Kellylee Evans

Kellylee Evans' interest in jazz was accidental. Lost on the campus of Carleton University, where she studied law and English, she mistakenly reached the music department and fell for what she heard. A vocalist who crosses between jazz and mature retro R&B, her career received a push in 2004 when she finished second in the Thelonious Monk Jazz Competition, judged by the likes of Quincy Jones, Flora Purim, and Al Jarreau. She debuted independently in 2006 with Fight or Flight, which was nominated for a Juno Award and followed the next year by a live version. Nina, a pared-down tribute to Nina Simone, as well as The Good Girl, were released in 2010. The former won a Juno Award in the category of Best Vocal Jazz Album. Universal France issued her fourth proper album, I Remember When, in 2014. The set featured covers of John Legend's "Ordinary People" and Kanye West's "Amazing," as well as "My Name Is," a song inspired by Eminem and classic soul.