DOWNLOADABLE PHOTOS
Click here to download hi-res versions. Credit: Margherita Andreani
BIO:
Vocalist Hilary Gardner, described by The New Yorker as “a singer with a beguilingly subtle wit,” grew up a New Yorker at heart in the jazz hinterland of Wasilla, Alaska. Following stints in Italy and Seattle, WA, she moved to New York City in 2003. Hilary has released four recordings as a leader, receiving critical acclaim from the jazz world’s major publications; DownBeat Magazine declared her “an artist to watch” and has named her a Rising Star Female Vocalist five times, including in 2024.
With her newest recording, On the Trail with The Lonesome Pines, Gardner returns to her rustic roots, delving into repertoire from the “singing cowboy” era of the 1930s-40s, songs described by The Times of London as “Manhattan-meets-moonshine gems.” Featuring Justin Poindexter (guitars, vocals), Noah Garabedian (bass), Aaron Thurston (drums), and Sasha Papernik (accordion), the album evokes the expansiveness and romantic allure of the American West–replete with purple hills, silver stars, and the freedom to roam, unhurried and unworried, under endless western skies. The Wall Street Journal deemed the album “something new and wondrous.”
Hilary is a founding member of Duchess, a Boswell Sisters-inspired vocal trio with Amy Cervini and Melissa Stylianou. Duchess has released three full-length recordings and a holiday EP on Anzic Records. The trio won Vocal Group of the Year in the 2021 and 2022 Jazz Journalists Association Awards and was named Best Vocal Group in the 2021 Jazz Times Critics’ Poll. Duchess has performed throughout the United States, Canada, Israel, and Europe on festival stages and in intimate clubs. Duchess has collaborated with the Paul Taylor Dance Company, performing the music of the Andrews Sisters live onstage at Lincoln Center for Taylor’s seminal piece, Company B.
In 2010, the Frank Sinatra estate chose Hilary to appear as the live, onstage singer in Tony-award winner Twyla Tharp’s Broadway hit, COME FLY AWAY. Backed by a 19-piece big band, Hilary sang solos and duets with Frank Sinatra in a performance hailed by critics as “wonderful” (Huffington Post), “elegant” (USA Today), and “terrific” (New York Observer).
Hilary performed with Jeff Goldblum and his band on Goldblum’s opening night at Café Carlyle, prompting New York Magazine to call hers "a voice worth seeking out." In the wake of her appearance with Goldblum, Michael Feinstein invited Hilary to be his guest on NPR's Song Travels with Michael Feinstein. She was also a guest on Judy Carmichael’s SiriusXM program, Jazz Inspired. Hilary appears as a jazz singer in Oscar-winning documentarian Errol Morris’s 2017 Netflix miniseries, WORMWOOD.
Hilary has appeared as a guest soloist with symphonies across the country, including the Minnesota Orchestra, Carolina Philharmonic, Rochester Symphony Orchestra, and the Ridgefield Symphony Orchestra. She serves on the jazz voice advisory committee at The Juilliard School and is a staff singer in the professional chamber choir at Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church in Manhattan.
SELECTED press quotes:
“A singer with a beguilingly subtle wit.” -The New Yorker
"Gardner evokes memories of another time and place." -NPR
"...an uninhibited answer to the young Doris Day." -New York Times
”Guitarist Justin Poindexter…plays in a style that combines the Nashville virtuosity of Chet Atkins with the postmodern jazz Americana soundscapes of Bill Frisell. Likewise, Ms. Gardner has a sweet voice and a spare style that works equally well for jazz and country music; she knows exactly what to sing and what not to sing, and doesn’t try to fill up every open space. The result is a sound suggestive of the vast expanses of the open plains, a huge empty canvas that paints an internal picture—a surreal, extraplanetary prairie of the mind….They have taken a subgenre that no one quite realized actually even existed and made something new and wondrous with it.” -Will Friedwald, The Wall Street Journal
“Gardner’s voice has more crystalline smoothness than hillbilly twang, ideal for these Manhattan-meets-moonshine gems…a delightful innocence, tempered by Tin Pan Alley wit and romance and a drowsy desert atmosphere to soothe 21st-century woes. ★★★★☆” -Chris Pearson, The Times
"A voice worth seeking out." -New York Magazine
"Gardner's ready to fly." -Seattle Times
"...a sound and vibe that makes you think she's the secret love child of Peggy Lee and Tom Waits." -Midwest Record
"Gardner is…blessed with an exceptionally pure tone and a simplicity of expression that brings out the nuances of the great lyrics.”
-DownBeat Magazine
"...an absolutely first-class singer. She swings effortlessly without making a big deal of it, and she has a knack for hunting down off-center tunes…Yet she’s just as adept at making something fresh and surprising out of an oft-heard chestnut."
-Terry Teachout, Author of Duke: A Life of Duke Ellington and Satchmo at the Waldorf
"(4.5 stars)...a superb singer deserving greater recognition." -All About Jazz
“Gardner’s clear, strong voice recalls the sophisticated stylings of Rosemary Clooney, Doris Day and Peggy Lee, but each song had a bit of personal umami added to the performances, suggesting she had actually lived the lyrics...utterly convincing.” -Thomas Staudter, DownBeat Magazine
"Hilary Gardner is wonderful and deserves a spotlight." -Huffington Post
"The album has both variety and consistency…the capper is ‘Chelsea Morning,’ enlivened with Pan-American percussion and transformed into a mashup of Joni Mitchell and Ahmad Jamal." -Will Friedwald, The Wall Street Journal
"The tangy-voiced Hilary Gardner performed elegantly." -USA Today
"Hilary Gardner, like the great 'girl singers' of decades past, brings elegance and wit to every song she sings. She lends a touch of vintage cool to new material and makes the old songs sound fresh again."
-Twyla Tharp, Tony & Emmy award-winning director/choreographer
"Hilary is a superb singer: her multi-colored voice, her unerring time, her fine but subtle dramatic sense, her wit, her swinging ability to let the song pour through her rather than insisting that the song sit behind her...don’t ignore the exceedingly talented Hilary Gardner." -Michael Steinman, JAZZ LIVES
"If there is anyone who can evoke the class and sophistication of the 'girl singer,' it's Hilary Gardner. Her singing is effortless and intelligent with a personal warmth and musicality that makes for delicious listening."
-Janis Siegel (Manhattan Transfer), Grammy Award-winning vocalist and arranger