The rich laughter that punctuates Diane White’s speech at regular intervals conveys a great deal about her personality: she is exuberant, passionate and sensual. Diane loves life and the arts; nowhere is that love better expressed than in her music, which she has been performing since the age of three.
Diane was fortunate to be born into a family who valued the discipline and intellectual stimulation provided by studying the arts. The Whites enrolled their daughter in Russian Ballet and Classical piano, providing her with the strong foundation that underlies her considerable talent as a jazz vocalist and musician.
Diane began her jazz musical journey as an instrumentalist, developing a strong attachment to the growling sounds of the trombone; it took the persistence of a music teacher to push the dedicated brass musician into joining her high school vocal jazz ensemble. Diane soon found that her extroverted personality was well suited to vocal jazz performance thus Diane found a newfound love and began to carve out her own niche as a vocalist.
Diane’s formal education led to the completion of a Jazz Studies degree in Fine Arts at Montreal’s Concordia University. In addition, Diane received invaluable experience training with an impressive roster of jazz gurus, including Mohammed Abdul Al Kabbyr, Andrew Homzy, Dr. Charles Ellison, Dave Turner and Ray Anderson. Anderson was the one who emphasized the importance of playing with as many musicians as possible in order to acquire new ideas and insights into jazz performance and composition.
Both her formal education and her strong sense of individualism have served Diane well. Her warm, inviting tone recalls vocal giants Billie Holiday and Sarah Vaughn, but the overall effect in her vocal delivery is dominated by her own joyous sense of innovation. Indeed, it is Diane’s desire to marry contemporary sounds with the jazz tradition attached with her incredibly charismatic live performances are winning her glowing reviews from both audiences and critics internationally.
Whether Diane is gracing the stage at the International Olympic Games, the Blue Note Milan or the Cotton Club in Tokyo her audience is always in for an ear-catching treat. Such is the talent of the irrepressible Diane White.