Lineup:
April Varner - Vocals
William Hill III - Piano
Aaron Matson - Guitar
Eytan Schillinger-Hyman - Bass

Praised by DownBeat as an artist with “impressive range,” April Varner has gained steady momentum as a supreme vocalist, a bebop technician and a contemporary storyteller. The Toledo-born New Yorker has toured the world, dazzling audiences with her growing mastery of the American Songbook and her creative approach to the vocalese tradition. She has amassed more than 90K+ followers on Instagram and TikTok, and collaborated with a roster of emerging artists and living legends, including Postmodern Jukebox, Kurt Elling, Jane Monheit, John Pizzarelli and many others. She’s also headlined across the US and internationally.

She has enjoyed wide recognition on the competition circuit as a Rising Star Jazz Vocalist in the 73rd Annual DownBeat Critics Poll; winner for one of DownBeat’s Best Albums of 2024; recipient of Honorable Mention in the ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composers Competition; winner of the 2023 International Ella Fitzgerald Jazz Vocal Competition; and a finalist in the Collegiate Combo Competition for the Detroit Jazz Festival in 2020.

April Varner celebrates the release of "Ella," a vibrant tribute album to the First Lady of Song, Ella Fitzgerald, via Cellar Music Group and produced by Grammy-Winning Drummer, Ulysses Owens Jr. The recording finds Varner reimagining Fitzgerald classics through contemporary arrangements that honor the spirit of the original performances while forging an entirely fresh artistic path.