‘A Beguiling Soulfulness’ – JazzTimes

'A voice of deep grainy power ... Dubé has a quick-witted musicality' - Daily Telegraph

Deelee Dubé (pronounced Doo-beh, accented “é”) made history by becoming the first British Winner and recipient of the 2016 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition and is one of today’s foremost gifted vocalists to have emerged from the London scene in many years. Embodying a stellar African musical lineage, the eclectic tastes of a London upbringing, and a deep love and respect for the jazz tradition, Deelee possesses what Jazz Times called ‘a warm tone, genuine blues feeling, and easy rhythmic authority.’ Deelee’s late father was the famed South African jazz pianist Jabu Nkosi; her grandfather another legendary figure from the country’s music scene, saxophonist and bandleader Zacks (Isaac) Nkosi. Deelee was brought up with music all around her. She received violin lessons at the age of four and formed her first band at the age of 14. She studied music at the BRIT School of Performing Arts & Technology forming the first of many musical relationships with jazz pianist Roland Perrin. She has also received private tutelage from jazz vocalist and teacher Rachel Gould and tenor saxophonist Renato D’Aiello, amongst others.

A songwriter as well as a vocalist, Deelee has had her work reach the semi-finals of the UK Songwriting (UKSC) Contest. She also teaches as a freelance voice practitioner/coach and singing teacher, conducting one-on-one sessions under her practice 'Vocal Insight™' (endorsed by the Prince’s Trust). Her approach is holistic and utilises her own experiential knowledge based on the embodied voice combined with music theory. An advocate of vocal pedagogy, well-being, humanitarian and philanthropic causes, Deelee gives masterclasses around the world at notable institutions such as Scuola di Musica Il Pentagramma (Bari, Italy), Fabrica La Isleta (Las Palmas de Gran Canaria), the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, the Royal Central School of Speech & Drama, and previously at Watford Palace Theatre (UK).

Deelee is also a fine artist as well as a poet and has had her artwork exhibited at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre and her poetry published in Write & Shine (Poetry Now Young Writers Book, 1995), and the Book of Dreams (United Press, 2010).

A regular performer at the legendary London venue Ronnie Scott’s with saxophonist Renato D'Aiello, Deelee has played at the Hackney Empire, Queen Elizabeth Hall, The Troubadour, Pizza Express (Dean St.) Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club, 12 Bar, Bush Hall, Caffe Chioggia (Venice, Italy), Royal Albert Hall, 606 Club, Cadogan Hall, Swanage Jazz Festival, NJPAC (Newark, NJ), Scullers Jazz Club (Boston, USA), Side Door Jazz, (CT, USA) and many other venues and festivals large and small. She has appeared in music videos for Florence & The Machine and Barclaycard, and in April 1998 performed in the chorus of Mark-Anthony Turnage's Greek at Queen Elizabeth Hall.

Highlights from 2017/2018 include an interview on London Live TV with Alex Beard, a brief tour of North America, and a successful debut performance at the Montreal Jazz Festival in Quebec, Canada, during which time Deelee was interviewed by the late American author and freelance journalist Reese Elrich for Jazz Perspectives.

This was followed by a stellar performance in April 2017 when Deelee was invited by the Ministry of Education and Culture in Ceuta, Spain to perform a live concert at the Teatro Auditorio Revellin in Ceuta as part of International Jazz Day, organised in collaboration with the association La Coctelera and UNESCO, which was met with rave reviews by the Spanish press.

In 2018 Deelee also performed as part of the Royal Albert Hall’s 150th Anniversary series ‘Celebrating ‘Women and the Hall’.

In 2017, Deelee was offered a placement and scholarship to study in the postgraduate Master’s degree program in Voice Studies at the Royal Central School of Speech and Drama in London. Deelee graduated in December 2018 and was awarded a Master of Arts degree in Voice Studies by the University of London at the Royal Festival Hall within Southbank Centre, London.

Between 2018/2019 Deelee Dubé embarked on a new collaborative project as a special guest with Tony Kofi’s Quintet for “A Portrait of Cannonball,” which started during the early quarter of 2018 (with the first show performed at Hideaway Jazz Club on 1st March 2018). The show featured Byron Wallen on Cornet/Trumpet (and occasionally Andy Davies on Trumpet), Alex Webb on Piano, Andy Cleyndert on double bass, and Alfonso Vitale on drums. This marked the first of a string of highly successful and critically acclaimed performances throughout the UK, which extended from early 2018 through to late 2019. The last performance of this UK tour, which featured Deelee, took place at the ‘Other Palace”, Victoria on 23rd November 2019 as part of the EFG London Jazz Festival. Read the review from Forbes here.

In December 2019 Deelee returned to Spain to perform in Malaga and Algeciras with acclaimed Spanish jazz pianist Juan Galiardo’s Trio for the annual charity concert Navi Jazz Con Amor and was greeted with rapturous applause, accolades, and encores from the Spanish audience and press.

Highlights for 2020 include Deelee’s successful debut performance at Southport Jazz Festival in early February. However, in light of the unprecedented and transformational global challenges of2020, live events have become minimal. Deelee’s highly successful virtual performance for Brecon Jazz Festival Online took place during the summer of early August. On 2nd August 2020, Deelee was interviewed by BBC Wales broadcaster Roy Noble about her performance for BJF 2020 online, as well as her collaboration with Juan Galiardo’s Trio, which was recorded remotely between Granada, Spain, and London. For the first time in its 37 year history, the BJF festival was streamed online via Anglo-French digital music platform Vialma to a global audience and received accolades from regular attendees and supporters as well as rave reviews from the Welsh press.

In August 2020, Deelee delivered an exclusive set with her trio, which was recorded remotely from home and live-streamed via YouTube as part of Royal Albert Home sessions. For the first time in its 150 year history, the iconic Royal Albert Hall closed its doors to the general public, thus bringing a halt to all live events and performances within its premises. However, the #RoyalAlbertHome series proved to be hugely successful in its attempt to support the iconic venue’s closure due to the global crisis of 2020.

Following this, Deelee formed a part of the first inaugural Black Britain and Beyond symposium in October 2020, which was centered around “Being and Belonging”. This event aimed to provide a wider understanding and relevance to the meaning “Black Britishness”, to take stock of its achievements and examine its challenges. The virtual performance, taken from her BJF2020 online set, was live-streamed to a global audience as part of the symposium alongside a selection of other established and emerging black British artists and poets.

On the 8th of December 2020 ‘Trying Times’ was officially released and received global distribution on all digital platforms.

On 20th July 2021, it was announced that Deelee was nominated in five different categories for the South African Mzantsi Jazz Awards,

On 28th August 2021, Deelee won the award for Best International Jazz Collaboration for the South African Mzantsi Jazz Awards at an award ceremony that was held virtually.

On 28th October 2021, Deelee performed at the Royal Albert Hall (Late Night Jazz in the Elgar Room) which launched the physical release of her debut award-winning album, ‘Trying Times’.

On 13th November 2021, for the second year running, Deelee performed as a headline act for the ‘Black Britain & Beyond’ Symposium and Reception in Newcastle, organised in conjunction with Newcastle University.

In April 2022, Deelee returned to San Roque, Cádiz, Spain for a successful debut performance at Teatro Juan Luis Galiardo as part of the II Festival de Jazz de San Roque with Juan Galiardo’s Trio, organised in association with Rizoma Records.

In addition, a recording of the live performance was broadcast via social media as part of International Jazz Day on 30th April 2022.

In July 2022, Deelee returned to the BRIT School of Performing Arts as an alumna to celebrate and perform live at BRIT30, the school’s 30th-anniversary event.

Deelee returned to Spain in August 2022 to conduct a series of voice and music workshops, as well as masterclasses with a faculty of fellow acclaimed musicians and professors for the II Seminario Jazz de León in association with Escuela de Música +Qmúsica and the Universidad de León. The week concluded with an all-star live outdoor concierto at Puerta Castillo, León.

In September 2022, Angel Eyes was digitally released as part of the ‘Love Ballads’ collection (recorded with the Juan Galiardo Trio and commissioned as part of the Brecon Jazz Festival in 2020) and was selected as Jazz FM’s dinner jazz track of the week on Mark Walker’s show in August 2022.

This was followed by the digital single release of Cherokee (Ray Noble) in December 2022.

In November 2022, it was announced that the podcast training series ‘Decolonising the Voice’ (auralia.space) was shortlisted as a finalist in the Outstanding Drama Education Resource category for the Music and Drama Education Awards 2023.

In November 2022, Deelee delivered a successful and sold-out performance at the Cadogan Hall’s Culford Room in ‘Deelee Dubé Presents a Portrait of Nancy & Cannonball’ as part of the EFG London Jazz Festival 2022.

In July 2023 Deelee was nominated in two categories for Best Jazz Song and Best Female Jazz Artist at the 7th Annual Mzantsi Jazz Awards in South Africa following the release of two singles that stem from the 'Love Ballads EP' with Spanish Jazz pianist Juan Galiardo's Trio. Dubé's recording of Ray Noble's Cherokee (a recording project that was commissioned by the Brecon Jazz Festival) received much critical acclaim. You can listen to Cherokee and Angel Eyes via Spotify, which were both selected as Jazz FM Dinner Jazz Tracks of the Week.

Furthermore, Deelee’s recording of Ray Noble’s Cherokee was successfully entered for GRAMMY Consideration at the Recording Academy™ in 2023.

Deelee’s first journey to Johannesburg finally happened in August, where she performed at the vibrant Soweto Theatre as part of the South African Mzantsi Jazz Awards 2023 Awards Ceremony. She also completed a series of PR engagements that included radio interviews at Alex FM with Bongani Ntshingila, Power FM with Morio Sanyane, and Metro FM with Nothemba Madumo in August 2023.

Upon her return to London, she briefly spoke to Times Radio broadcaster Ayesha Hazarika about her upcoming Royal Albert concert in the Elgar Room and performed an acoustic version of Cherokee live on air at Times Radio (with Christian Miller on Guitar and Guy Dempsey on Double Bass).

In addition, it was announced that Deelee’s live acoustic performance at Times Radio was the first-ever live studio broadcast for Ayesha Hazarika’s show, resulting in quite an honorable and historic event.

Deelee returned to perform at the iconic Royal Albert Hall for Late Night Jazz in the Elgar Room on 23 November 2023 with: Royal Albert Hall Presents Deelee Dubé: A Portrait of Nancy & Cannonball, where she was joined by a Stellar line-up: Tony Kofi, on Alto Saxophone, Byron Wallen on Trumpet, Alex Webb on Piano, Matyas Hofecker on Double Bass, and Matt Home on Drums.

This was followed by a successful debut performance at the Mohammed V Theatre in Morocco, Rabat on 25 November 2023 as part of the 10th Annual Edition of the Visa For Music Festival 2023 in partnership with the British Council. She performed with a brilliant trio that included Luis Sanchez Guerra (from Gran Canaria) on Piano, Guy Dempsey on double bass, and Kai Macrae on Drums (both from London and studying at the Royal Academy of Music).

All proceeds from the performances were donated to the special relief fund for managing the earthquake effects that recently struck the kingdom of Morocco.

Deelee is currently performing and working on new material.

Reviews:

"Authentic, swinging, soulful: Here's to Deelee Dubé, NJPAC's 5th Sarah Vaughan vocal comp winner! The Divine One is smiling from on high!"

— John Schreiber NJPAC President and CEO / Sarah Vaughan’s Road Manager

“Dubé, whose deft...performance pointed to the power inherent in connecting with one’s own unique voice.”

— Downbeat

'One of the most exciting gigs of the year... Deelee Dubé was not overshadowed in this illustrious company... it [is] a marvellous surprise and a real lift to be in on the discovery of a brilliant new voice.'

– Brian Blain (London Jazz News)

“[...] the louder part of their applause for singer Deelee Dubé’s recall of Nancy Wilson’s collaboration with Adderley... [but] she’s a crowd-pleaser with serious vocal capabilities...”
– Jazzwise Magazine

‘The first British winner of the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition, Deelee’s rich vocals captured the spirit Kofi was looking to create... a rousing end to a superb set.’
– Jazz Journal

‘Ms. Dubé, the first British recipient of the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Award, has a voice of the purest gold’

– Trevor Bannister (for the JazzMann)

“This was my first real exposure to the vocal artistry of Deelee Dube and I was suitably impressed. She’s certainly a name to look out for in the future.”

— Ian Mann (Virtual Brecon Jazz 2020)

‘Deelee has an outstandingly real classic jazz voice, a rarity these days and also a throwback to the golden age, that's why we beat a path to hear her play.’ 

— Stephen Graham, Marlbank Jazz 

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