Maria De Angelis, currently living in France, was born in Syracuse, NY. She has been singing jazz standards for more than 25 years. She lived in NYC from 1991-1997. In 1994 she was a finalist in the first Thelonious Monk International Jazz Vocal Competition.

She studied under several jazz greats, including Sheila Jordan, Mark Murphy, Andy Bey, and Sal Mosca -- all of whom sat in at her five-year steady Monday night gig at Eamonn Doran, a Manhattan restaurant. Her first gigs in New York were accompanied by her roommates Joshua Redman, Jordi Rossy, and Michael Kanan. She has been singing for more than 15 years with her favorite NYC-based trio -- Michael Kanan on piano, Neal Miner on bass, and Tim Pleasant on drums -- and has recorded four CD’s with them.

In 1997 Maria moved back to Syracuse, where she began a songwriting collaboration with pianist and composer Phil Klein, who is now 80-something. In eleven years of working together they wrote 100+ songs, a dozen of them in French. Several of these songs were placed in prime time TV shows (The Young and the Restless, Cashmere Mafia, One Life to Live) and in two motion pictures (Bigger Than the Sky, Grey Matters).
 

Maria has produced 5 CD’s, mostly comprising these songs, all of which are available on CDBaby.com. The first four CD’s (Nothing Is Forever, Cupid’s Got a Mean Streak, This One’s For O., Hot Summer) feature the piano jazz trio mentioned above.

The most recent CD (Snapshot Songs) showcases more than 20 of the more commercial products of the Klein-De Angelis collaboration, with pop, funk, country, and jazz represented using different arrangements and several lead voices. Phil and Maria are sure there is at least one hit song in this compilation.

Maria has also produced CD’s for several other vocal artists. She has been playing jazz guitar for the past five years. She produced three sold-out shows which included Syracuse-based jazz musicians Phil Flanigan and Hanna Richardson (Mean to (All of ) Me: A Codependent Songbook; A Joni Mitchell Tribute; and Black Beans and Pink Popcorn: A Night of Bossa Nova). Maria played guitar and sang lead on Joni Mitchell and Bossa Nova. The latter was recorded live and is currently in production to become a CD.

De Angelis moved to France in July 2008 with her husband Pierre and daughter Olivia, now 8. She has sung with Paris pianists Tom McClung and Stefan Vasnier, and in the south of France with pianists Ben Aronov and Norbert Grisot. She will begin singing concerts in autumn 2009. She also sings with the Aix en Provence-based rock band The True Ones.

Maria’s CD’s are available on CDBaby.com.