VAUGHNETTE BIGFORD

Profile Information:

What instrument do you play?

Voice

Who influenced you to listen to jazz

My grandparents, Musicians Theron Shaw, Carlton Zanda, Wilfred Woodley, Jason Baptiste.

How did you find out about the WDCJN?

Internet

My Website

http://www.vaughnettebigford.com

Where are you located?

Trinidad and Tobago

Tell us about yourself

Since her debut in 2004, Vaughnette's rich, earthy jazz vocals have been making audiences sit up and take notice...and she's been developing quite a fan club, too! She is recognised for her haunting delivery of some of the most timeless jazz standards and confesses that when she discovered jazz, she knew she had found a "home".
Hailing from South Trinidad, Vaughnette's professional entry onto the jazz circuit came at the 2004 Steelpan & Jazz Festival (formerly Pan Royale) as guest vocalist with Len "Boogsie" Sharpe and Phase II Pan Groove.
For three consecutive years she graced the stage at the San Fernando Jazz Festival, appearing with Carlton Alexander's Coalpot Band. Also at that Festival, audiences would have been treated to her leading the chorus line for world-renowned Botswanan flugel horn player, Socca Moruakgomo.
Vaughnette has trained and continues to perfect her craft with some of the finest local and foreign vocal coaches and musicians. The list includes Cristiana Balbosa and Jessel Murray (Trinidad), Howard Rees (Toronto), jazz legends Dr. Barry Harris and Hank Jones and vocalist Sheila Jordan. She continues to work with the esteemed Ms. Donna Mc Elroy, a Professor at the Berklee College of Music Voice Department.
Closer to home, Vaughnette has worked with some of Trinidad and Tobago’s most celebrated jazz musicians: Carlton Zanda, Theron Shaw, Raf Robertson, Sean Thomas, Ray Holman and Boston-based Ron Reid. Topping her list of most noteworthy performances to date is her smoldering centre-stage solo act at the YWCA's "Sisters in Song" - a Caribbean jazz concert featuring local greats like Mavis John and Chantal Esdelle, Jazz Artists on the Greens in March, 2009 and her role as guest vocalist to the band Earthsound at Ryles Jazz Club in Boston in June 2009.
Vaughnette remains an active member of the US-based International Women in Jazz (www.internationalwomeninjazzz.com). When she's not spinning her magic on stage, she can be found performing duties as an Occupational Safety and Health practitioner with a major oil company. She is also a student of Berkleemusic online and was one of the few Caribbean nationals to be awarded a scholarship to the prestigious Berklee College of Music Summer Performance Program in 2008.
You can learn more about Vaughnette at her website:
www.vaughnettebigford.com or
www.myspace.com/vaughnettebigford.
http://www.thejazznetworkworldwide.com/profile/VaughnetteBigford

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