DOLORES SCOZZESI

Sat., Aug. 17.  DOLORES SCOZZESI. Making her start “years ago, when Budd Friedman’s Improv sprinkled singers between its comedy acts,” Ms. Scozzesi studied with The Groundlings and with J.D. Lewis and Aaron Speiser.  As “an actress who sings,” she was cast in Paul Horner’s award-winning musical revue, Suddenly This Summer, for which critics described her as “an arresting presence, smokily dramatic…a blend of intelligence and passion.”    Piers Ford, in reviewing her CD, Jazz is a Special Taste, enthused, “It’s the voice that grabs you to begin with.  A rich contralto with edge, snapping from molten serenity to a predatory growl in a single phrase, and a timbre that makes you want to place your hands on the speakers just so you can capture something of its individuality.  She switches easily between the ominous and the edgy.” In addition to A Special Taste, her second CD, Here Comes the Sun, has also received widespread airplay.  Her photo has graced the cover of The Los Angeles Jazz Scene, she received the Jazz Living Legend Award in 2017, and she received the Jexxa Award in 2021 for her contributions to Jazz. She is very proud of the two singles she released last year:  “Flor de Lis,” (“Upside Down,”); and Raye/dePaul’s “You Don’t Know What Love Is.”   Singer/lyricist/producer/educator Mark Winkler sums her up thusly:  “The real deal.  There is no one like Dolores Scozzesi—she has a voice of many colors that reaches right into your heart.”