Jazz vocalist, Suzy Dalton, has followed an unlikely path to her passion. While she grew up belting out jazz and show tunes at her piano in rural Pennsylvania, for the past decade she has performed as vocalist and bass guitarist for country recording artist, Pat Garrett, sharing the stage with legends like Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, and Charlie Daniels.

A stint playing bass for a blues and jazz band re-ignited her desire to sing the music with which she was raised. “I grew up listening to my parents' records, so the music was ingrained in me early on. As I went through my career in country music, and then became reacquainted with jazz, I realized the artists I liked as a child were Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Dinah Washington, Sarah Vaughan.”

She began to push the envelope at her country shows, putting a jazz spin on country standards. She eventually combined her love of jazz with her love of languages, adding songs in French and Portugese to her repertoire. She went on to perform with Latin jazz group Braziliance, the Jazz Katz, and guitarist extraordinaire, Ken Gehret, before forming her own ensemble.

“To me jazz is associated with glamour and sophistication. I also am attracted to what I call that "deep-down-in-your soul" emotion that jazz singers wring from a song.” She lists her influences as Nina Simone, Diana Krall, Anita O’Day, and Eartha Kitt.

This year the chanteuse takes a giant step, making her debut at the VF Outlet Berks Jazz Fest, one the largest jazz festivals in the country, attracting over 50,000 people to Reading, PA. With her quartet, which includes piano, bass, drums, sax, she performs a variety of jazz standards, mixed with international flair, and just enough of her country background to make her show truly unique.

For more information, contact Pat Garrett Entertainment, (610) 488-1782 or email info@suzydalton.com