Becky Kilgore, Portland Jazz Master

Visit www.rebeccakilgore.com

From Alexis: Becky was one of my first JazzVoice.com acquaintances that I met in person in August 2021. It was like we'd known each other for years. I'm a big fan of her singing, so when she became a JazzVoice.com member early on, it was really exciting for me! By popular demand, we had her do a workshop for us on repertoire and how she learns songs. Check out the video Tune Learning

Rebecca Kilgore regularly performs worldwide at jazz festivals, jazz parties, and on jazz cruises. She has been a frequent guest on National Public Radio’s ‘Fresh Air’ with Terry Gross, has appeared on ‘A Prairie Home Companion’, and with Michael Feinstein at Carnegie Hall.

The Rebecca Kilgore Quartet (formerly known as BED) was a popular favorite on the jazz festival circuit: with Eddie Erickson (guitar/banjo/voice), Dan Barrett (trombone), and Joel Forbes (bass).

She has performed with the Statesmen Of Jazz, dedicated to perpetuating the art of jazz for future generations.

She is honored to have been inducted (in 2010) to the Oregon Music Hall of Fame and to the Jazz Society of Oregon’s Hall Of Fame, and to have been invited to perform at New York’s Mabel Mercer Cabaret Convention for three years at Town Hall and Lincoln Center.

She was the guest of honor at the 2013 Roswell Jazz Festival, and honored as a Jazz Legend at the San Diego Jazz Party in 2016.

In 2020 she was named Portland Jazz Master by PDX Jazz, Portland’s nonprofit organizer of jazz concerts and annual Biamp Jazz Festival.

Rebecca Kilgore has over 50 recordings in her discography, with Dave Frishberg, Harry Allen, Dan Barrett, John Sheridan, Dave Frishberg, Nicki Parrott, Rossano Sportiello, Paolo Alderighi, and many others.

I asked Rebecca what's coming up for her next and here's what she had to report: Projects coming up are:

• A tour of France in March of this year (I'm trying to add some French repertoire but it's a slog)

• I will go to New York this fall to record one song (that’s right, just one!) with Vince Giordano’s Night Hawks, with whom I’ve sat in a few times and I know Vince.

• What else? Since last year (actually 2020, which was technically the year before last) I recorded with my local band, The Rebecca Kilgore Trio; Vol. 1, I think it’s time to look ahead to Vol. 2. My band is Randy Porter on piano and Tom Wakeling on bass.