Jazz series continues with Kristina Koller Quartet

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WATERBURY — Palace Theater Poli Club Fall Jazz Series continues Friday with the Kristina Koller Quartet

Jazz artist Kristina Koller has developed quickly into a highly individual vocalist and songwriter. With the release of her debut album, “Perception,” Koller has established herself as one of the most exciting young voices in jazz.

As a composer, she melds diverse genres of music into her songs. While embracing standards and straightahead jazz, she arranges tunes in unique ways, knowing that adding to the legacy of jazz is more important than recreating the performances of others. She reinvents classic material while retaining their essence, putting her own winning personality and fresh ideas into the lyrics that she interprets.

Growing up just outside of New York City, Koller was exposed to an array of live music and dance — attending live ballet, Broadway shows, opera, jazz festivals and rock concerts. As such, she began performing in youth-oriented musical theater at an early age. Out of that experience, Koller branched out artistically, embracing solo performance as a singersongwriter and vocalist in alternative music bands. Through her study of classical music and opera, she improved her singing and learned different voice techniques, strengthening her range and vocal depth.

While inspired by Amy Winehouse’s versatility and open-minded approach to music, Koller’s desire to express herself freely as a vocalist pulled her into the orbit of jazz where she discovered the music of Ella Fitzgerald, Anita O’Day, Sarah Vaughan and Chet Baker. During her teen years, her embrace of jazz music expanded into the performance space, joining a jazz quartet that gigged regularly.

With a music scholarship, Koller studied jazz at the Hartt School’s Jackie McLean Institute of Jazz and finished her formal music education at The City College of New York where she received her bachelor of fine arts in Jazz Studies. She has studied with prominent jazz musicians such as Steve Wilson, Charenee Wade and Marion Cowings. Koller culled her musical chops in the NYC jazz scene, performing at venerable jazz haunts such as Smalls, Smoke, Minton's, Mezzrow as well as The Apollo Theater. She was a featured Discovery Artist at the 2017 Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival and her quintet were semi-finalists in the 2017 DCJazzPrix competition.

Showtimes are at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m., with doors and the bar opening at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are available at 203-346-2000 or at www.PalaceTheaterCT.org.