Vocalist, Annie Averre grew up in the Pacific Northwest...

 

Hers was an artistic family (her father a singer and choral director and her mother a painter and gallery curator) She began music lessons at the age of seven. Annie credits her father´s musicality and the family’s relative seclusion as reasons for her musical passions. "I grew up in the country with no other homes around with the exception of the farm down the road," she recalled. "I would come home from school; practice piano, go on weekend painting excursions in the high mountain desert with my mother and every Wednesday join my dad at choir practice or play rehearsal."

 

Annie plays finger-style guitar and her early jazz studies began in

a living room with the legendary jazz vocalist and dear friend

Nancy King. In her formative twenties, she performed in Portland,

the Willamette Valley and along the Oregon coast. She moved then

to the big island of Hawaii and eventually to the east coast (New

York, Pennsylvania) with her husband, jazz drummer Dave Averre. 

Once married, she set her musical career aside for marriage and

family.  While postponing her creative endeavors, she taught at

performing arts high schools, frequenting performances and

clinics as often as possible. She immersed herself in vibrant arts

integrated education environments. "I returned to singing

professionally when my sons were in their early twenties"

 

After relocating to Portland, Annie met jazz pianist Mike Horsfall

who, along with her husband encouraged her to return to singing,

playing for her at a wine bistro on the Oregon Coast. She later put

a trio together with pianist Mark Simon during a local jazz festival

weekend and eventually a jazz club opened up on the Newport

Bay Front attracting some of the region's top players.

Seizing this opportunity, she booked gigs with pianists Mike Horsfall, George Mitchell, Bill Beach, bassists Craig Snazelle and Dave Captein. Guitarist Jon Stowell was a regular at the club and would often invite her up on stage. A steady gig for several years with an acoustic jazz trio allowed her to hone her jazz chops and refine a repertoire. The

trio’s collaboration moved from stage to studio when Annie recorded "Calling Me Home," a CD featuring thirteen original and standard tunes. She just completed a  CD "Amongst Friends" at Heavywood Studios with Randy Porter  be released in March 2015.

 

Annie continues to win audiences and performs at some of the region’s leading jazz venues. She has performed in concerts and clubs with a long list of regional luminaries including Dave Captein (bass), Lee Wuthernow (saxophone) Randy Porter, George Mitchell, Bill Beach, Gordon Lee, and Steve Christofferson (piano), Christopher Woitach (guitar) and as guest vocalist for the Blueprints Trio, composing lyrics to original songs by the group.