Elizabeth Shepherd (musician)

Elizabeth Shepherd (musician)

Elizabeth Shepherd is a Montreal-based singer, songwriter, pianist, arranger and producer. Along with artists like Esperanza Spalding and Jose James, she is often credited with invigorating and reinventing the jazz song and bringing jazz influenced music to a younger audience. Real Detroit Weekly has called her "a jazz virtuoso blessed with a pop sensibility", while The London Evening Standard has described her as an "insightful singer/songwriter of evident talent and originality".

Shepherd arrived on the international jazz scene with a bang when her debut album Start to Move was voted among the Top 3 jazz albums of 2006 by the listeners of The Gilles Peterson Show on BBC Radio 1. This collection of mostly original material was nominated for a Juno award (Canada's Grammy equivalent) in 2007.

Although Start to Move would be found in the jazz section at your local music shop, Elizabeth’s blend of jazz-funk, soul, blues and samba reaches far beyond just the jazz massive. Besides is a collection of dancefloor remixes, b sides, exclusives and unreleased gems designed to appeal to all music lovers.

Shepherd's second album of new music Parkdale, released in May 2008, deals sympathetically with its Toronto neighbourhood namesake, which is known for its grit. The album, produced by London-based producer/DJ Nostalgia 77, was also nominated for a Juno award in 2009.

Shepherd's 2010 release, Heavy Falls the Night features only one cover song: a supremely soulful reworking of the 70s soft-rock radio staple "Danny's Song". Shepherd produced the album herself, with the exception of the first single "Seven Bucks", which was co-produced by Japanese DJ Mitsu the Beats and climbed up to #37 on the "Tokio Hot 100" chart. The record was praised by jazz and pop critics alike, and was long listed for the 2010 Polaris Music Prize, Canada's most prestigious popular music prize.

2012 brought Shepherd several changes, not the least of which was news that she and her husband Johan were expecting their first child. As she wrote in the liner notes of her most recent record Rewind, "the fears and anticipation surrounding imminent motherhood were largely the impetus to make this record. I knew I needed to keep myself busy during pregnancy, and I knew I had to make something that would connect me to an aspect of myself that wasn't changing as every other piece of my being was." The album, all cover tunes ranging from composers such as Cole Porter and Gershwin Bros. to Kurt Weill and Jose Luis Perales, is dedicated to her daughter Sanna, and is nominated for the 2012 Vocal Jazz JUNO award.