YVETTE NORWOOD-TIGER 

Award-wining jazz vocalist, recording and international touring artist, songwriter, Recording Academy (GRAMMY) voting member, and founder/director of the Palm Beach International Jazz Festival (www.pbijf.org), Yvette Norwood-Tiger, is a Detroit, Michigan native who hails from a family of musicians. Yvette performs with vocally clean and pure interpretations, while emphasizing intonation and storytelling.  Her vocal styling and texture are often compared to that of Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday.  In addition to jazz standards, her repertoire includes the Great American Songbook, standards, bebop, and Latin jazz.  She also performs jazz songs in other languages.

In addition to her jazz compositions, her recordings feature music from great composers such as Cole Porter, Duke Ellington, the Gershwins, John Coltrane, Dexter Gordon, and others. Yvette’s CD, LOVE IS, stayed on JAZZWEEK'S charts for over sixteen weeks.  Yvette's newest CD, AUTUMN SUN, is a grand tribute to the forefathers of bebop, including Wayne Shorter, Dizzy Gillespie, Thelonious Monk, and others.

Yvette resides in south Florida where she performs extensively, including performances at the Raymond F. Kravis Center in West Palm Beach, the Arts Garage in Delray Beach, and the Cultural Council for Palm Beach County. Yvette performs in Europe, South Africa, South America, the UK, the Caribbean, as well as various venues in the US including Florida, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and Michigan.  Yvette has performed internationally at historic jazz venues and has sat in several times with jazz orchestra The Cotton Club All Stars at the famous Cotton Club in Harlem, NY.  She has also sat in with the late saxophonist David Fathead Newman, guitarist Bucky Pizzarelli, family members of Celine Dion, Tito Puente, Jr., and Jay Beckenstein and Tom Schuman of Spyro Gyra. 

Yvette is a recipient of the Cultural Council for Palm Beach County 2022 Artist Innovation Fellowship Program Awards. Yvette was also nominated for the South Florida Indie Awards 2022 - Best Jazz Vocalist. In 2021, Yvette was interviewed and featured in the PBS South Florida "On The Town - Black Voices" segment.  She was also featured in a short film titled "Art Meets Jazz on J Street". A film produced and directed by south Florida film maker, James Venable.  Art Meets Jazz on J Street is the winner of the 2018 Wavelengths Awards.  

Yvette is a true vocal natural in any setting from jazz festivals to intimate jazz clubs. She captivates the audience whether she’s singing with an ensemble featuring piano, bass, drums, trumpet, and saxophone; with a piano or guitar accompanist; or with a full orchestra.  Yvette's mission in music is to uplift, inspire, and entertain her audience through song, lyrics, and storytelling of her personal journey. 

According to press clippings from the Two River Times, "the swingin’ and groovin’ singer’s career is on the fast track. Whether she is backed with a full jazz ensemble or with a piano accompanist, she sets an authentic jazzy mood for true jazz listeners." 

AWARDS:

Recipient - Cultural Council for Palm Beach County 2022 Artist Innovation Fellowship Program Award

Nominated for South Florida Indie Awards 2022 - Best Jazz Vocalist

AFFILIATIONS:

The Recording Academy (GRAMMY) - Voting Member

The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP) - Member

Cultural Council for Palm Beach County - Performing Member

Women in Jazz South Florida - Member/Past President

PAST CONCERT PERFORMANCES (Partial list) -

Arts Garage – Delray Beach, Florida – 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2023 

B-Flat Acoustic Music + Jazz Club, Berlin, Germany – 2017 

Birdland Jazz Club, New York, New York – 2019 

Cliff Bell’s Jazz Club, Detroit, Michigan – 2018, 2019, 2020 

Elegance Café Jazz Club – Rome, Italy – 2019, 2022 

Raymond F. Kravis Center, West Palm Beach, Florida – 2016 

Martin County Art Festival, Martin County, FL – 2022 

Miami International Jazz Festival, Miami, Florida – 2018 

Muizenberg Jazz Festival, Muizenberg, South Africa – 2017 

Music Hall (Aretha Franklin’s) Jazz Café, Detroit, Michigan – 2016 

Olympia Theater, Miami, Florida – 2019 

Palais Des Beaux-Arts (BOZAR), Brussels, Belgium – 2017 

Palazzo de Pesce, Moli di Bari, Italy – 2022 

Palm Beach International Jazz Festival – 2019-2023 

PBS Interview – Black Voices, July 1, 2021 

Pecoranera Jazz Club, Naples, Italy – 2022 

Royal Albert Hall, London, England UK – 2017, 2018, 2019 

Skylab, Colliano, Italy – 2019 

The Historic Hampton House, Miami, Florida – 2019 

The Jazzy Rainbow, Durban, South Africa – 2017 

Various venues throughout New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Florida, Europe (2004-2023)

The first time I heard Yvette sing, was when she was with a jazz band called The Jazz Cats.  In the past, this band played at Wellington’s Village Music and Café every second Thursday of the month.  I can recall not just falling in love with her smooth yet robust voice when she sang the Classic “At last” by Etta James but also captivated by her peaceful and graceful smile-a smile that she displayed so graciously with band members and her audience.  Yvette’s smile is reminiscent of a warm embrace and a bond or seal with which she connects with the public, both domestically and abroad.   Looking back, I realize, that I had longed to interview her one day.  At last, that “one day” has come to fruition…" ( https://aroundwellington.com/all-that-jazz-an-interview-with-jazz-vocalist-yvette-norwood-tiger/) - Denise Marsh -AroundWellington.com.

“Tiger’s moving rendition of Irving Berlin’s timeless tune “Blues Skies” on Love Is demonstrates her ability to connect to the story being told.Love-Is- CD Her expressive voice gives the song relevance in a modern age. She observes, “Of course, we all experience many ups and downs in our life and ‘Blue Skies,’ to me, celebrates those up times in life when it seems as though everything is going my way. I wrote the lyrics for the intro, which is the melody of one of my favorite jazz concert orchestrations – ‘Rhapsody In Blue’ by George Gershwin.”” - Susan Frances - Modern Jazz

“The romance that jazz brings, Yvette Norwood-Tiger, celebrating the music of Ella Fitzgerald. engaging, consummate professional and oh ... her side-men, of the best that brought us under the influence. Blake Hellaby on grand piano, Lumanyano Unity Mzion drums, Sean Sanby on upright bass and Marco Maritz on trumpet. The ensemble entranced, romanced and finally mesmerized us ... bewitched, bothered, then bewildered us. I had arrived in 5th heaven, resting place of jazz romantics.” - Joey Fourie