Jazz vocalist/poet Jeannette Lambert began singing professionally at coffeehouses at the age of twelve. Born to Dutch and Indonesian parents (both avid music fans), she grew up in Northern Ontario in Canada, and has lived at different times of her life in Paris, New York, and Amsterdam. She is based in Montreal, Quebec where she lives with her husband, drummer/composer Michel Lambert and their two young sons.

Her love of travel and music have led to her working with internationally acclaimed musicians and in the past few years she has performed in concert in France, Holland, Indonesia, Germany and Canada.  Last year she travelled to Jakarta, Indonesia where she performed several concerts and gave vocal and improvisation workshops. Travelling has also greatly influenced her vocal style, as she draws her much of her inspiration from the passionate vocal traditions of flamenco, fado, and jaipong as well as the great jazz artists.

Her seventh cd as a leader, Sand Underfoot, with Barre Phillips, Michel Lambert and special guest Paul Bley,was released in February 2006. Like her previous recording, Lone Jack Pine, it  features improvised music based on her poetry,  distinctive melodies,  and a cast of accomplished improvisers on 13 original pieces exploring humankind's interaction with its environment and the natural world.  She appears on Michel Lambert's recording Unclouded Day, available on the Swedish  label, Ayler Records.

She co-founded the record label Jazz From Rant with her brother, guitarist Reg Schwager, and her husband, drummer Michel Lambert, in 1991.  Her discography includes "Sand Underfoot", "Unclouded Day", "Lone Jack Pine",  "Ask Her", "Bebop for Babies",  "Bebop for Babies 2", "Ballads", "Ballads II", "Songs for the Last Set"; "Forget Me Not".  She began combining her love of poetry and improvising in 1986 for the vocal/drum duo Black Fungus "Endless Walk"  and also for the group Lonely Universe, "A La Plage". The Jeannette Lambert Quartet also appears on "Songposts ", a vocal jazz compilation that includes Steve Lacy, Jeanne Lee, and Sheila Jordan. She recently released "Jeannettically Modified Christmas Songs", recorded after a snowstorm in December.

Musicians she's worked and recorded with include:  Michel Lambert, Reg Schwager, Barre Phillips, Paul Bley, Raoul Bjorkenheim, Mat Maneri, Herbie Spanier, Bobby Few, Jean-Jacques Avenel, Art Johnson, Marc Peillon, Michel Donato, Dave Young, Don Thompson, Pat Collins, Neil Swainson, Rob Piltch, John Geggie,  John McGarvie, Victor Bateman, David French, Kiki Misumi, Perry White, Geoff Lapp, Ron Seguin, and many more.

In the past she performed sound poetry for a workshop of bp nichols' "Space Opera" along with several members of the acclaimed Four Horsemen.   She studied with with vocalist Jay Clayton, the legendary Cecil Taylor and others at the Banff Jazz Workshop.   Her music is included in the soundtrack of Sharon Hyman's film entitled "Arousal" which premiered at the Montreal Film Festival, and the animated cartoon "The Little Match Girl". 

She majored in film production at York University where she began working with multi-media.  Much of the music she has recorded around her poetry has been included in her web art and digital films and she is considered a pioneer in internet cinema.  Her internet films and web art  have been screened in museums and festivals worldwide.  As well, she founded the Jazz Grrls online community for women in jazz.

© Jazz from Rant, 2010.