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Artists
Arkansas Jazz Hall of Fame
1998 Candidates
Roseanna Vitro
Jazz vocalist. Born in Hot Springs, Arkansas "over thirty years ago" (1951, but tell no one), Roseanna was raised in Texarkana, Arkansas before moving to Houston, Texas and currently New York City. "I sang in every possible situation" she said, describing her mother's gospel influence from the age of four and singing show and rock tunes in high school.
Although she enjoyed the rock bands in Houston in the late Seventies, she was introduced to Ray Sullenger, a popular local jazz vocalist and teacher. Texas tenor and jazz legend Arnett Cobb became her mentor and would later feature her at his performances at the Village Vanguard in New York. Roseanna honed her craft for two years at Houston's Green Room, hosting a weekly broadcast on KUHF-FM, featuring her own group and touring jazz greats. While attending one of her performances, Oscar Peterson was so inspired he spontaneously joined her on stage. Other guests included Bill Evans, Tommy Flanagan, Joe Williams, and Eddie Gomez and many others who encouraged her to move to New York.
After the move, she went on the road with Lionel Hampton. Since then she has shared the stage with or opened for many jazz greats, including Buddy Rich, Mel Lewis, Al DiMeola, Elvin Jones, Kenny Barron, Walter Davis, Jr., Hank Jones, John Faddis, Junior Mance, Archie Schepp, Mulgrew Miller, Junior Mance, Randy Brecker, and George Coleman.
Her long-time supporter, Steve Allen, featured Roseanna on an album of original tunes and NBC's Fantasy (1993) program. She has also appeared on Ramsey Lewis's "BET on Jazz" with Steve Kuhn and Keeter Betts. Her most recent broadcast appearance was on Marian McPartland's "Piano Jazz" show on National Public Radio.
Her festival apperances include the Newark Jazz Festival's live one hour broadcast on WBGO, the Dallas Museum of Art Festival with George Coleman, the Santa Barbara Jazz Festival with Latino Jazz, the Telluride Jazz Festival - recorded for live broadcast on NPR, the Clearwater Jazz Festival with the Bobby Enriquez Trio, the Asbury Park Jazz Festival, and the Houston Jazz Fest.
Many other club & concert performances include venues in Aspen, Baltimore, Boston, Buffalo, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Dallas, Denver, Detroit, Hollywood, Fl., Kansas City, Little Rock, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, Palm Beach, Philadelphia, St. Louis, San Francisco, Tampa, Toledo and Washington, D.C.
Ms. Vitro has six albums to her credit: "Passion Dance" (1996), her debut with Telarc Jazz, "Softly," her first with Concord, and "Reaching for the Moon," "Listen Here," and "A Quiet Place." Her most recent album is "Catchin' Some Rays: The Music of Ray Charles" (Telarc, 97). She has placed third in Downbeat's Critics Poll of Talent Deserving Wider Recognition.
Roseanna was a guest lecturer at the 1996 International Association of Jazz Educators Conference in Atlanta where she led the to-the-point and humourous workshop "Vocalists are from Venus, Instrumentalists are from Mars: Skills in Communication between Vocal and Instrumental Musicians" (which Lee Mergner of "Jazz Times" described as "... one of my favorites, [Vitro's workshop was] effectively designed to broach the differences between singers and their accompanists."
In addition to her performance schedule she is Director of the Jazz Vocal program at Jersey City State College.
She is married to producer Paul Wickliffe with a fourteen year-old daughter, Sarah. Despite time and distance and scheduling constraints, Roseanna is a current member of the Arkansas Jazz Heritage Foundation.
See her web site for more information.
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