Dominique Eade
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Dominique Eade is an American jazz singer and composer.
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[edit] Early life and education
Eade is the daughter of an American Air Force officer and a Swiss mother. She grew up in a musical household which moved around frequently in the United States and Europe. She studied piano as a child and by second grade had decided she would be a singer. As a young teenager, she picked up guitar, and learned folk, pop, and jazz songs, as well as writing some songs of her own. Her first gigs were in coffee houses in Stuttgart, where she attended high school. She attended college at Vassar, studying English, but also sang in a jazz group, Naima, which also included Poughkeepsie native Joe McPhee. She transferred briefly to Berklee College of Music before finishing her degree at New England Conservatory (NEC) in Boston, where pianist Ran Blake became an important mentor and performing colleague.
[edit] Boston
Eade stayed in Boston after graduating, and began teaching at NEC. She was active in the local jazz scene in the 1980's, forming groups with artists such as Mick Goodrick, Donald Brown and Bill Pierce. She also traveled within the United States and Europe as a performer and clinician. In addition to jazz, she also performed contemporary classical music, and sang solos with Boston Musica Viva, Composers in Red Sneakers, NuClassix. She also performed with jazz big bands Orange Then Blue and the Either/Orchestra. In 1987 she became the first jazz artist to be accepted into the NEC Artist Diploma program, where she studied for two years with Dave Holland and Stanley Cowell.
[edit] New York
She moved to New York City in 1990 and released her first CD, The Ruby and the Pearl, which featured Alan Dawson and Stanley Cowell, for Accurate Records. She maintained her teaching position at NEC, and performed in a variety of contexts including soloist roles in two Anthony Braxton operas, duo restaurant performances with Gene Bertoncini, an adventurous trio with Ben Street and Kenny Wollesen performing weekly in the East Village, and duos with Mark Helias and Peter Leitch. She played at The Village Gate, The Five Spot, Birdland, Visiones, and Cornelia Street Café with groups including Larry Goldings, John Medeski, Fred Hersch, Kevin Hays, James Genus, Gregory Hutchinson, and Tom Rainey. She recorded her second CD, My Resistance is Low, featuring fellow Brooklyn resident and frequent collaborator Bruce Barth, George Mraz, and Lewis Nash.
An adventurous singer, and often the recipient of favorable critical recognition, Eade sometimes faces detractors who are troubled by her inability to sing in tune. Some have referred to it as singing "micro-pitches," a term that seems to have been invented for singers who sing sharp or flat and have trouble remaining on pitch.
[edit] Return to Boston
Just before returning to Boston in 1996 to begin a family, Eade was contacted by RCA Records' Steve Backer and signed with the label later that year. She recorded two CDs for RCA, When the Wind Was Cool (featuring Benny Golson, Fred Hersch, James Genus, and Matt Wilson), and The Long Way Home (with Dave Holland and Victor Lewis). These recordings highlighted her arranging and songwriting skills.
While raising two small children, Eade toured in the United States and Europe to support the two RCA recordings. Afterwards, for a few years, she mostly focused on composing and local Boston performances. In 2001, at the request of Columbia Records, Eade recorded a demo of her newer songs. Later, Eade began to record more original material with pianist Jed Wilson whom she met while he was a student at NEC. Eade and Wilson released a CD of duets, Open, in the fall of 2006. Eade also began to reemerge in New York, first with Ran Blake, then in duos and quartets with Jed Wilson, Ben Street, Matt Wilson, and in duo with guitarist Brad Shepik, all receiving critical recognition.
[edit] Current life
Eade currently lives near Boston with her husband, saxophonist Allan Chase, and their two sons. She has been on the faculty of New England Conservatory since 1984 and also teaches privately in New York. Her students have included Luciana Souza, Kate McGarry, Sara Lazarus, Lisa Thorson, Julie Hardy, Patrice Williamson, Kris Adams, David Devoe, Aoife O'Donovan, Roberta Gambarini, and many others.
