artist Renée Yoxon

Young vocalist Renée Yoxon is a central figure in Ottawa's jazz scene thanks to her grace, captivating presence and beautiful voice. In only a few short years, Renée has firmly established herself as a musician dedicated to the art of jazz singing.

In 2005, while pursuing her bachelor's degree in physics, Renée began her jazz studies with acclaimed Toronto jazz vocalist Tena Palmer.  In 2009, Renée was awarded her BSc in physics, with minors in math and music. In 2010 she participated in the National Arts Centre’s Manhattan on the Rideau masterclasses led by Theo Bleckmann and Peter Eldridge. This year, Renée received an Astral Emerging Artist Award from the National Arts Centre and Astral Radio which helped to fund a summer in New York studying with John McNeil, Janet Lawson, Peter Eldridge, and Karen Nimereala.

In the fall of 2010, Renée released her first album entitled Let’s Call it a Day, a minimal and intimate, jazz-inspired guitar/voice duo with veteran guitarist René Gely. This work showcases her clear and unembellished lyrical delivery, poignant song choice, and emotionally charged performance. Physical copies of Let's Call it a Day sold out within the first year of its release.

Since the release of her first record, Renée has been garnering notice at the national level with several of her tracks receiving airplay on such radio shows as CBC Radio 2′s TONIC with Katie Malloch, Planète Jazz’s Let Lève-Tards with Annie B, and Dinner Jazz on Jazz.FM91.

Check out her latest release, Let’s Call it a Day on Bandcamp.com.