Richard Cortez — artist
A leader in the new crop of vocal talents emerging from the New York City jazz scene, Richard Cortez’s golden voice handles the Great American Songbook with a deep emotional intelligence, an unbridled passion for song, and-rare and moving-an activist’s relationship to both his material and his audience: Cortez’s unique renderings of timeless treasures by Cole Porter, Billie Holiday, Jerome Kern, and so many others deliver sweetness, self-assuredness and disarming vulnerability with a well-timed wit. Splitting his time between a number of weekly residencies across the city-among them Club Cumming, Metropolitan Bar, and Rebar-Cortez has focused and refined his artistry while growing his wide fan-base. Recent performances in distinguished productions such as Live at Emmet’s Place with the Emmet Cohen Trio, or Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Jazz at Pride with drummer/bandleader Bryan Carter, have marked the vocalist’s career for success. Cortez, known for his ambition and extensive knowledge of The Great American Songbook, breathes exciting new life into this beloved material, forever reminding us that as we progress as a society, so do our stories told within these sacred songs.