The Story

Now based in Paris, Hetty Kate is one of Australian jazz luminary James Morrison’s favourite singers, has graced stages from New Zealand to New York, released six acclaimed albums, sung for the lindy-hop/swing-dance community across Europe, Asia, North America and Australia, and more recently has joined the ABC Jazz / Universal Music stable of vocalists.

Born in England, Hetty came to Melbourne, Australia as a young teenager and now enjoys dividing her time between Europe and Australia. Hetty is working on two new albums, and preparing to tour in New Zealand and Europe later this year.

Hetty swings her way through The Great American Songbook with clarity and diction, along with creative phrasing and timing. Her approach honours the composer by keeping true to the melody and lyric; and uses improvisation in a way which never detracts from the story of the song. It is this rare quality that led Mal Stanley, from ABC Jazztrack (ABC Jazz Radio) to invite her to record an exclusive album of treasures from the catalogues of Julie London, Peggy Lee and June Christy. Titled Dim All The Lights, it features some of Melbourne’s best musicians and was released by ABC Jazz / Universal in Australia in 2014 along with Japan and New Zealand the following year.

A seasoned traveller, Hetty performed in eight countries during 2015 with her own bands and as a guest of many others and looks forward to visiting the Czech Republic, Germany, New Zealand, China and the US in the next 12 months. Having earned the respect of her fellow musicians and the admiration of critics, audiences and devoted fans, her career continues to go from strength to strength – while she continues to sing the songs she loves.

“A charismatic and technically gifted vocalist whose gorgeous timbre carries echoes of Peggy Lee, June Christy and Julie London” Chris May – All About Jazz (USA) 2011

“She’s truly one of the best swing-style vocalists (I’m talking 1940, Benny Goodman style 4/4 swing) on the current scene” Will Friedwald’s Clip Joint USA  

“A stage presence only matched by the clarity of her voice” James Morrison AM – Multi-instrumentalist, Composer, Arranger & Educator

Rating

E

Duration

Cast

Hetty Kate, Gianni Marinucci, Nick Mulder, Sam Lemann, Tamara Murphy