Lisa Bauer

SAMA nominared Jazz vocalist Lisa Bauer is a soulful artist with extensive performance experience in various Jazz-infused styles and outfits.

Lisa started singing harmonies to her father’s LP’s of Classical music, Musicals, Dixieland and jazz artists such as Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Tony Bennet, Oscar Petersen and Ray Brown, at the age of 4. She sang as a soloist in her primary school choir, performed professionally as a guitarist/singer during High School, studied the guitar from the age of 10, violin from age 12 and drum kit from the age of 16.  It was in 1998 while studying classical piano and violin at Stellenbosch that Lisa joined Gavin Fullard’s Jazz vocal group Track Five (in the style of bands such as Manhattan Transfer and Take 6) as an alto. She recorded two albums with Track Five, who also performed with Big Bands ‘Jazz Attack’, ‘The UCT Big Band’, ‘The Glenn Miller Orchestra South Africa’ and the ‘Jonny Cooper Big Band’.  She decided after a year at Stellenbosch to focus on Jazz, and moved to the South African College of Music at UCT where she graduate in 2004 with a degree in Jazz Performance on vocals and drum kit (with a distinction in singing).  In 2007 Lisa received the runner-up and merit awards at the prestigious SAMRO Jazz Singing Overseas Scholarship Competition, after which she travelled to New York and San Francisco to study with the legendary Kitty Margolis and Dr. Gloria Cooper.

She has performed, recorded and has been a member of projects and artists that include; The Glen Miller Orchestra South Africa, Mamavox (with Amanda Tiffin, Monique Hellenberg and Mimi Ntenjwa) sharing a stage with Stefon Harris, Gloria Bosman and Mike Campbell’s South African Big Band), Souled (with Melanie Scholtz) and released an EP with electro-lounge group Nightlife Conspiracy in 2008.

Lisa Bauer dedicated her own EP recording called De Ja Blues, featuring Dan Shout,Bruce Muirhead, Shaun Johannes and Ronan Skillen, to the late Cape Town saxophonist Nic Le Roux. Apart from her own quartet, she currently works with popular corporate groups such as Baobab Three and LMR Trio, and performs on drums/vocals with World Music band Starkravingsane. Her Jazz Quintet was featured at the Kirstenbosch Winter Concert Series in 2008. The 2010 Lisa Bauer Quartet debut album Finding A New Way (featuring top South African Jazz musicians Andre Petersen, Chantal Willie, Kesivan Naidoo with guests Mark Fransman & Maxim Starcke) was influenced by her musical experiences in New York and San Francisco, with the track ‘Ntjilo Ntjilo’ being inspired by the legacy of Miriam Makeba.

Lisa recently travelled to the Seychelles to perform for VIP clients with her Jazz Trio, thereafter returning from a third stint in New York and San Francisco in July/August 2010. Utilizing this overseas travel award from UCT, she spent time with her mentors and teachers and performed at jam sessions with the great piano player Keith Ingham in New York and the Tod Dickow quartet in San Francisco.