"‬Look out‭: ‬a revelation‭: the talent of a true jazz singer‭,‬ ‭ ‬gifted with a superb musical harmonic sense‭. To situate this‭ ‬newcomer‭, ‬those who adore Kurt Elling and David Lynx will not be disappointed . . .‬‭ ‬In a year of ‭‘nothing new’on the jazz scene‭, ‬thank you ‭ ‬for daring‭." ‬ 
   ‭ ‬   ‭ - ‬Alex Dutilh‭, ‬Jazzman Magaine‭, ‬Paris‭, ‬ ‭ ‬ ‭ ‬   ‭ ‬   ‭ ‬   ‭ "‬With his rich baritone voice and interpretive skills‭, ‬singer Ken Norris can growl out a desperate plea for love one moment‭, ‬scat swingingly the next‭,‬‭ ‬all the time making it look so effortless‭.‬ ‭ ‬It’s like seeing the soaring spire and not thinking how deep the foundations are‭.‬‭‬”
    ‭ ‬   ‭ ‬   ‭ ‬   ‭ ‬     ‭ - ‬Tim Baker‭, ‬Paris Free Voice 
 Ken Norris has been praised as‭ ‬«the singer with the golden voice‭.‬«‭ ‬ He‭ ‬has been a soloist in every imaginable form of jazz ensemble‭, from his intimate and emotionally charged duo work with Pierre Ber‭trand in Paris to his guest appearances with the Hessischer Rundfunk‭ Radio ‬Big Band and the Nordwest Big Band in Germany‭.‬ ‭ ‬And every‭- where he is greeted with the same reaction from listeners and critics‭:
 ‬   ‭ ‬   ‭ ‬  ‭ ‬   ‭ ‬   “One discovers with Ken Norris a formidable singer with a surprisingly mobile voice‭.‬ ‭ ‬At ease in all registers‭, ‬he affirms‭ ... ‬his stunning presence‭ .‬‭.. ‬„
  ‭ ‬   ‭ ‬    ‭ ‬   ‭ ‬   ‭ ‬  ‬‭- ‬Pierre de Choqueuse‭, ‬Jazzman Magazine‭, ‬Paris
 

“(‬Norris‭) ‬plays in his own special way‭, ‬always with a revisited and corrected instrumentation‭. ‬ But especially‭, ‬he performs a jazz in which the role of the singer is completely reexamined. . .‬ He directs the instrumentalists and creates space for the voice in the center of the arrangement‭. ‬Pretentious‭?‬ ‭ ‬Absolutely not‭. ‬Rather‭, ‬he is a lover of musical interaction‭. ‬
   ‭ ‬   ‭ ‬   ‭ ‬   ‭ ‬   ‭ ‬   ‭ ‬‭-‬‭ ‬Le Dauphinois‭, ‬08/01
 Ken Norris graduated from Yale University in 1990, having studied Architecture. He made his European debut as a singer and composer at the‭ ‬Printemps de‭ ‬Bourges Festival in France‭, ‬where he presented his first‭ ‬CD‭, ‬Modern Folklore‭: ‬Music for Percussion and Voice‭ ‬with‭ ‬percussionist Thomas Ostrowiecki‭.‬ ‭ ‬Two years later‭, ‬he released an‭other CD of original jazz songs‭, ‬entitled‭ ‬Vers Ou‭? ‬Ken Norris and the‭ ‬Pierre Bertrand Trio‭.‬ ‭ ‬Praise for this ambitious project‭: ‬“As for the series‭ ‬of Abstractions and Interludes‭: ‬they speak of a taste for experimentation‭ ‬and a vivacity of exchange that make one impatient to hear the young‭ ‬man in a club setting‭.‬” ‭ ‬His performances have also earned him recog‭nition at the Crest Vocal Jazz Festival in 2001 and at the Voice and Guitar Competition in Germany, 2008.‭.‬

Norris‭' ‬work and friendship with U‭. ‬Aldridge Hansberry was among the motivating factors in his decision to strive for a high level of artistry in‭ ‬jazz‭.‬ ‭ ‬Hansberry‭, ‬co-founder of the New Music Association in Paris‭, ‬is an accomplished composer‭, ‬drummer and flutist‭. ‬The NMA served‭ ‬(‬and continues to serve‭) ‬as an open space for musical dialogue‭, ‬and‭ ‬remains Paris‭' ‬only artistic atelier designed for the development of‭ ‬critical perspectives on jazz-related music operating in the spirit of a‭ ‬collectivity‭.‬‭ ‬

Ken Norris has been a guest soloist or number of Big Bands and orchestras‭, ‬has been broadcasted on Germany’s NDR and HRF radio programs‭, ‬and performs as a soloist throughout Europe‭. ‬He currently teaches jazz and technique at the Hamburg School of Music in Hamburg. ‭ ‬„The wealth of young talent in North Germany‭, ‬is a great inspiration‭, ‬if not of the essence‭, ‬to me‭.‬ ‭ ‬Beyond the fact that this originally American idiom called jazz is so widely‭ ‬played and studied‭, ‬I find that the attitude toward performance and‭ ‬collaboration in Germany remains open‭, ‬inclusive and ever expanding‭.Musicians reach forth from a place of respect for music in general‭, ‬and from a sense of tradition‭.‬”
‭-‬Ken Norris
 
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