Success is not one event. Success
is a culmination of many events.
Born in Newark, New Jersey, she discovered her voice at the age of three. Always singing and humming, many times her brothers and sisters would implore her to ‘be quiet’ or outright tell her to ‘shut up’ while at the dinner table. They would tease her with ‘you can’t sing’. This contributed to her shyness where she would then retreat to her all-time favorite place to sing…the bathroom…because it had a nice sound. Later, she learned this was called ‘reverb’.
… Worthy of at least a Grammy
nomination for best ‘Jazz Solo
Performance.’
Family gatherings turned into talent shows where Gospel, R&B, Doo Wop, Blues and poetry were displayed. Everybody was a star! So naturally being a part of this artistically inclined clan, as well as participating in the church and school youth choirs, helped foster her love for music.
Not necessarily believing she would or could pursue a career in entertainment she went on to Hampton University to major in business and after graduation she worked with a major corporation as a sales representative. Unfulfilled, she eventually decided to explore music to see where it would take her.
“My Funny Valentine” is incendiary, a fitting display for the turn of the millennium.
A turning point in Eve’s career was when she won the ‘The “BET” Jazz Discovery Award [Black Entertainment Television]. She was rewarded with a 30-minute television segment on BET Jazz which was shown repeatedly for years and in addition to that honor, she also hosted a ‘BET Jazzy Vocals’ TV show.
Since then, she has enjoyed a remarkable career touring nationally and abroad. She has recorded and/or performed with Ramsey Lewis, Chucho Valdez, Jon Hendricks, Mulgrew Miller, Norman Connors, Dr. Lonnie Smith, Winard Harper, Javon Jackson, Mark Whitfield, Alvin Atkinson, Chip Crawford, Roy Hargrove and a host of others.
… 4 bright and shining stars.
That achievement assisted her in traveling to many countries [recently Russia, Kyrgyzstan, Turkey] not to mention the opportunity to be featured on album projects including Ramsey Lewis’ “Sky Island”, Norman Connors’ “Remember Who You Are”, Javon Jackson’s “Easy Does It” and currently, Nick Vintskevich’s “Vive L’Amour” [which she co-wrote five tunes].
Miles would have dug it.
As a leader Eve co-produced three albums “Faces of Eve”, “I Feel Like Some Jazz Today” and “Live @ Smoke”…these varying projects embodying Jazz, Funk, Soul, Blues, R&B, Vocalese and Composition…display an openness to versatility and creativity.
The vocal rendition of Miles’ ‘Flamenco Sketches’ on ‘IFLSJT’ is featured on the prestigious Smithsonian Institute Jazz-radio.
She was awarded:
- The “BET” Jazz Vocal Discovery Award [Black Entertainment Television]
- The Jazz Composers Fellowship Award [North Carolina Arts Council]
- The “INDIE” Award
- The Lionel Hampton Jazz Performance Award
- The Russian Jazz Performance Award
Armed with three bachelors degrees, business management from Hampton University; the general music and jazz performance degrees from North Carolina Central University (NCCU), she is an impassioned educator and has taught music to all ages around the world. Appointed the first ‘jazz vocal’ teacher in North Carolina at East Carolina University, Eve continually strives to create, present and promote jazz music through concerts, festivals, clinics and academic residencies.
Eve Cornelious is an obvious
jazz singer, and a very good one… warm voice and swinging style
makes one wonder why she is not
a lot more famous.
Some of her original programs are:
- JaZzutainment – A lecture/demonstration for children of all ages tracing jazz history.
- The Body and Soul Clinic – Various transcriptions of the composition, “Body and Soul”, as performed by legendary singers who have had an historical effect on vocal jazz. Debut at the International Association of Jazz Educators, 2002.
- The Shepard JaZz Camp – Ages 11-16 studying jazz improvisation and jazz history.
- JaZzVoxfest! – An original vocal festival conceived in Durham, NC presenting “The Art of Jazz Singing” introducing new and experienced singers this program created a jazz endowment scholarship fund at NCCU.)
