Alison Wedding started her music career at age two, singing for family and
friends in the living room. But it was not until she walked into a jazz ensemble
at her fine arts high school in Dallas, Texas, that she was first introduced to
jazz. The harmonies, chord progressions, and rhythms fascinated her. She
listened constantly to horn players, learning their solos, and with the help of
her mentor Dave Alexander, Alison began to explore improvisation, which has
become one of her greatest skills.
Her early influences included Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughan, and horn
players such as Chet Baker, Miles Davis, Freddie Hubbard, and Michael Brecker.
Because she had a hunger to learn more, she attended several Jamey Aebersold
workshops. "It was the best learning experience being thrown into small
ensembles with horn players - I was expected to perform like one."
She went on to study jazz at University of North Texas under the guidance of
Paris Rutherford and began to sing professionally in the Dallas area. One of her
career highlights was singing with the One O'clock Lab Band with the late Gerry
Mulligan. After receiving her bachelor's degree, she spent a summer at Epcot in
Florida, singing in the show Swingin' Summer Nights,where she had the
opportunity to sing with an amazing line up of singers such as Dianne Reeves,
Diane Schuur, and the late Joe Williams.
Alison then decided to move to the west coast to develop her career. While in
Los Angeles, Alison performed professionally, both live and in the studio. She
toured as a back-up singer with Kevyn Lettau, and recorded with artists such as
Andy Summers (formerly of The Police) on his CD Peggy's Blue Sklight. She also
taught voice and piano throughout the area.
Since moving to Australia in January 2001, in addition to teaching at major
music schools in the Melbourne, she was fortunate to play with truly amazing
musicians, including Sam Keevers, Jamie Oehlers, Colin Hopkins, Peter Knight,
Bob Sedergreen, Joe Chindamo, Kate Ceberano, Richard Clapton, just to name a
few. She has made guest appearances on other Melbourne artists' CDs, such as
Peter Knight's Between Two Moments, Darrin Archer's Secret World, and Mark
Lockett's About Time. She was also the featured singer with Blowfish, an 8 piece
band led by Jamie Oehlers- this group recently released their first CD ( on
Bennetts Lane Records). Alison's first solo CD, "The Secret", was released in
September 2003 on the ABC Jazz label. Not long after this release, Alison and
her band did a national tour performing all around Australia, including the
Wangaratta Jazz Festival. The Secret went on to win the 2004 Bell Award for the
Best Vocal Jazz Album.

Since her national tour, Alison was invited to sing with Tim Ries (saxophone
player with The Rolling Stones) at the 2004 Melbourne International Jazz
Festival. Alison's current band lineup consists of Sam Keevers (piano), Ben
Robertson (double-bass), Stephen Magnusson (guitar), and Dave Beck (drums).
Alison performed with this band in the Melbourne Umbria Jazz Festival in May
2005. Keep an eye out for her latest CD of her original material, "Sometimes I
Feel", which was released on Jazzhead in October 2005. Alison was named a
semifinalist at the Wangaratta Jazz Competition in October 2005, and won the
Gibson-May award at the London International Vocal Jazz Competition, which took
place in London March 2006. Alison and her band traveled to New Zealand to
perform in the Christchurch Jazz Festival in April 2006 and then to Bangalow,
Northern NSW for the Northcoast Jazz Festival in June.
Alison has recently moved back to the US, relocating to NY for the next chapter
in her career...She has performed at various venues, including Rockwood Music
Hall and Cornelia St. Cafe, and she usually plays a monthly gig at the 55 Bar.
She has had the fortune of working with some fantastic musicians so far,
including Tim Lefebvre, Tony Mason, Keith Ganz, Pete McCann, Matt Clohesy, Henry
Hey, and Brian Delaney. She is writing new material and hopes to record her 3rd
CD in the next 6 months...stay tuned...

