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Jane Monheit was born on November 3rd, 1977 and grew up in Oakdale, Long Island. Jane started singing as soon as she could talk; her whole family was, in fact, very musical: both her aunt and her grandmother were professional singers, her mother was involved in musical theater, her father was a banjo player and her brother a rock guitar player. When she was only an elementary school child, she would write, produce, direct and perform her own little theatrical productions for anyone willing to watch. As a girl, she spent countless hours listening to her parents' jazz records, especially Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan,
Carmen McRae and Joni Mitchell, who became her main vocal influences. Her formal vocal training started ad 17 under the guidance of eminent vocal instructor
Peter Eldridge, founding member of the vocal group New York Voices. Her college boyfriend,
To date Jane has recorded four albums: " Never Never Land" (2000), which reached the Billboard Jazz top 10 within weeks of its release, "Come Dream With Me" (2001), "In The Sun" (2002) and now "Taking A Chance On Love" (Sony - 2004).Jane Monheit has been compared to Ella Fitzgerald and Diana Krall, but she forges her own path to stardom with her delicate phrasing and uncanny ability to capture the meaning and essence of a song. We meet Jane Monheit half an hour before the beginning of her concert at Blue Note, Milano, for a short interview. She is getting ready for her last evening here before her departure for New York, and we are grateful for this opportunity of meeting her personally and having her share with us a few of her precious minutes. Our special thanks go to Julie Cattoli - Blue Note Milano. Jane is radiant, fresh and beautiful, and greets us with a warm smile. She doesn't look tense even though the concert is about to start. E.S.: This is your last evening here at Blue Note Milano. Could you tell us something about this set of concerts you held here in Milano?J.M.: Well, this was actually the last Blue Note in the World that we hadn't played yet, and you know, it's the newest of all of Blue Notes, and I'd heard so much about it from some musician friends of mine who all really loved it here, and definitely it's really a beautiful club, a wonderful place to play. We had a really great time and I'm sure we'll be coming back one of these days, I hope so! E.S.:
So...You liked it! E.S.:
Is it somewhat different from the other Blue Notes?
E.S.:
We noticed you're singing a lot of Jobim...
E.S.:
Is there something you would like your Italian fans to know, or something you would like to say? E.S.:
And somebody who you would like to thank from the bottom of your heart, somebody who inspired you, or somebody who helped you in your carreer, apart, of course, from your parents and family? E.S.:
Many people were waiting to see you live, your CDs are circulating, people are buying them, so the audience was looking forward to a tour of yours in Italy. What about your future projects? E.S.:
You are about to leave. Where are you going after Milano?  Interview in russian language (click)
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Rick Montalbano, whom she married in 2002, directed her toward the jazz scene by getting her to sing for his jazz quintet. In 1998, when she was 20, she entered the
Thelonious Monk Institute Vocal Competition encouraged by Peter Eldridge, and she finished the competition first runner-up, becoming the youngest person ever to hold that distinction in the history of the Monk competition; she came in second place to jazz veteran
Teri Thornton. Jane's debut album, "
E.S.:
Have you got a dream?