Emilie-Claire Barlow

Born into a musical family Canadian jazz star Emilie-Claire Barlow always seemed destined for the stage. Her father is jazz drummer Brian Barlow and her mother Judy Tate was a singer and composer, her uncle Richard Homme was a jazz bassist and her grandparents were also professional entertainers. Owing to this, she grew up in Toronto in the 1970s, quickly becoming accomplished on a variety of instruments - piano, violin, clarinet and cello included - at a young age. By the time she was seven she was appearing on radio and TV singing on commercials and was also drawn to musical theatre, taking the lead role in a production of 'Ann of Green Gables'. She went on to study vocal technique, music theory and arrangements at Etobicoke School of Arts and Humber College and started performing on the Toronto jazz scene. She and her father formed the Barlow Group, a jazz octet who achieved great popularity locally, leading to her first album 'Emilie-Claire Barlow Sings' in 1998. This and her second album 'Tribute' both received Juno Award nominations for Vocal Jazz Album of the Year. The independent-minded Barlow went on to found her own label, Empress Music Group, releasing the well-received albums 'Like a Lover' (2005), 'Winter Wonderland' (2006) and 'The Very Thought of You' (2007), establishing her as one of Canada's foremost jazz talents. She broadened her appeal with the French-language album 'Seule Ce Soir' which won her a Juno Award for Jazz Album of the Year and took another big step with her 2015 album 'Clear Day' on which she re-worked folk and pop material by the likes of Coldplay, David Bowie, Joni Mitchell and Van Morrison with jazz arrangements.

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