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Chris McNulty
Biography
Originally from Australia but based in New York City, Chris McNulty is a warm, tasteful jazz vocalist with a gentle touch and a subtle sense of swing. The Aussie isn't one to favor abstraction for the sake of abstraction, or difficulty for the sake of difficulty; her work has tended to be on the accessible side. Sarah Vaughan and Ella Fitzgerald have often been cited as influences, and one also hears slight traces of Cool School favorites like June Christy, Chris Connor, and Anita O'Day in McNulty's phrasing. Another person who has had a slight effect on McNulty -- either directly or indirectly -- is Jo Stafford. But unlike Stafford -- who was a pop singer with jazz influences -- McNulty essentially falls into the jazz category. That isn't to say that she is oblivious to popular culture; actually, McNulty embraced popular music before she embraced jazz.

McNulty was born and raised in Melbourne, Australia, where she started out singing rock, R&B, and pop. Back in the early '70s, her tastes ranged from soul singers like Marvin Gaye, Aretha Franklin, Stevie Wonder, and Donny Hathaway to progressive rockers Yes to the jazz-influenced traditional pop of Frank Sinatra and Tony Bennett.
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