BIOGRAPHY

“EXQUISITE…a buttery alto and nimble, graceful phrasing … Greg Haymes, Albany Times Union

JEANNE O'CONNOR is a versatile vocalist and bandleader who’s wowed crowds throughout the world with her rare mastery of swing, subtlety, and improvisation. Splitting her time between New York City and upstate New York, Jeanne has performed and recorded everything from jazz standards and the Great American Songbook, to contemporary pop, Latin, and R&B numbers — a range that reflects her versatility, as well as her love of different styles and musical genres.   

Jeanne spent the early years of her jazz career in New York City, where she performed as a soloist and with the all-female vocal trio, String of Pearls. She also appeared frequently with the Grammy-winning Vince Giordano and the Nighthawks. After releasing her debut solo album, Something’s Coming, in 2007, Jeanne went on to join the critically acclaimed New York City vocal quartet, the Royal Bopsters, whose most recent album received a four-star review from DownBeat. She also gathered some of upstate New York’s leading players for her group The New Standard, her own innovative jazz/pop/R&B ensemble. Jeanne recently completed work on a brand-new solo album, The Sweetest Sounds, which will be released on Summit Records in 2027. 

Jeanne has performed at a litany of Manhattan’s most storied jazz venues, including the Blue Note, Birdland, Sweet Rhythm, the Rainbow Room, and Smoke; venues such as Alice Tully Hall, Town Hall, and the Kennedy Center; and throughout Germany, France, Turkey, and Japan. Upstate, she has frequented Saratoga Springs’ historic Caffè Lena, among many other locations.

Jeanne grew up studying piano and singing in pop and folk bands before discovering jazz in college. She brought her singing career to New York in the 1980s, and in ’92, married legendary pianist, composer, and producer Don Grolnick, who worked extensively with the Brecker Brothers, James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, and other musical luminaries. Following Grolnick’s death four years later, Jeanne remarried and relocated to Saratoga Springs, New York. 

Nowadays, you can find Jeanne performing as a duo throughout New York’s Capital Region with keyboardist Azzaam Hameed, and she continues to sing in jazz ensembles with world-class players in both upstate New York and New York City.