Young vocalist Renée Yoxon is a central figure in Ottawa’s jazz scene thanks to her grace, captivating presence and beautiful voice. In only a few short years, Renée has firmly established herself as a musician dedicated to the art of jazz singing.

In 2005, while pursuing her bachelor’s degree in physics, Renée began her jazz studies with acclaimed Toronto jazz vocalist Tena Palmer. In 2009, Renée was awarded her BSc in physics, with minors in math and music. In 2010 Renée released her first album entitled Let’s Call it a Day, a minimal and intimate, jazz-inspired guitar/voice duo with veteran guitarist René Gely. This work showcases her clear and unembellished lyrical delivery, poignant song choice, and emotionally charged performance. Physical copies of Let’s Call it a Day sold out within the first year of its release. In 2011 Renée received an Astral Emerging Artist Award from the National Arts Centre and Astral Radio which helped to fund a summer in New York studying with John McNeil, Janet Lawson, Peter Eldridge, and Karen Nimereala.

This year Renée co-produced an event entitled My Pal Frishberg: a night of song of Dave Frishberg. The work received this review from Dave Frishberg himself: “I like your treatment of my songs, I like your singing, I like your attitude, and I like your pianist.” Also this year, Renée attended the Banff International Workshop in Jazz and Creative Music with financial help from The Banff Centre and the Canada Council for the Arts.

In December of 2012, Renée will be releasing her second full length CD, Here We Go Again, an album of original music co-written by herself and pianist Mark Ferguson.