Jane Monheit really is a gifted performer. Despite her natural talent, the circumstances of her youth were a huge help in launching what has rapidly become a very successful career. One of the few non-black female jazz artists to have won two Grammy Awards, Monheit is on a roll and has no intention of slowing down anytime soon.

Getting Off to a Great Start

Born in 1977, this talented jazz artist got a good start in music by attending summer school at the Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts. Her talent quickly became obvious, not only in clarinet and piano, but also in vocals. The young girl impressed everyone with her singing.

After graduating from high school, Monheit went on to study at Manhattan School of Music in New York. There, she was a student of Peter Elridge and graduated with honors in 1999, as well as with a BA in Music. Before leaving the school, she even won the William H. Borden Award for Outstanding Accomplishment in Jazz and was first runner up for the 1998 Thelonious Monk Institute Vocal Competition, winning a scholarship to continue her education in the world of music.

From Unknown to Jazz

Though we know Jane Monheit as a great jazz artist these days, she experimented with a variety of sounds in her early days. In 2000, she released her debut album, Never Never Land. By this time, she was being hailed as the next Diana Krall.  The album was a hit, but no one could decide just where her music belonged . . . it was still fairly undefined.

Her second album, Come Dream with Me, was released the following year and had a decidedly jazz tone to it. While this album wasn`t as widely praised as the first, Monheit had found her direction.

Since then, the talented female jazz artist has released 6 other albums with another to come in 2009. Despite being a mother and wife now, she is still going strong. She has played her music in nearly every major concert hall in the world, as well as most well-known jazz venues. Her music has been used in soundtracks and she has been a guest on many noted television shows, including Letterman, the Today Show and The View, among others.

Jane Monheim has taken her blessed beginnings and turned them into something to be proud of, taking her place among the great female jazz artists in history.