm section (i.e. piano, guitar, bass, and drums) to create a collaborative musical experience. In JVC, vocalists are responsible for selecting repertoire, creating, and notating their own musical arrangements of jazz standards and popular songs, and developing and performing those arrangements in class throughout the semester. JVC meets on Thursday nights from 7-9PM in the Jazz Studio of the Effron Music Building, and holds auditions during the first week of the fall semester. If you are interested in auditioning for next year for JVC or any other of the ensembles offered in the jazz program, please contact the Jazz program director, Rudresh Mahanthappa at

Dr. Trineice Robinson-Martin serves as the private voice instructor in jazz and the JazzVocal Collective  ensemble director. In addition to working at Princeton University, Dr. Robinson-Martin holds Artist-in-residencies at Yale and Berklee School of Music, the founder of Soul Ingredients® Voice Studio, Soul Ingredients® Voice Teacher Training Academy, and performs regularly in the tri-state area.

As an internationally recognized voice pedagogue in contemporary music, Dr. Robinson- Martin has dedicated her career to performing and developing resources for teaching jazz, gospel, and R&B singing styles. She completed her doctoral work at Teachers College Columbia University. Her research focused on vocal pedagogy for Contemporary Commercial Music (e.g., R&B, jazz, rock, music theater, etc.), applied pedagogy, and gospel music performance practices. Dr. Robinson-Martin holds master’s degrees in music education and jazz studies from Teachers College and Indiana University-Bloomington. Dr. Robinson-Martin is also a certified instructor in Somatic Voicework™ The Lovetri Method, a national faculty member of the Gospel Music Workshop of America, Inc., the executive director of the African American Jazz Caucus, Inc., a founding and executive board member of the Donald Meade Legacy Jazz Griot Award, and board of director of the Jazz Education Network, on the editorial board of the Journal of Singing, and is a member of the distinguished American Academy of Teachers of Singing. Based on her graduate research, Dr. Robinson-Martin designed Soul Ingredients® , a teaching methodology for developing a singer’s musical style/interpretation in African American folk-based music styles (i.e., jazz, gospel, R&B, blues, etc.). This methodology shows students how to take their personal experiences, musical influences, and models, and execute the various components in a personal manner to the singer/performer’s unique expression. In addition to her book “So You Want to Singing Gospel, ” she has contributed chapters to several textbooks and scholarly writings on the tops of voice and Black music history. In addition to books, Robinson-Martin’s published work can also be found in Downbeat Magazine, New York Times, Journal of Singing, Journal of Voice, and Voice and Speech.

As a performer, Dr. Trineice Robinson-Martin maintains a diverse performance schedule. New York Music Daily praised Robinson as “an individualist who defies categorization: there’s the immediacy of classic soul music here, coupled to jazz sophistication, gospel rapture and fervor. ” Whether touring with Peabo Bryson and Leela James in the Standing in Shadows of Motown Live, being a featured soloist with Erie Philharmonic Orchestra, creating vocal tracks for Nnenna Freelon’s Grammy Nominated Album “Time Traveler, ” or performing with her jazz quartet, Dr. Trineice loves to perform good music. As evident in her 2021 debut album, which features Cyrus Chestnut and Don Braden, “All Or Nothing” reflects the whole-hearted spirit with which she’s approached every facet of her wide- ranging career. It captures the passion, confidence and dazzling scope of her rich, expressive voice, which DownBeat Magazine hails as “redolent with power… stunning.” But it also represents the dedication and commitment that she’s brought to an impressive career as a renowned educator, researcher, scholar, and clinician.

Named the Chicago Tribune’s 2020 person of the Year in Jazz, Tammy McCann is an internationally recognized Jazz Vocalist and is currently Artist in Residence for the Music Institute of Chicago. Her powerful, sultry, and emotionally charged voice paints pictures and tells stories by merging Classical vocal technique and Gospel esthetic with Jazz to create a sound that is completely her own. Chicago Tribune’s Arts Critic, Howard Reich says McCann has, “A voice that soars in all registers, at all tempos, on all occasions… a voice that inspires wonder!” Alyce Claerbaut, President of Strayhorn Songs Publishing, Inc. and mentor to McCann says, “Tammy is a star with a one-of-a-kind voice.” Tammy is a storyteller who draws emotion from and makes connections with here audiences world- wide. Her warm delivery allows her audience to go on the musical journey with her and her engaging personality imprints the memory of her performance on their hearts. Inside Jazz Magazine Music Critic, Nora McCarthy says “She came bearing natural gifts and with raw talent in hand, she stepped up to the mic and into the hearts of everyone in the room.” As an educator, Tammy believes singing is a part of every human community; bringing us together and helping us to interact with one another. There is a pedagogy to Jazz vocal instruction which requires an approach that can combine the “classroom and the bandstand” in a seamless way. Her teaching style meets the vocal student where they are and all instruction has a classical foundation with a focus on Jazz. All lessons help to develop a natural technique and allow the student to progress at their own pace. Through which the students gain the confidence they need to audition and perform. Tammy McCann has performed with such luminaries Chicago’s own Ramsey Lewis & NEA Jazz Master Von Freeman, John Clayton, Branford Marsalis,Joe Locke, Charles McPherson, Dee Dee Bridgewater,Carmen Bradford and toured as a ‘Raelette’ with the great Ray Charles. McCann has thrilled audiences in festivals and clubs world- wide from Bangkok,Thailand to the Harrods Atticus in Greece. As well as the nation’s premier concert and Jazz venues, Carnegie Hall, Jazz at Lincoln Center , Birdland, The Blue Note, Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola and Chicago’s own Jazz Showcase. Cultural & Jazz Critic Stanley Crouch says, “Her pitch is superb…clear on the top and startling at the bottom, while all of the steps in between are polished with swing. ” Her shows are not to be missed