Denzal Sinclaire is one of Canada’s most popular jazz vocalists and is ranked among the finest jazz singers of his generation. A graduate of McGill University’s Jazz Performance program (Montreal, Canada), he possesses that rare ability to achieve, from the moment he steps on stage, a profound emotional interaction with his audience. His passionate and sincere delivery caresses every song he sings. He touches the listener with the purity of the message.
Sinclaire is a Juno Award (Canada’s Grammy Award) nominee, a recipient of the 2004 National Jazz Award for “Best Album,” four-time consecutive recipient of the Jazz Report Magazine Award for Male Jazz Vocalist, and winner of the 2007 Choc Jazzman Award (France). His admirers include Grammy-winning artists Diana Krall (“Denzal Sinclaire embodies the tradition of the great singers I love like Nat Cole, yet definitely has his own voice. He is one of my favorite singers....”), Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center (JALC) Orchestra, Dianne Reeves, Michael Feinstein and Michael Bublé, as well as growing legions of jazz fans in his native Canada and abroad. From his early days as a canny interpreter of Nat “King” Cole’s mentholated crooning, he’s grown into one of the most distinctive and individualistic singers anywhere.
He has graced the stages of numerous concert halls and festivals around the world and has appeared on several popular television networks and shows, including Canada’s Bravo!TV, Canada AM, Nashville Now and Ireland’s The Late Late Show. As a former member of UK soul artist Jamie Lidell’s band, he has appeared on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, Jimmy Kimmel Live!, and Manu Katché’s show One Shot Not (France).
Equally at home in the theatre, film and television arenas, Sinclaire has delighted audiences with his critically acclaimed performances in Unforgettable, a musical based on the life and music of Nat King Cole; Tapestry: The Music of Carole King (Arts Club Theatre); and William Saroyan’s award-winning The Time of Your Life (Soul Pepper Theatre Company). His TV and film credits include appearances in the new Battlestar Galactica TV series (dir. Michael Rymer); and, Being Julia, starring Annette Bening and Jeremy Irons (dir. István Szabó).
A pivotal role in Sinclaire’s career was the collaboration with highly sought after guitarist/ composer/ arranger Bill Coon, whom he befriended in Montreal. Over the course of 15 years, they performed to rave reviews in a variety of musical settings ranging from duo to symphony orchestras, as well as several live radio, television and studio recordings for the CBC (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation) and SRC (Société Radio Canada). In 1994, they recorded an album of duets and, in 1996, recorded the very first in-studio concert for Canada’s Bravo!TV with a unique 10-piece ensemble. They now enjoy a new type of collaboration as members of a Christmas quartet, The B3 Kings (as in “We Three Kings”), featuring Coon on guitar, Cory Weeds on tenor sax, Chris Gestrin on Hammond B3 organ, and Sinclaire on drums and vocals.
Sinclaire has performed with renowned artists such as Wynton Marsalis and the JALC Orchestra, Patrice Rushen, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Janis Siegel, Dee Daniels, Kevin Mahogany, Michael Feinstein, Marilyn Maye, Bob Mintzer, Jimmy Heath, Barry Harris, The Count Basie Orchestra, Dame Cleo Laine, Sir John Dankworth, Peter Appleyard, Reuben Rogers, Gregory Hutchinson, Russell Malone, Seamus Blake, Nicholas Payton, Brian Blade, Jamie Lidell, Holly Cole, Vince Giardano & The Nighthawks, David Berger Jazz Orchestra, and the WDR Big Band (Cologne, Germany).
The list of artists he has supported includes Diana Krall, Dianne Reeves, Kurt Elling, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Anita Baker, The Four Tops, Holly Cole, Bill Charlap, Katie Melhua, Jane Monheit and Matt Dusk.