Stephanie Rooker’s soul-shaking sounds range from saucy r&b, to innovatively revived funk, to jazz-infused ballads.  

Drawing from her broad range of musical influences: from folk music of  her native Appalachia to her immersion in traditional music of Ghana, from  years of classical and jazz training to her distinctive grasp of the cultural  evolution of American gospel--blues--jazz--&--hip-hop, Stephanie Rooker’s  sound is fresh and cultivated. She sings with the careful phrasing of a  soulful Eva Cassidy, the wailing of a young, blues-steeped Bonnie Raitt, and  the self-affirmative slant of Stevie Wonder.

Rooker attended historically progressive Oberlin College, where she designed an independent major in Ethnomusicology with an emphasis on West Africa and the Diaspora. This gave her the opportunity to study for 4 months in Ghana, where she conducted field research and recordings and produced a CD of the traditional music of the Ashanti, Dagomba, and Ga people of Ghana. It was also during this time that she began composing her own music and booked her first tour as an acoustic duo with guitarist Chris Eldridge (of Chris Thile's "Punch  Brothers"). After graduating, Rooker settled in Brooklyn, NY, where she  continued honing her musical abilities and began immersing herself in the New York scene.

Stephanie Rooker has since been performing extensively in New York City and beyond. In 2008, she released her debut CD, Tellin You Right  Now, to a packed house at NYC’s Cutting Room and has since been climbing the  music-scene ladder quickly, performing at such high-profile venues as NYC’s  Blue Note, Washington, D.C.’s Blues Alley & Roanoke, VA’s Jefferson  Center.

Her unique and alluring music is fueled by an almost tangible passion, creating with it a force for empowerment and social change. Supported  by band of seasoned musicians--all mavericks on the New York scene, Rooker's  songs are ripe with innovation and rounded by expertise.

Stephanie Rooker is working on making people listen, on calling us to take a moment to recognize what we have, and what we have to give. She lets her voice loose in the name of the most essential and contagious kind of Love. Rooker hopes that her audiences will reflect, understand and heal, but--most of all--keep on lovin’ one another.

Rooker is currently working on her second studio album, due out in 2010.

Friday, August 28, 2009
 
The Blue Note Jazz Club
131 W. 3rd  St.
New York, NY 10012

For more  information or to purchase tickets, please visit:

www.bluenotejazz.com