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Vocalist Anna Laura Quinn and guitarist Ed Barrett - Quinn & Barrett to release new recording. Vocalist Anna Laura Quinn and guitarist Ed Barrett invite you into the intimate sonic world of their duo project that they call (with a wink) Quinn & Barrett. The two New Orleans-based musicians have been playing together since 2018 and over the years have cultivated a special musical relationship, one that was especially cemented during the deepest, quietest months of the COVID quarantine, when they served as musical touchstones for one another. During this time, they began to compile the "Anna and Ed Mixtape, " a list of songs from across genres in which they discovered shared joy and meaning. The duo's forthcoming album Just... Quinn & Barrett is the first volume of their shared songbook, featuring eleven well-loved tunes, chosen and lovingly arranged in the studio in several sessions between May 2023 and May 2024 with New Orleans guitarist and educator Brian Seeger at the helm as engineer and producer. The featured material comprises many styles and moods, and the album may be seen as a bridge between each of the two musicians' major influences. Referenced artists include: Ella Fitzgerald, Joni Mitchell, Blossom Dearie, Patsy Cline, Nancy Wilson, J.S. Bach, Dr. John, Bill Frisell, Tears for Fears, Ed Bickert, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn, Queen, and Bobby Charles, among others. In the process of creating connections between these wide-ranging sources of inspiration, Quinn & Barrett use the intimate format of the duo to capture the dynamic versatility of both the voice and the guitar, at some moments bringing the fireworks of big band jazz, and at other moments, inviting listeners to lean in closely to hear the subtle intricacies, the hushed conversation between their respective instruments. Quinn & Barrett are excited to now open the door to the listening room, to invite new audiences to experience the sonic and emotional multiplicity of Just... Quinn & Barrett. About Anna Laura Quinn Anna Laura Quinn has a voice that will make you stop in your tracks. With velvety richness and the clarity of a bell, she captures the essence of whatever song she chooses to sing. She brings a playful spirit to her craft as a vocalist, leaning into the improvisational essence of the jazz idiom with sincerity, humor, and graceful mutability. Anna grew up in San Francisco in a home where music was playing constantly, and she soaked it up like a sponge, attuning her ears to the musical prowess of greats like Ella Fitzgerald, J.S. Bach, the Beatles, Joni Mitchell, and many others. She began her journey as an artist in New York City and received a BFA in Studio Art from New York University. After several eye- and ear- opening years in NYC, she felt the need for a change of scenery, and in 2010 she followed a strong intuition to move to New Orleans. The wild and beautiful Crescent City has been inspiring and nurturing her creative growth ever since. It was there that she truly came into her power as a musician. Formative years were spent in the Jazz Studies program at University of New Orleans, the degree program founded by New Orleans’ treasured musical patriarch, pianist Ellis Marsalis in 1989. There, as the only vocalist in the company of an accomplished roster of faculty and student instrumentalists, she honed her skills as a bandleader and arranger and earned a Master of Jazz Studies in 2021. In the years since, she has become a dynamic presence on the New Orleans music scene and has earned the respect of musicians of all stripes. She performs regularly with ensembles under her own name, and with her band that she started in 2020 called the Unmentionables, who play what she likes to call “New Orleans Get Down Music for the People.” Her performances have beguiled audiences at such venerable jazz venues as Snug Harbor, Preservation Hall, the Starlight Lounge, and Dos Jefes Uptown Cigar Bar. She has also performed with the UNO All-Stars on Jazz Fest (2019) and with her own band at French Quarter Fest (2024.) Since 2018, Anna has worked closely with New Orleans guitarist Ed Barrett, whose soulfulness and versatility on the guitar enable him to join her in any musical realm that she chooses to step into. Their bond was cemented in the deepest darkest months of the COVID lockdown in 2020, when they came together weekly to play music and started to build the "Anna and Ed Mixtape, " a list of songs from across genres in which they discovered shared joy and meaning. Many of these songs appear on the duo's forthcoming album–playfully titled Just… Quinn & Barrett–featuring 11 lovingly crafted arrangements recorded in several sessions in 2023 and 2024 with New Orleans guitarist |
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