biography

Amanda Addleman is a New York City-based, San Francisco-raised vocalist, pianist, composer, arranger, and educator.

Addleman’s musical approach is one well-steeped in a reverence for the traditions of great jazz musicians of the last century, yet her sound represents an informed departure from the tropes and fixations of earlier generations of improvisational musicians. In fusing the spirit of contemporary folk, rock, and pop composition and performance stylings, Addleman’s style blossoms with a freedom from genre restraint, while maintaining a consistent and cohesive sound that still maintains an obvious reverence for those who came before.

Addleman recently completed a M.M. from Manhattan School of Music where she studied under Theo Bleckmann, Jeremy Manasia, Phil Markowitz, Jamie Baum, and Ingrid Jensen to name a few. She previously earned her B.M. at the prestigious Berklee College of Music, followed by continued studies with renowned jazz vocalist and educator Tierney Sutton, and San Francisco somatic voicework instructor, Loryn Barbeau. In her own educational work, Addleman maintains a full private studio roster in voice, piano, music theory, jazz improvisation, composition, performance and more. She has also taught in Bay Area schools as a music director; building programs, and supporting all students since 2009. She also worked as guest clinician throughout the state of California and taught classes to college-age and adult students at the California Jazz Conservatory in Berkeley, California.  It is her mission to both share her perspective on the music through performance and to educate and expose musicians of all levels and backgrounds to the tradition, so that the art form may continue to evolve and thrive. 

Her most recent release Into the Light (2020) is a collection of pieces contrasting the light and the dark places of Addleman’s life and career. It has received praise from critics and musicians alike and is available on all streaming services and on Bandcamp. 

The band

Formed in 2009, the Amanda Addleman Band has set out to change the landscape of the modern jazz band.  From its inception, the group has fused aesthetics from different genres woven together through the language of the jazz tradition. Their virtuosic, yet dynamic improvising and unique voice has won acclaim all over the country with notable venues performed as California Jazz Conservatory, San Francisco’s Savannah Jazz, Boston’s Regattabar, and NYC’s own, Rockwood Music Hall. In addition, the group co-founded, and headlined a small jazz festival in the Italian Countryside in 2019 called Masone Summer Night alongside international acts.