Roberta Baum's vocal improvisational skills have won her critical acclaim in Downbeat and Musician Magazine. She has performed amongst some of the most prestigious Jazz legends in the world including Ornette Coleman, Kenny Barron, Anthony Davis and Fred Hersch.
Prior to that Roberta had already made her way into the upper echelon of performing arts in New York. As a graduate of The High School Performing Arts and the Neighborhood Playhouse she was key to the genesis of experimental theater throughout the 1970's, an actress in the Broadway hit Godspell and member of the National Tour troupe of The Who's renowned rock opera Tommy.
Roberta had been especially drawn to the linguistic freestyle that is often explored in jazz music, as in the vocal improvisation of Ella Fitzgerald and Betty Carter. Later influenced by Middle Eastern and Mediterranean sounds, by the mid 80's Roberta began applying these styles to her own angle of world-pop music. Over the past several decades Roberta Baum has mesmerized audiences from across the world with performances at music festivals, conferences and spiritual centers. She continues to record original music inspired by spiritual rebirth and expansion of planetary consciousness.
Roberta Baum is a grant recipient of The National Endowment for The Arts and Meet The Composer for her work composing music for theater, dance and television, including the Erick Hawkins Dance Company and Lifetime Television Intimate Portraits.
“Roberta Baum's vocal abilities are by no means defined by her extraordinary jazz techniques; she absolutely excels as a progressive pop /world music singer. Her recordings are a blend of intricate, tasteful, melodic compositions, with a decidedly mysterious and exotic edge. By achieving that rare alchemy of intelligence and sexuality, Roberta's crossover appeal to a broad spectrum of audiences presents tantalizing possibilities.” Charles Sanders / Harry Fox Agency
ROBERTA BAUM
Review by Bill Vindal
I first learned of local jazz singer Roberta Baum from two very respected local jazz instrumentalists, whose enthusiasm was atypically unqualified. My first hearing of Roberta Baum was a one-song appearance as a guest singer at a jazz combo gig, which was a grabber. Still, it wasn't until I caught Roberta's own gig with a superb piano trio at Black Mountain's Monte Vista Hotel that I got a feel for the breadth of styles and repertoire which she has mastered.
Roberta Baum's talent is much wider than the limits implied by the term "jazz singer," though that is the core of her current repertoire. She does cabaret, Broadway, and "world music" songs, among others. Her vocalizing techniques include such exotica as Eastern European or Arabic ululation and Indian influences. All this is backed by a fierce emotional investment, or by a keen-witted sense of fun in the breezier songs. I.e., Roberta Baum brings fresh perspectives and LIFE to all these diverse songs.
More recently, I've caught Roberta Baum at the Monte Vista's New Year's Eve show, and her big-stage debut at the Isis Music Hall in West Asheville. Both were unforgettable occasions, on their different levels. The Monte Vista show was of course far more intimate, allowing her to banter with her audience throughout the evening. The Isis show must have been tougher, because the elevated stage, the lighting difference, and the room's size make it harder to achieve audience interaction. Still, she knocked us out with a performance that ranged from earth shattering to wistful, and most points in-between. To sum it up, Roberta Baum is a true vocal artist, and an entertainer in the now-lost sense of the term... you go away after her show with a sense that you've shared in a very special experience, and you keep that memory long afterward