Wesla Whitfield & the Mike Greensill Trio
Wesla Whitfield, vocals; Mike Greensill, piano; John Wiitala, bass; Vince Lateano, drums

Sunday, July 12, 7:30 pm
Campbell Recital Hall
Tickets: $28 general | $14 students

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Listen: Wesla Whitfield – "I Have Dreamed"

Listen: Wesla Whitfield – "I'll be Tired of You"

Read about Wesla in the May 31st edition of the San Francisco Chronicle's Datebook

Acclaimed singer Wesla Whitfield is a gifted and distinctive interpreter of the Great American Songbook. With a classically-trained voice, an innate sense of jazz timing, and the storytelling flair of a great cabaret singer, she gets to the heart of a song’s lyrics and melody. Although she calls the San Francisco Bay Area home, Whitfield is in constant demand in New York, where she captivates audiences in venues such as the Algonquin Oak Room, Le Jazz Au Bar, The Metropolitan Room and Joe’s Pub at New York’s Public Theater. She has also graced the stages of Town Hall, Avery Fisher Hall, and Carnegie Hall, and the Village Voice refers to her as “the best singer—jazz or whatever—around today.” Whitfield’s husband and music director Mike Greensill provides piano accompaniment and instrumental arrangements that complement her singing and add to the drama of her interpretations. His arrangements showcase Whitfield’s voice with groups as diverse as the Kronos Quartet and the Klingel Horns French Horn Quartet. For this performance, Greensill and Whitfield will be joined by longtime collaborators John Wiitala on bass and Vince Lateano on drums.

“Ultimately, there is nothing easy about what Whitfield does; she just makes it sound that way. Her singing is musically sophisticated and emotionally direct.”

–Boston Globe

Wesla Whitfield website

Q&A with Wesla Whitfield

What is the first recording you remember hearing as a child?
Tico-Tico (A Brazilian choro piece recorded by Carmen Miranda).

What job would you have if you weren’t a jazz musician?
I would have been a computer programmer or a paralegal or something wonderfully lucrative, but very unhappy.

What’s your favorite food?
I love tacos – the really cheap kind. I can't actually eat them any more, but I still love them.

What’s the last book you’ve read?
A biography about Alice Roosevelt Longworth, Teddy's first child.

What’s your favorite tune?
“Looking At You”

What’s your favorite jazz venue?
Either Le Jazz Au Bar or the Plush Room – both now gone.

Who is your greatest musical influence?
Karrin Allyson

How much do you practice each week?
About 20 hours on average – days are too damned short!

What hobbies do you have?
I love to crochet, sew, read and go for long 'walks' into town.

If you could be any other type of artist other than a jazz musician, what would you be and why?
I'd be a writer – you don't have to cajole people to come watch while you work!

When did you become interested in music, and what circumstances or events led to your becoming a professional musician?
I knew at two and a half that I would be a musician when I heard a band playing at the Bucket Of Blood, an old dance hall in Arroyo Grande, CA where my parents went. After that I did everything I could to learn music in all forms - beginning with singing in the church choir, playing drums in grammar school, taking piano lessons and eventually studying voice.