Short Bio
Called a “jazz sensation” by one writer, with another calling Heather Ferguson’s music, “lush, expertly performed, with an engaging setlist and…she will fill the room with her silky-smooth notes”. Heather’s journey to music was long and winding but the singer, based in Victoria, Canada, is becoming known for her interpretations of great 20th century songs.
A family move took Ferguson from Toronto to a new home in Victoria, Canada, where she was one of the first to enroll in jazz vocals at the Victoria Conservatory’s newly opened Chywll Contemporary School. After that it was just layers and layers of music for years after. During that time she found like-minded musicians who wanted to start a band so she cornered the great bassist Joey Smith at a gig one night to ask him to coach.
Under Joey Smith’s mentorship Heather eventually graduated to solo shows at Victoria’s storied Hermann’s Jazz Club and then to recording, and the release of singles on various streaming services with producer Wynn Gogol of 1 Ton Studios.
A dynamic and consummate performer with a smouldering sound and a soulful warm voice, Ferguson’s music can be found on streaming platforms including Spotify, YouTube and Apple and on many curated playlists.
Longer bio available in downloadable files below.
Featured Songs
Bewitched
Body & Soul
Stardust
Recent Accomplishments & Reviews
On Air – Lush Life album
- Body & Soul and Stardust have been placed on the playlist for Saturday Night Jazz.
- Round Midnight was played on the Sunday Morning Jazz show.
- A Look of Love aired on Jazz, Ballads and Blues.
- All the Things You Are played on Neon Jazz.
- Lush Life aired on Jazz Para Ti on tomajazz.
- Stardust can be heard at minute 45 of this episode of Descubrimientos post Grammy.
- Music from Lush Life will be aired November 21 and 22, 2022 on the show JAZZMANÍA.
- Body & Soul and Stardust was played on QUAND LE JAZZ EST LÀ 14 nov. 2022 on CBC Radio Canada.
- Lush Life aired on This Week in Music.
- Lush Life was played on Jazz Now November 17, 2022.
- Round Midnight was aired on Jazz Actuel November 16, 2022.
- Lush Life was aired on the Jazz Bazaar show.
- All the Things You Are, from Lush Life album, airs on Straight No Chaser Nov. 9, 2022.
- Bewitched aired on The First Instrument Jazz Show Nov. 8 & 12, 2022.
Reviews
Lush Life is the Victoria-based artist’s smashing debut album. And while it may be her first full-length CD, Ferguson has been honing her singing chops for years. This is
not a beginner’s voice. This is the voice of an experienced student and lover of jazz who has been paying close attention over a lifetime to the best interpreters of the 20th century’s classics and standards. You can hear it in her beautiful phrasing and in her engaging, confident, generous, insightful and passionate performance. She is a consummate storyteller who keeps things interesting and inviting. Read the full review.~Sharna Searle, The Whole Note
Canadian singer does the GAS and standards not so much as a vocalist fronting a band, rather as one of a group of highly compatible musicians…Approaching her chosen material with understanding, Ferguson has a warm and strong vocal sound and she delivers songs in a manner that is at once commanding and comfortably relaxed…Whatever the material, Ferguson’s jazz phrasing is evident and it vividly demonstrates the validity of the claim that she is an important figure in Canada’s burgeoning jazz scene. This set is not so much a singer with accompanying instrumentalists, but rather a very effective and well executed blending of highly compatible musicians…This is a very accomplished and warmly recommended debut album by a singer whose reputation must surely spread internationally. Read the full review.
~Bruce Crowther, Jazz Journal
The album then concludes with a gorgeous rendition of “‘Round Midnight,” featuring another phenomenal vocal performance. When she tells us “But it really gets bad around midnight,” I just melt, particularly when she dips into her lower register on the word “midnight.”
There is something about her delivery (in Bewitched) that might in fact bewitch the listener, or at least warm him and soothe him.
(On Body & Soul) her performance is just absolutely wonderful. This is the track that will likely seduce a good number of listeners. And holy moly, listen to the way she belts out the final lines before then weakening for the final few words. Perfect. Read the full review.
Michael Doherty
On her new album, Canadian-based Heather Ferguson is heard here in peak form awash in the elegant and mesmerizing sounds of saxophonist Barrie Sorensen and trumpeter Miquelito Valdes. Ms. Ferguson is a forceful vocalist, perfectly lovely in the middle register of her voice, invariably poised on a variety of repertoire. Songs like “Body & Soul” and “At Last” are delivered beautifully with purity and intonation. It could not be more welcome when a recording transforms such popular songs, as this one does, setting it on a new plane. And as added bonus there is Barrie Sorensen (sax) and Miguelito Valdes (trumpet, flugelhorn) playing with subtle tonal shading that heightens the atmospheric evocation in the most engaging mix of exuberance and gravitas. Every change in mood of Ms. Ferguson’s voice is superbly crafted and judged by these musicians. The result is that the performance throughout the album is marvelously clean and the music itself can only be called luminous. Other standouts include the warm and tenderly moving “Stardust,” and “The Look of Love.”
~Jean Keith Fagon, The Jazz Project, HillRag
Resonant jazz singer Heather Ferguson presents her debut album Lush Life, featuring her evocative performances of arranged jazz classics. Her intense, passionate performances offer a grand and beautiful re-experience of beloved songs. Lush Life is a welcome addition to personal and public library jazz music collections, and also makes an excellent gift for connoisseurs of the genre.
~Midwest Book Review
Canadian Heather Ferguson opens her first album with a melancholic, almost painful composition by Billy Strayhorn: “Lush Life”. It is an introspective theme and whose interpretation requires not only skill, but also feeling. Undoubtedly a declaration of intent, so that we know from the first moment what the thing is about. And it is that, unexpectedly, Heather Ferguson has gotten to play in the “professional” league. Read the full review.
~Juan F. Trillo, tomajazz
“Heather Ferguson specializes in the type of jazz that made Burt Bacharach a Hall of Famer in the 1960s and ’70s: Lush, expertly performed, and with an engaging setlist.”
~Mike Devlin, Times Colonist-Critic’s Choice
Photos
Downloadable files
Heather Ferguson | Lush Life One Sheet
Heather Ferguson | Full bio
