Carla Cook
Carla Cook
Vocals
Carla Cook, a native Detroiter, sings what she loves. She started singing as a child and, later found her voice in Church choir. Early on, piano and bass playing, the latter in her high school orchestra. Her songbook now includes R&B, classical, Motown, Blues and Gospel. She’s reinterpreted songs like Simon & Garfunkel's Scarborough Fair, Marvin Gaye's Inner City Blues, and Bobbie Gentry's Ode to Billie Joe. This eclecticism and the earthy sophistication she brings to every song give Cook her signature style.
Cook left Detroit for Boston to attend Northeastern University and, while there, formed the first of several jazz ensembles. After graduation she moved to New York where she became active on the Manhattan club scene. She taught briefly in Switzerland and Germany, then returned to New York, where she recorded her debut album It's All About Love for MaxJazz in 1999. It received a Grammy nomination and was awarded the AFIM Indie Award for Best Jazz Vocal. Dem Bones was released in 2000 and Simply Natural, both for MAXJAZZ, in 2002. In the digital realm, she is featured as a character in the Sony Playstation games, Um Jammer Lammy and Parappa the Rapper 2. She currently serves on the Vocal Faculty at Temple University’s Department of Jazz Studies. Carla has been a teachng artist at Litchfield Jazz Camp since 2009.
