Joanna Borromeo
“Borromeo’s stunning vocals are what really catch the ear; she sings with enough soul to drop your jaw.”
“Joanna is the kind of artist that stops you dead in your tracks.”
Biography
Joanna Borromeo is a treasure of Calgary's soul/jazz and R&B music scene, a vocalist, pianist, and Juno-nominated recording artist influenced by some of the deepest, most beautiful musicians in history. Dynamic, heart-felt and undeniably groovy - not to mention, a natural entertainer - Joanna Borromeo delivers a captivating performance wherever she goes. A musician with outstanding versatility, colleagues in the community know and appreciate her for her unique improvisational style, her musical spirit, and candor. Her unwittingly “Libran” approach to making music is one that strikes a compelling balance between musical eloquence and raw, emotional expression. At the piano, she carves out a unique, polished style that takes on a life of its own; her mastery of the instrument produces a dynamic and multi-layered sound that plays with time and space in wholly satisfying ways. Adding to her depth as a musician, Joanna’s warm, dynamic singing style comes with a kind of honed precision that doesn’t strive to be perfect, but to be ‘all soul’.
To date, Joanna has produced two independent albums: Through the Dark (released in 2010) and Kaleidoscope (released in 2014), a record that earned her a Juno Award nomination for Soul/R&B Recording of the Year. Since releasing her first self-produced EP in 2010, her original music has landed on numerous R&B/Soul and Jazz radio charts across Canada and has garnered listeners both at home and abroad. Her music has also landed her opportunities to perform in some of California’s most significant music venues for jazz, hip hop, R&B, and soul, including The Blue Whale in LA and Yoshi’s in San Francisco. Along the way, she has performed at the Edmonton International Jazz Festival, The Medicine Hat Jazz Festival, and the Toronto International Jazz Festival.
Outside of her work as a solo artist, she works as a music collaborator for numerous projects. She’s worked on record projects for producers like Häzel (Drake), Jonah Christian, and Beetsofreen, as well as fellow Calgary-based acts Dragon Fli Empire and Marvin Kee (The Fly). As a touring musician, she’s played festivals in North America, the UK, and the Caribbean, working with established Canadian artists such as Kalabash, Divine Brown, Slakah the Beatchild, and David Myles. When she isn’t performing as a solo artist, Joanna keeps up a steady gigging schedule as a guest member of the jazz group, the Redline Trio, and as a regular contributor to the contemporary classical collective, Calgary Without Patriarchy. In between performance dates, Joanna teaches private music lessons through her studio, Forum School of Music.
Origins
Joanna is a trained pianist in both classical and jazz music, having formally studied at the University of Calgary and Humber College in Toronto. She’s drawn creative inspiration from a myriad of sources, but points out that classical music taught her the most about musicality. The cascading layers of Bach fugues, the painterly characteristics of Debussy preludes, the supreme emotional power inherent in Rachmaninoff compositions and Bartok’s daring approach to 20th century music - those particular hallmarks of creativity served her well when she was accepted as a piano student at Humber College. At the time of her enrolment, Joanna was quite new to the jazz genre, having only joined jazz choirs during her time at the University of Calgary. By graduation, she had made impressive leaps and bounds with jazz (both compositionally and as a performer) and was awarded the President’s Medal, a prestigious accolade that recognizes one graduate for their outstanding artistic and academic achievements. While at Humber, she was mentored by two of Canada’s top jazz pianists, David Restivo and Don Thompson.
While she is rooted in traditional styles of music, Joanna is ultimately a true artist of soul/jazz music. What has always captivated her about the genre is how it continues to propel the true spirit of jazz forward. A focus on innovation and boundary-pushing by way of integrating elements of soul, R&B and hip hop with jazz, soul/jazz music has been both a modality and a home for Joanna. Since her childhood and up until now, Joanna has been that faithful listener to the pioneers, influencers and contributors to soul/jazz and popular music, plucking valuable musical insights from the works of countless producers, vocalists, and instrumentalists in the canon of classic Soul/R&B, Neo-Soul, and contemporary R&B.
Band
No matter the configuration, whether as a soloist, a trio, or a full band with horns and background vocalists, Joanna Borromeo gives a truly memorable show that is undeniably soulful, funky, and jazzy. Her lineup is made up of a roster wonderfully talented, diverse musicians who, collectively, have achieved their own Juno nominations and Masters of Music degrees, and continue to enjoy full, vibrant careers in music performance and education.
Joanna regularly performs with:
Daniel Nava - electric bass
Luis Tovar - drums
Carl Janzen - guitar
Andre Wickenheiser - trumpet
Mark DeJong - tenor sax
Emily Slaney - background vocals
Lorie Jane Querubin - background vocals
Awards & nominations
2014 Juno Award Nomination for R&B/Soul Recording of the Year - Kaleidoscope
2013 Western Canadian Music Award for Urban Recording of the Year - Kaleidoscope
#9 on the National Jazz Charts (Canada; March 2013) - Kaleidoscope
Winning Finalist for R&B Song Category - John Lennon Songwriting Competition (2010) - Through the Dark
Winning Finalist for R&B Song Category - Great American Song Contest (2009) - Through the Dark