Kelsey Wallner Trio

with Chris Rottmayer and John Christensen

Dec 27, 2023

Doors 6PM Show 7PM

Seated show

A Downbeat award-winning vocalist, educator, and bandleader based in Denver, Colorado, Kelsey Wallner charms audiences with intimate, soulful, and inventive interpretations of jazz touchstones while placing the history of the music front and center.

Starting with R&B and soul music, Kelsey began her performance career at a young age in Madison, Wisconsin. Studying the lineage of the music she most loved led her to vocalists Sarah Vaughan, Sheila Jordan, and Carmen McRae who would become her primary influences. In homage to those vocal titans, Kelsey’s performances showcase the conversational aspect of the music, which is all the more personal and exposed in a trio setting.

After earning a Master's Degree in 2023 in Jazz Studies/Vocal Performance, Kelsey has begun to make her mark on the Denver jazz scene. Notably, she has worked as a guide singer for the forthcoming Carmen McRae tribute album Carmen Sings Carmen!, featuring Carmen Bradford and the Compass Jazz Orchestra.

As a highly versatile performer, she is a lead vocalist with funk and bluegrass groups, maintains a private studio of vocal students, and enjoys performing her own jazz projects throughout the front range area.