Inspired by several prominent soul singers in her family, including mother Cissy Houston and cousins Dionne Warwick and the late Dee Dee Warwick, as well as her godmother, Aretha Franklin, Houston began singing with New Jersey church’s junior gospel choir at age 11. After she began performing alongside her mother in night clubs in the New York City area, she was discovered by Arista Records label head Clive Davis. Houston released seven studio albums and three movie soundtrack albums, all of which have diamond, multi-platinum, platinum, or gold certification.

The world will never forget you…rest in peace.

The Chicago-born artist attracted attention when he was named Down Beat magazine’s Collegiate Jazz Vocalist of the Year in 1999. He has worked with the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis. His debut recording, Eyes Wide Open, lead to tours and opening for artists such as jazz trumpeter Chris Botti and pop singer Joan Osborne. Vasandani’s second album, 2009′s We Move, was chosen as a New York Times Critic’s Pick.

In a September 20, 2009, review in The New York Times, Nate Chinen called Vasandani “a jazz singer with good ideas, including some about what a jazz singer can be.”

In a review of Eyes Wide Open, The Boston Globe suggested that Vasandani is “mature in sound and rich in texture but also possesses enough youthful angst in its lyrical themes to ward off the fogeyism that male vocalists so easily slip into before their time. Sachal Vasandani will be appearing this week at Jazz Standard…romantique!

NOAH PREMINGER’S latest CD, “Before the Rain” (Palmetto Records, 2011) has received rave reviews in the New York Times, DownBeat, Jazz Times and many other influential publications, and has been getting radio airplay all across the United States. Based in New York City, Noah is a constant presence in the city’s jazz clubs as both a leader and an in-demand sideman, and his international tours have brought his music to audiences in Europe and Australia.

Noah’s arrival in New York City was preceded by enthusiastic buzz emanating from Boston, where his status as a standout student at the New England Conservatory of Music and numerous public performances eventually led to concerts by the Noah Preminger Quartet at Boston’s famous Scullers Jazz Club. In an article about Noah in the Boston Phoenix, music critic Jon Garelick wrote, “His sound is informed by everybody but beholden to no one, which makes him continually unpredictable and continually satisfying.”

Noah and friends will be appearing this week at the Jazz Bar at Hotel Kitano. It’s time we took note of this fresh new talent!

Although Jordan began his career in big band swing jazz in the 1930s, he became famous as one of the leading practitioners, innovators and popularizers of “jump blues”, a swinging, up-tempo, dance-oriented hybrid of jazz, blues and boogie-woogie. Typically performed by smaller bands consisting of five or six players, jump music featured shouted, highly syncopated vocals and earthy, comedic lyrics on contemporary urban themes. It strongly emphasized the rhythm section of piano, bass and drums; after the mid-1940s, this mix was often augmented by electric guitar. Jordan’s band also pioneered the use of electric organ.

Here is Jordan and his band with Choo Choo Ch’boogie…