BIOGRAPHY

Angela Bingham grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area listening to everything from the Manhattan Transfer to Wynton Marsalis to Joni Mitchell, to Brasil ’66, and singing along to that music from the time she was very small.

“Everyone in our family was musical – my dad was a singer in college, and my mom plays the piano, so my sister and brother and I were always encouraged to put on shows with costume changes and music. You always knew the Binghams were in the restaurant celebrating when “Happy Birthday” was being rowdily sung in 4-part harmony. Think Von Trapp Family meets the Manhattan Transfer meets the Osmonds. That’s a pretty clear (albeit nerdy) picture of how we were, I think.”

In high school, Angela was the only singer in her high school graduating class to have made it into the California All-State Honor Choir under the direction of Dr. Perla Warren. Her first two years of college were highlighted by singing with the De Anza College Jazz Singers under the direction of Roger Letson, and traveling throughout France with the group Vocal Flight. However, even with a promising talent to continue studying music, she chose the “safer” route of studying Speech & Communication at San Francisco State University.  In San Francisco, she began working in public relations and – eventually working for her parents’ nonprofit art foundation.  A move to Salt Lake City in 1999 reignited her dream to be a singer; out of sheer boredom, she says, she “began hanging out at jam sessions, getting to know musicians. One thing led to another and I was headlining major gigs within a year, and becoming a household name in Utah.”  Angela became an in-demand singer, winning Salt Lake City Weekly’s “Best Jazz in Utah” and garnering media coverage and accolades.

Working with the virtuosic guitarist Kenji Aihara, Angela financed, produced and released a duo voice and guitar album, “Everything I Love” in 2004.  “Everything I Love is a snapshot of what Kenji and I had been doing for three years together. I learned so much about music working with Kenji – about space and time, and how to rely on your fellow musicians. There has to be a shared trust and similar feeling about what you’re doing. Kenji helped me to understand and internalize that.”

A fateful opportunity brought Angela to Brooklyn, New York in late 2005.  Angela’s world changed as she started to become a New Yorker. “The greatest thing about being a New Yorker is that it literally forces you to be yourself. In New York, there is no shortcut to becoming you; there is no room for copying…and there are no apologies.”

Who are her influences today? “I have to credit a lot of my sensibilities to the late Shirley Horn. Any piano player who sings, swings, understands the blues and can deliver the tender-est of ballads really has me right away. Blossom Dearie is another one who comes to mind. And, the great Nat King Cole.  But, of course there are many more jazz and popular artists that have sent me soaring into my own musical dreamland.”

How does she describe her singing? “I took a clue from the universe and started taking piano lessons.  Maybe when I’m 70 I’ll be able to play in public.  I still think even then I’ll be obsessed with simplicity, honest expression, solid swinging and an emphasis on the blues.”