Carol Duboc

Acclaimed jazz singer, pianist, composer, producer and engineer, Carol Duboc, celebrates the enduring power of women on her new and highly anticipated solo recording, Open The Curtains. Duboc, who has been first call for such heavyweights as Earth Wind & Fire's Maurice White, Teddy Riley and George Duke, has assembled a star-studded line-up of musicians, who not only happen to be women but who are also some of the baddest musicians to grace this planet. As the title alludes, Open The Curtains, is the unveiling of a monumental musical movement that is sure to be met with a standing ovation. Recorded over a two-month span, Carol Duboc's eighth album as a leader enlists an enviable cast of all-stars featuring percussionist Sheila E., pianist/vocalist Patrice Rushen, saxophonist Mindi Abair, guitarists Bibi McGill and Jennifer Batten, drummer Queen Cora Coleman, bassist Rhonda Smith and trombonist and singer Aubrey Logan. Collectively these women have collaborated with everyone from Stevie Wonder, Carlos Santana and Prince to Michael Jackson and Beyoncé, and beautifully carry Duboc's message of female strength, wisdom and independence forward with grace, brawn and undeniable hipness. In a cookie-cutter industry, Duboc, has dared to chart her own musical path. Firmly rooted in the jazz and R&B traditions, she calls upon her rich reservoir of influences and conjures up a regal celebration exploring issues of self-empowerment and identity, love, loss and renewal. While seven of the ten songs on Open The Curtains are originals penned by Carol, she chooses to pay tribute to a trio of women who have long inspired her - Nina Simone, Patrice Rushen and Peggy Lee. Among Carol's original songs on Open the Curtains is the triumphant, soulful and percussive "In Pieces," featuring the undeniable Afro-Latin percussive funk of Sheila E. and the soulfully swooning saxophone of Mindi Abair. Hailing from a musical family in Kansas City, MO, by the time Carol Duboc was four she was already dazzling family members with performances of the entire musical My Fair Lady. By five she was playing the piano and it was not long before she began studying the saxophone. Her father, who was a drummer, introduced her to a lot of music including Lionel Hampton and Frank Sinatra, who were frequently playing in the house. Duboc, went on to join the Kansas City Performing Arts Company as a singer and actress. Incidentally, the Renaissance woman actually made a cameo in the 2005 film Be Cool starring John Travolta and Uma Thurman! Duboc eventually relocated to Los Angeles to attend U.S.C.'s School of Music as a double major in composition and vocal performance and a minor in music engineering, which led to numerous collaborations recording with various artists. Carol Duboc had the distinction and privilege of working alongside founder and leader of the legendary Earth, Wind & Fire and was in fact once signed to his label. Singer Deniece Williams whom Duboc credits as another pivotal influence collaborated with White in the 70s. In addition to her own solo career, Carol Duboc has composed songs for a stellar list of artists. Duboc has written songs for everyone from Patti LaBelle to Chanté Moore and Stephanie Mills. Launching her own label Gold Note Music, with distribution through Orchard and City Hall Records, Carol Duboc, made her recording debut as a leader With All That I Am in 2001 and Duboc followed in 2002. In 2005 she released her third solo effort All of You, followed by Songs For Lovers in 2008, Burt Bacharach Songbook in 2009 and 2013's Smile. In 2015 Duboc released Colored Glasses with her friend and keyboardist Jeff Lorber.