Julia Rich

A preacher's daughter from Tennessee, Julia Rich's road to becoming a jazz vocalist has been a winding one. Graduating from a job as a singing waitress in 1980, she started doing gigs in clubs in Chattanooga. During this time she worked with bass player Eddie Edwards and Stanley Turrentine organist Butch Cornell. They directed her to the work of the likes of Sarah Vaughan, Ella Fitzgerald, and other jazz divas. Since then she has acquainted herself with the styles of Carmen McRae, Johnny Hartman, and Bonny Raitt (for earthiness) as she developed her own way with the vocal repe...