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About Lila..A native of Chicago, Lila has had many musical influences from family to a myriad of musicians and from the musical styles of Mozart to Monk. And she has inherited an illustrious legacy through the gifts of her grandfather and uncle: Albert Ammons (piano) and Gene Ammons (tenor sax).
Ammons was previously based in New York City where she attended graduate school at the Manhattan School of Music, and for 13 years performed opera, oratorio and recitals around the US and Europe. It was then that she began her international travels through music. But, she had other musical passions and decided that she needed to pursue them. In 1997, excited to work on her new craft, she packed up and left New York for Minneapolis, Minnesota to be near family and there, she has cultivated a career in jazz. From 2007-2018 she has toured internationally singing classic blues and boogie woogie in major concert halls, international jazz and blues festivals, theaters and jazz clubs throughout Austria, Germany, Switzerland, The Netherlands, Brazil, Bulgaria, Italy, France, Belgium, England. In the US she performed in Chicago, New York City, Cincinnati, Ohio, Ann Arbor and Detroit Michigan, and Houston, Texas. Still not quite satisfied that she was realizing her dream, in 2015 Lila began reducing her classic blues touring to focus on the jazz music she truly loves. And in 2016 she began receiving international invitations to perform as a solo jazz singer in England, Ireland, France and Spain. Since 2007, Ammons has worked with numerous internationally acclaimed musicians such as, Axel Zwingenberger, Charlie Watts, Ben Waters, Jools Holland, Chris Jagger, Judy Carmichael, Sonny Leyland, Bruce Barth, and Tony Sola, to name a few. In the Twin Cities, she performs with many of the area's best jazz and blues instrumentalists. In Ammons's debut jazz recording, Nearness of You (2013) she is partnered with top musicians, including tenor saxophonist, Houston Person. Her newest album, Genealogy, was released August 2019 and includes a wide variety of exciting material and a very notable crew of musicians. |
Teaching...When she's not singing, Lila enjoys teaching voice. She loves sharing her experience and knowledge of singing with students of all ages. She teaches part-time in the Twin Cities, both privately and at area institutions. Lila learned from some of the world's most renowned voice teachers and wants to be an inspiration to her students. For more information, please click the link below to her vocal studio website.
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Review..."Not all legacies live up to their heritage, but with her new CD, Nearness of You, Lila Ammons stands tall with the likes of Ravi Coltrane, John Pizzarelli and Marcus Gilmore. The granddaughter of Albert and niece of Gene “Jug” Ammons also proves that one can indeed make a successful leap from classical voice to jazz singer – she can get down with the Blues (“Frustration Frustration,” “Be-baba-leba”), swing with a standard (“What Is This Thing Called Love”), charm with a ballad (the title track, “The Nearness of You”), take you south of the border (“Só Danço Samba,” “Fotografia”), and most of all, engage the listener with a classic sense of time, inventive phrasing, spot-on intonation, and emotive storytelling. And with the impeccable support of her New York band, Nearness of You brings us the nearness of Lila Ammons." - Andrea Canter, Jazz Police
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