Tammy McCann

On Friday, December 18^th Chicago jazz vocalist Tammy McCann returns to Roscoe’s Room. Classically trained, Chicago-based jazz singer Tammy McCann has been praised for owning one of the most luxuriant voices in jazz, with a “remarkable range of color, texture, tone and nuance” (Howard Reich, Chicago Tribune). “She’s probably the best singer I have heard since the emergence of Dianne Reeves,” says Stanley Crouch, a prominent cultural critic and MacArthur “genius grant” winner. “She brings all the jewels to the jewel chest,” says multiplatinum-selling singer, composer, lyricist, pianist, and actress Ann Hampton Callaway. And “She’s got the vocal apparatus of a Rolls-Royce,” observes Francis Kiernan, executive director of the Nelson Riddle Foundation.

A student of the legendary music teacher Dr. Lena McLin, McCann began her career singing opera – including the lead in Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana. At Virginia Union University, however, Tammy began a new musical journey, exploring jazz; back in Chicago in the late ‘80s she collaborated with local jazz musicians and grew as a vocalist; she toured Europe in the early ‘90s, recording jazz and gospel CDs before auditioning for the late, great Ray Charles. Her sumptuous voice earned her a coveted spot as a Raelette and she toured Europe with the iconic singer and pianist from 2000 to 2002. Back in the U.S. McCann has continued to record and perform. She will be at Birdland in New York City on December 17^th before returning to Roscoe’s Room at Alvin & Friends on Friday, December 18^th. Cover charge $20 includes a glass of wine or house cocktail. Reservations encouraged.