ELENA WELCH

Elena Welch currently lives and performs in Portland, Oregon. Elena is a jazz and blues vocalist greatly influenced by her 10 fun and formative years of living in the music city of Chicago, Illinois. She has a degree in voice from Columbia College Chicago where she studied under the direction of William Russo (Stan Kenton’s musical director.) She also attended the Stanford Jazz Vocal Workshop headed up by jazz greats, Madeline Eastman and Sheila Jordan. Elena lived and performed in the Bay Area for 15 years where she often returns for appearances in San Francisco, Sonoma and San Mateo counties. Elena also resided on the Big Island of Hawaii for over eight years where she performed regularly with her quintet as well as with Island Swing Orchestra, a 17-piece traditional swing big band. Elena is pleased to have four CDs to her credit. “Catnip Cafe” a swinging compilation with an all-star 6-piece band produced in 2003 and “Talk to Me” an intimate and soulful work completed in 2008. “Live at the Blue Dragon” recorded live at a wonderful club in Kawaihae Harbor on the Big Island in 2011 and “Eastside Sessions” recorded in 2012, which is a tribute to and features the late great bassist, John Parker. The CD is an elegant union of favorite Bay Area and Hawaii musicians.