April Varner Quartet

New York City- based Jazz Vocalist, April Varner, makes her Deer Head Inn debut! Winner of the 2023 International Ella Fitzgerald Jazz Vocal Competition, April will pay tribute to her first two inspirations when first beginning to sing jazz in 2016. This collection of arrangements of Ella and Sinatra's greatest hits, along with music from her debut album, "April by April Varner", will have you smiling from ear to ear! This genre-busting collection of all April-titled songs was produced by 2-time Grammy-Award winning drummer, producer and educator, Ulysses Owens Jr. It also featured many other incredible musicians such as Russell Malone, Benny Benack III, Reuben Rogers and Theo Bleckmann. It has received many accolades, such as a 4 out of 5 star review from Downbeat Magazine (October 2024 Issue), was included in Downbeat's "Best Albums of 2024" list (January Issue) and most recently listed in The New York City Jazz Record's "Best of 2024" under "Debuts" and "Vocal Releases" (January Issue). Recognizable by her curly red hair and voice of an “old soul”, April brings her listeners to another place- one long ago when the giants of jazz were still gracing the stage. Amassing several viral videos of 1 million+ views on her social media of her challenging solo transcriptions, cleverly crafted vocaleses and acapella renditions of the Great American Songbook, April’s voice can fit itself into a myriad of different molds. At the age of 27, April has immersed herself deeply into the jazz tradition and has performed/studied with a multitude of legendary artists and jazz luminaries such as Tierney Sutton, Russell Malone, Sachal Vasandani, Jane Monheit, Kurt Elling, and others. April graduated in May of 2022 with her Master’s degree in Jazz Voice Performance from the Manhattan School of Music under the guidance of 2-time Grammy© nominated vocalist and teacher Theo Bleckmann.