Captivating singer Jackie Bornstein enchants audiences with her emotive delivery and beautiful tone. Known for her rich voice and ability to get to the heart of a tune, Jackie brings a powerful energy to each performance. She has developed her own style, imparting a range of emotions through her use of varied vocal timbres.
Growing up in a musical family with a musical diet heavily laden with big band swing, bebop and modern jazz, Jackie developed an ear for jazz from childhood. Trained classically as a child (in voice, piano and clarinet), she continued her jazz leaning becoming strongly influenced by modern vocal greats including Kurt Elling, Dianne Reeves and Dee Dee Bridgewater.
Jackie went on to study Jazz Voice Performance at the Victorian College of the Arts after completing her Psychology degree at the University of Melbourne. She was also awarded a UK Masters (MPhil and MA) Peace scholarship during which she completed a thesis examining the role of the arts and music in resolving conflicts and promoting expressive and listening capacities.
Jackie specializes in developing musical projects bringing together her background in jazz and peace studies/practice. These projects include her newist “Women in Jazz”, “Jazz and Social Justice” and “From Paris to Brazil”. With “Women in Jazz” Jackie invites her audience to celebrate the music and lives of great female jazz composers and hopes to encourage jazz educators to include this hidden part of jazz history as an explicit part of jazz education. Jackie was awarded a 2021 City of Melbourne Annual Arts Grant to extend this project by recording an album and developing a book on Australian Women in Jazz. Jackie’s project titled “Jazz and Social Justice” explores the music and lives of jazz greats who have taken a bold stand against injustices. With “From Paris to Brazil” Jackie features an all French, Spanish and Portuguese program, sharing timeless stories from many cultures through her performance of pieces from the jazz, nueva cancion, chanson and bossa nova traditions.
Jackie also coordinates an annual Asylum Seeker Resource Centre jazz benefit. The concert is held on either International Peace day or International Jazz Day in support of people seeking Australia’s protection.
Jackie has become a regular at Melbourne’s top jazz venues and festivals with performances at Lido Jazz Room, Bennetts Lane Jazz Club, Bird’s Basement, Paris Cat Jazz Club, Kew Court House, The Jazzlab, the Melbourne Recital Centre’s Salon, the Melbourne International Jazz Festival and more. She has performed with a selection of Australia’s finest jazz and improvising musicians including James Sherlock, Carl Mackey, Philip Rex, Ben Hanlon, Nathan Slater, Andrea Keller, Stephen Magnusson, Mark Fitzgibbon, Angela Davis, Tamara Murphy, Sam Keevers and more. “An enchanting vocalist and captivating storyteller” – Australian Jazz