Jazz Vocalist Alexis Cole

Called "one of the great voices of today," by Jonathan Schwartz, Alexis Cole has been compared to classic jazz singers such as Sarah Vaughan and Anita O'Day. She's performed with the Boston Pops and New York Philharmonic on stage at venues from Avery Fisher Hall to the Kennedy Center. She records for Motéma Music, Chesky Records, and Venus Records. Her eleven recordings, which feature musical luminaries such as Fred Hersch, Eric Alexander, Bucky Pizzarelli, and Matt Wilson, have received high praise in the jazz press and are spun on radio world-wide. In addition to her many performances on great stages, Alexis can be seen at top jazz venues like Dizzy's Club at Jazz at Lincoln Center, Birdland, The Jazz Standard, Blues Alley, and Billboard Live, Tokyo. Cole is the recipient of a Swing Journal Gold Disk award, and was a winner of the NY Jazzmobile and Montreux Jazz Festival vocal competitions. Alexis is an alumnus of University of Miami, William Paterson University and Queens College. She also trained in Indian Classical singing at the Jazz India Vocal Institute in Mumbai. She has taught at Berklee and City College and currently heads the Jazz Voice Program at SUNY Purchase.

Big Band Performances and Collaborations

Residencies & Education

Conservatory in Puerto Rico culminating in a performance with their big band
University of N Carolina Chapel Hill as an Aebersold sponsored clinician.
Teaching at SUNY Purchase & William Paterson.

Her students have won Downbeat Awards, the Sarah Vaughan Competition and the Ella Fitzgerald Competition.

Artistic director of the Vocal Jazz Summit www.thez.org/vocaljazzsummit and

The founder and director of JazzVoice.com

Alexis offers a variety of shows that span jazz, cabaret and orchestra

ALEXIS COLE TRIO

Performing a tight evening of remixed jazz standards, Alexis on keys and singing with her long time trio with David Finck on bass and Kenny Hassler on drums, move together with a seeming telepathy through the jazz standard repertoire and beyond. 

THE MUSIC OF GIGI GRYCE

Together with Gryce's biographer Noal Cohen, they explore Gryce's fascinating life, with never before heard compositions with unpublished lyrics by jazz greats. A perfect music and lecture program for libraries and arts centers.

BIG BAND JAZZ CELEBRATION

Alexis is the consummate big band singer.  With a great book of excellent original charts by many exemplary arrangers, Alexis is the perfect guest artist for your Big Band or Jazz Orchestra, including strings! 

I'LL TAKE NEW YORK: GREAT SONGS OF A GREAT CITY

Join Alexis and her trio as they celebrate the pulse and history of NYC through music both popular and obscure. You’ll hear fresh takes on classics like Rodgers & Hart’s “Manhattan,” Sinatra’s “New York, New York,” and Billy Joel’s “New York State of Mind,” coupled with less familiar songs that shine a light on different corners of Gotham; it’s a sonic tour of the spices of life in the big city that never sleeps.

SONGS OF THE SEASON: WITH FAMILY AND FRIENDS

An upbeat and soul stirring Christmas show featuring father and daughter plus rhythm section and horns with all original arrangements of holiday classics.  

COMMON GROUND

Together with her father, pianist and organist Mark Finkin, bassist Nick Morrison and drummer Kenny Hassler, the group performs Finkin's inspiring and upbeat Christian music, stirring the soul and bringing people together.  In these tense times, they invite Christians from across the political spectrum to come together and find their common ground and minimize the divide through their shared love in Jesus Christ.  

CANARY IN COMBAT BOOTS

Dispatches from Cole's time in Basic Training alongside songs from the rich musical legacy of WWII

BOTH SIDES OF JONI WITH MONIKA HERZIG

Both Sides of Joni, released March 31, 2023, features a set of reimagined Joni Mitchell songs supporting her messages of truth, life, and wisdom with jazz sensibilities by an all-star cast of musicians including renowned vocalist Alexis Cole and arranger/ pianist Monika Herzig. The album and release tour are dedicated to beloved jazz vocalist Janiece Jaffe who brought the project to life and unexpectedly left this world November 23, 2022.

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WOMEN IN JAZZ

Together with an all female band including Alexis will performs songs from the classic and contemporary American Songbook penned by women. Treasured favorites like Close Your Eyes, Willow Weep for Me, and Can't We Be Friends meet up with songs from the New Standards: 101 Lead Sheets by Women Composers book released in 2022, edited by Terri Lyne Carrington.

VALENTINE'S DAY JUKEBOX: WHERE YOU PICK THE SONGS

A set of romantic jazz favorites, followed by a set of audience requests, where specific songs can be dedicated to loved ones. 

LOVE ME OR LEAVE ME: TIN PAN ALLEY TALKS TINDER

The Great American Songbook just got PERSONAL. Alexis' show about the perils of dating and the embrace of the single life, Tin Pan Alley Talks Tinder shows that though much has changed since the days of Tin Pan Alley, the music shows us how much has stayed the same in love.

DISNEY LOVE SONGS WITH STRINGS

Selections from Alexis' album Someday My Prince Will Come featuring original arrangements for rhythm section and horn(s) plus string quartet. Can also include a children's choir!

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Alexis-Cole-A_Beautiful_Friendship.pngA Beautiful Friendship - With Bucky Pizzarelli feat. Nicki Parrott, Frank Vignola, Anat Cohen and Warren Vaché (July 2015)
A short video about the making of the album can be seen on YouTube