CELIA SLATTERY
Singer Celia Slattery has entertained audiences from Boston to Bangkok with her one-woman shows, original songs, and interpretations of jazz and pop tunes. With warmth, authenticity and well-honed vocal chops, she moves effortlessly from belting out a blues number to crooning a tender pop ballad.
As a child, Celia performed in musical theater
in her hometown of Santa Barbara, California
In her early career, inspired by the folk tradition and singer-songwriters like Joni Mitchell and Carole King, Celia toured as a solo acoustic act at coffeehouses and clubs such as Club Passim (Cambridge, MA), the Folkway (Peterborough, NH) and the Iron Horse (Northampton, MA.
Later, jazz studies at New England Conservatory with Dominique Eade and Ran Blake introduced her to the great American songbook and vocalists like Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday.
She began to collaborate with some of the finest Boston area musicians with performances at clubs like Ryles Jazz Club and special events, schools and performing arts centers, including Harvard and Wellesley Universities, the Four Seasons Hotel , Danny’s Skylight Room (NYC), and The Wang Center in Boston (in a benefit featuring Bob Hope).
In her early career, Celia toured as a solo acoustic act
With the house band at the Oriental Hotel
This led to a six-month contract at the legendary Bamboo Bar at the Oriental Hotel in Bangkok, Thailand (often named world’s #1 Hotel). Here Celia sang jazz and standards six nights a week with a local trio to locals and tourists from around the world. (The experience is immortalized in her original song Bamboo Bar which was honored by a Billboard Songwriting Honorable Mention).
Celia’s theater background led her to create a one-woman musical show about growing up in the 60’s and 70’s, with help from award-winning director Bill Castellino (Rap Master Ronnie, Amanda McBroom and Ann Hampton Calloway’s Carnegie Hall debuts). Moving Target toured from 1997 – 2004 at venues such as the Montreal Fringe Festival, First Night Boston, the New England Theater Conference, and Jimmy Tingle’s Off-Broadway Theatre.
Celia’s debut CD, Movin’ On , featured music from the show and was produced by Mark Shilansky . The pair also collaborated on Cast of Characters, her 2008 release, which they celebrated with a concert at Scullers Jazz Club in Cambridge. In 2014, Celia’s self-produced EP, Our Life Together, was released with a concert at Ryles Jazz Club in Cambridge.
Celia is currently touring two One Woman shows, Women Who Rock and Jazz Divas. She also offers individually tailored concerts of jazz, pop and originals.
Celia’s back-up ranges from a duo with piano accompaniment to a full band with piano, bass, drums and guitar. She is equally at home in an intimate cabaret, large event, or outdoor festival.
A passionate performing arts educator, Celia specializes in effective vocal technique and performance coaching for contemporary styles and offers a variety of masterclasses and residencies in conjunction with her performances. In addition to teaching in her private studio, she is Associate Professor of Voice at Berklee College of Music.
There’s no denying that Celia Slattery has a beautiful voice and she puts it on display on her newest CD offering, Our Life Together. Penning all five songs on the disc, Slattery proves that she’s not only a powerhouse performer, but a titan in the songwriting department as well. Her songs all emanate from a place close to her heart while she makes them universally accessible to all who listen.
Ably accompanied by the talents of Jane Potter on piano & organ, Thomas Hebb on bass, Dave Mattacks on drums and Steven Kirby on guitar, Slattery and her band deliver a wonderfully crafted album that’s highlighted by soul-stirring performances both musically and vocally. Check out her vocals on the poignant “Washed-up Middle Aged Wise Woman Blues and see if you don’t agree.” Bravo!
Doug Sloan
Metronome Magazine
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