Ella April Varner

• 1 A-Tisket, A-Tasket 03:17
• 2 I've Got You Under My Skin 03:57
• 3 Dream a Little Dream of Me 03:00
• 4 Night and Day 05:02
• 5 I Couldn't Sleep a Wink Last Night In the Wee Small Hours of the Morning 04:24
• 6 Cheek to Cheek 04:34
• 7 Mr. Paganini 03:36
• 8 Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered 05:02
• 9 Fly Me To The Moon 03:21
• 10 Undecided 03:19
• Total Runtime 39:32

Info zu Ella

Award-winning jazz vocalist April Varner announces Ella, a vibrant tribute album to the First Lady of Song, Ella Fitzgerald, arriving March 20, 2026 via Cellar Music Group. The recording finds Varner reimagining Fitzgerald classics through contemporary arrangements that honor the spirit of the original performances while forging an entirely fresh artistic path.

Varner’s connection to Fitzgerald deepened significantly in 2023 when she won the International Ella Fitzgerald Jazz Vocal Competition. “I only just started singing jazz back in 2016,” Varner explains. “The first vocalist I remembered listening to was naturally the First Lady of Song, Ella Fitzgerald. Everything about her, her vibrant personality on stage, the ease in which she captured her audience’s attention, and the effortless range of her voice—I knew she would be my biggest inspiration. I always knew I’d want to dedicate an album to her given all that her music has done for me in my career.” Rather than attempting imitation, Varner captures Fitzgerald’s essence while maintaining her distinctive vocal identity. The album features pianist and arranger Emmet Cohen, bassist Yasushi Nakamura, and drummer and producer Ulysses Owens Jr. on the small group tracks, with additional arrangements by trumpeter Brian Lynch for the big band selections. The ensemble also includes pianist William Hill III, trumpeters Nathaniel Williford and Michael Cruse, trombonists Jeffrey Miller and Jacob Melsha, and saxophonists Cleave Guyton and Bruce Williams.

The album opens with “A-Tisket, A-Tasket,” Fitzgerald’s 1938 breakthrough hit. Cohen’s arrangement alternates between swing and Latin feels, with Varner offering a completely different perspective on the nursery rhyme adaptation. “A-Tisket, A-Tasket was Ella Fitzgerald’s first major hit and her launch to stardom in 1938,” says Varner. “I felt it was only fitting to kick off this album with this iconic tune.”

Cole Porter’s “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” showcases Lynch’s tight big band arrangement with dramatic shifts between Latin and swing sections. Varner’s sophisticated approach to melody and rhythm demonstrates her technical command without drawing attention to the craft itself. The album’s second single, “Night and Day,” strips away the brassy energy for an intimate reading of Porter’s love song. “Night and Day has to be my top favorite Cole Porter composition,” Varner notes. “I especially love the famous verse, and Emmet does a masterful job with the floating reharmonizations and lulling atmosphere.”

According to liner notes writer Thomas Cunniffe, “This is the true mark of a great singer: the ability to sing softly while effectively communicating an intimate message.” The ballad medley that follows includes “I Couldn’t Sleep a Wink Last Night” (a song Fitzgerald never recorded) and “In the Wee Small Hours,” with Varner’s warm delivery suggesting temporary separation rather than permanent loss.

“Cheek to Cheek” highlights the musical partnership between Varner and Nakamura, whose bass work pays homage to Fitzgerald’s former husband, the legendary Ray Brown. Cunniffe writes that “April and Yasushi perform like a well-prepared dance team, each one doing their best to make their partner look good.”

The deceptively complex arrangement of “Mr. Paganini” draws from the multi-tempo innovations of the Boswell Sisters, early influences on Fitzgerald herself. On “Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered,” Varner takes a different approach than Fitzgerald’s celebrated Rodgers and Hart Songbook version, featuring an extended spotlight for Cohen before closing with melodic variation. “Fly Me to the Moon” opens with the tender verse before settling into gentle swing, while “Undecided” concludes the album with blazing tempo and brilliant improvisations.

Varner came to jazz during her undergraduate years at Indiana University, initially training in the show choir The Singing Hoosiers before studying with noted jazz vocalists Sachal Vasandani, Tierney Sutton, and then Theo Bleckmann at the Manhattan School of Music. Her previous releases include the critically acclaimed April (2024) and Winter Songs Vol. 2 (2024), both on Cellar Music Group.

Born just one year after Fitzgerald’s passing, Varner discovered the icon’s expansive recorded legacy through careful study. Ella represents both a continuation of that legacy and a statement of Varner’s own artistic voice. “I hope that inspiration shines through to those listening…and my twist on these timeless tunes,” she says. (Derived from Liner Notes by jazz journalist Thomas Cunniffe)

April Varner, vocals
Emmet Cohen, piano, arranger
William Hill III, piano
Yasushi Nakamura, bass
Ulysses Owens Jr., drums, producer
Brian Lynch, trumpet, arranger
Nathaniel Williford, trumpet
Michael Cruse, trumpet
Jeffrey Miller, trombone
Jacob Melsha, trombone
Cleave Guyton, saxophone
Bruce Williams, saxophone

Recorded at Sear Sound on May 14th, 2025
Engineered by Chris Sulit
Mixed and Mastered by Dave Darlington
Produced by Ulysses Owens Jr.
Executive Producer: April Varner & Cory Weeds

April Varner
NYC-based jazz vocalist with the curly red hair from Toledo, Ohio, April Varner is a name you won’t soon forget. Recognizable by her curly red hair and voice of an “old soul”, April brings her listeners to another place- one long ago when the giants of jazz were still gracing the stage. Amassing several viral videos of 1 million+ views on her social media of her challenging solo transcriptions, cleverly crafted vocaleses and acapella renditions of the Great American Songbook, April’s voice can fit itself into a myriad of different molds.

She began taking voice lessons at the University of Toledo as a classical vocalist at age 8 and began studying piano from her grandmother at age 6. No stranger to the stage, April began displaying vocal, musical theatre, drama, and piano talents at the local, regional, national, and international levels at a young age. This includes being a guest vocalist at the Toledo Symphony Orchestra Pops Concert, a 2-time All-National Honors Ensemble member in Nashville, TN, and a National Finalist at the Michael Feinstein Great American Songbook Academy in Carmel, IN. By age 16, April had made her Carnegie Hall debut in Weill Hall following a first-place award by the American Protégé International Vocal Competition, and had traveled to Edinburgh, Scotland as part of a drama group to share the stage with world actors at the renowned Edinburgh Arts Fringe Festival.

April began her musical transition into jazz after discovering a deep passion for it following her freshman year at Indiana University. April soon after became the director of the Vocal Jazz Ensemble, ResoluSHion, within the Grammy-nominated show choir, The Singing Hoosiers. During her final semester at IU, April was the vocalist in the Du Vido Septet, a Brazilian Jazz Ensemble led by Brazilian composer, arranger and pianist, Guilherme Ribeiro. The group was chosen as one of three finalists within the famed Detroit Jazz Festival’s Collegiate Combo Competition. In the spring of 2020, April graduated with her undergraduate degree in Jazz Studies (Voice).

At the age of 28, April has immersed herself deeply into the jazz tradition and has performed/studied with a multitude of legendary artists and jazz luminaries such as Tierney Sutton, Russell Malone, Sachal Vasandani, Jane Monheit, Kurt Elling, Walter Smith III and others.

April has performed/will be performing at some of the most notable venues in the Northeast, such as Chris's Jazz Cafe (Philadelphia), Blues Alley (Washington D.C), Con Alma (Pittsburgh), 54 Below (NYC), Birdland Jazz Club (NYC, sold out debut show), and Mezzrow Jazz Club (NYC, sold out debut show). In May of 2024, April made her International Debut, headlining the Longjumeau Jazz Festival (Longjumeau, France) in celebration of the great Ella Fitzgerald, along with two full shows at Sunset Sunside in Paris. She was invited featured artist in the Jazz For All Ages Festival (Hilton Head, SC), alongside some of the most notable figures in jazz, such as Kurt Elling, Catherine Russell, John Pizzarelli and Emmet Cohen. Most recently, April was on a summer-long North American tour with renowned group, Postmodern Jukebox. Postmodern Jukebox is known for reworking popular modern music into different vintage genres, especially early 20th century forms such as swing and jazz. They have toured North America, Europe, and Australia; often simultaneously due to the extensive discography and the numerous artists and performers involved in the project. Postmodern Jukebox has amassed over 1.9 billion YouTube views and 6.2 million YouTube subscribers since its introduction in 2011.

April graduated in May of 2022 with her Master’s degree in Jazz Voice Performance from the Manhattan School of Music under the guidance of 2-time Grammy© nominated vocalist and teacher Theo Bleckmann. Soon after, she released her first EP, entitled "Hummingbird", featuring both original compositions and original vocaleses.

She was awarded the 2023 Winner of the International Ella Fitzgerald Jazz Vocal Competition, 2024 Honorable Mention Award in the ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composers Competition and a most recent mention in the 2025 73rd Annual Critics Poll in Downbeat Magazine as a “Rising Star Female Vocalist of the Year”.

April released her debut album in 2024 entitled “April by April Varner”, on Cellar Live Record Label. This genre-busting collection of all April-titled songs was produced by Grammy-Award winning drummer, producer and educator, Ulysses Owens Jr. The personnel of the album included Russell Malone, Benny Benack III, Dayna Stephens, Theo Bleckmann ("Dear April" Track Producer/Vocal Arrangement), Reuben Rogers, Miguel Russell and Caelan Cardello (Album arranger).

It received many accolades, such as a 4 out of 5 star review from Downbeat Magazine (October 2024 Issue), was included in Downbeat's "Best Albums of 2024" list (January Issue) and was listed in The New York City Jazz Record's "Best of 2024" under "Debuts" and "Vocal Releases" (January Issue).

In Winter of 2024, she self-released a 6 song EP, entitled “Winter Songs Vol. 1”. This small collection of classic wintery tunes featured a stellar line up of musicians - the Emmet Cohen Trio, Grammy-Award Winning Vocalist, Nicole Zuraitis, and Award-Winning Brazilian Guitarist, Chico Pinheiro.

In November 2025, April released the second collection, “Winter Songs Vol. 2”, this time as a full length Christmas album on Cellar Live Record Label. Once again produced by Ulysses Owens Jr. and featuring him on drums, personnel included Luther Allison (piano), Yasushi Nakamura (bass), The Sunhouse Singers vocal trio (June Cavlan, Kate Kortum, Joie Bianco), Theo Bleckmann (vocals) and Leandro Pellegrino (guitar).

In a short amount of time, this record has received many glowing reviews: “the album retains warmth without succumbing to nostalgia, intelligence without pretension…” (Paris Move, Highest Rating of ‘Indespensable’), “It isn’t just her pretty voice, either. It’s her style, technique, and heart…” (The Toledo Blade).

Her next album, entitled “Ella” is set to be released in late March 2026 with Cellar Live. Having been April’s biggest vocal inspiration, this album will feature a collection of Ella Fitzgerald’s greatest hits with a twist, spanning from the very beginning of her career to her peak. Produced by Ulysses Owens Jr., personnel include Emmet Cohen, Yasushi Nakamura, and more!

Dieses Album enthält kein Booklet