July 7th, 2021 7pm Stage
As of June 16, 2021, New York State has lifted all COVID-19 related restrictions that apply to a venue of Rockwood’s size. In accordance with these revised guidelines, vaccination records will no longer be checked, nor will social distancing or masks be required, while masks will remain highly recommended for non-vaccinated individuals.
Jocelyn Medina Quartet
Jocelyn Medina, voice & compositions
Pete McCann, guitar
Evan Gregor, bass
Ross Pederson, drums
The sounds and styles of vocalist/composer Jocelyn Medina cross cultures, creeds and continents. Her original music fuses elements of Brazil, Spain, Africa and India with jazz harmonies, neo-soul/funk grooves and adventurous improvisations.
“Medina offers the jazz listener a musical journey that takes the foundation of Latin and Jazz idioms and successfully redefines the experience with thought provoking lyrics and vocal abilities far beyond the norm. Medina uses her voice as an instrument and storyteller, and invites the listener to delve into the corners of their mind with lyrics that reflect life and human conditions...” -Constance Tucker, All About Vocals
"A jazz artist whose compositions encompass the musical ethos of many different cultures… A Voice seductive, delicate, resonate, and crystalline – a major humanist who happens to communicate through singing." (5 stars) -Grady Harp, Amazon
Born into a family of singers, Jocelyn determined her identity as a musician at the age of five through choirs and piano lessons. She later pursued opera work at Stanford University, earned a Bachelors from Berklee College of Music, and a Masters in Vocal Jazz Performance from Manhattan School of Music.
Between her formal studies, Jocelyn spent 4 years living and performing in Madrid, Spain, where she recorded her first full-length CD of original compositions, "The Journey Begun." Further musical explorations brought Jocelyn to Ghana, West Africa, as well as to Salvador, Brazil. In 2005 she returned to the United States to pursue her Masters studies, and in 2011 released her second album of original work, "We Are Water," combining her jazz and Latin heritage with the rhythms and flavors of African and Brazilian music. Later travels brought Jocelyn to Mumbai, India, where she was exposed to new vocal and instrumental aesthetics, elements that resonate throughout the material on her third album “Common Ground,” released in 2017, blending jazz with the world music styles of India and Africa.
As a bandleader, she has toured with jazz ensembles at venues and festivals throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and South America, including Spain's JAZZPARLA festival, Alte Feuermache in Mannheim, Germany, Voicingers Jazz Festival in Zory, Poland, the Mahindra Blues Festival in Mumbai, India, and the Goethe Institute in Salvador, Brazil. She has performed throughout NYC at Jazz at Kitano, the Iridium Jazz Club, Cornelia Street Café, Bar Next Door, Zinc Bar, and 55 Bar, among others.
Outside of performing, Jocelyn is a passionate educator, and teaches classes in vocal technique, vocal jazz, improvisation and composition. She currently works as an adjunct lecturer at La Guardia Community College, and is on the voice faculty of the Bloomingdale School of Music, the Dalton School , the New York Jazz Workshop School of Music and the LoVetri Institute for Somatic Voicework™ at Baldwin Wallace University.
Since 2015, Jocelyn has curated and hosted the “Sunday Vocal Jazz Jam” weekly vocal jazz concert and jam session series at venues throughout NYC, currently taking place virtually via Zoom. In addition to her original repertoire, she sings, plays percussion and arranges for her Brazilian Jazz project and sings and drums and with the Rhythm Monsters West African percussion ensemble. Jocelyn is thrilled to return to Rockwood 3 for her first in-person concert since the pandemic, and reunite with Pete McCann on guitar, Evan Gregor on bass and Ross Pederson on drums.