BIO

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Janet's singing truly has the personal touch. She connects emotionally with her audience and truly inhabits the lyric of each song she performs.  She has performed with world-class jazz musicians in a variety of musical settings - from big band to small group to duo - for a time leading her own jazz quartet.  Her mastery in singing the Great American Songbook runs deep. As the daughter of a jazz drummer, she learned to sing a large and diverse repertoire of songs from an early age.   

Janet's talent for singing jazz was first recognized over 30 years ago by world-renowned bassist Cleveland ("Cleve") Eaton, who immediately hired her as a singer with his band after his wife Myra handed him her demo. 

Born into a musical family, Janet began  jazz  dance  and ballet lessons at the age of 2, classical piano at age 6, and singing by age 10.  She credits her sense of swing, great ears and pitch to her father, a jazz drummer, who also provided elementary drum lessons.  She grew up hearing live jazz played by her father and his musician friends at gigs (and on Sunday afternoon at home!) As a child, she sharpened her singing skills by singing in church choir. Artists  in  many  jazz  styles,  such  as Ella Fitzgerald, Duke Ellington, Louis Prima, Louis Armstrong, John Coltrane, Thelonious Monk, and Rahsaan Roland Kirk, influenced her early love for the music.  By age 17, she had landed her first role in community musical theatre. In her 20s she took up jazz piano, learning music theory.  

In her 30s, she realized that singing jazz had been her calling all along, after receiving encouragement from jazz masters Ellis Marsalis and Cleveland Eaton.  Along the way on this journey, she was fortunate to hear live performances by other  jazz masters such as Count Basie, Ella Fitzgerald, and Oscar Peterson. She credits vocalists Shirley Horn, Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, and Carmen McRae as major musical influences.    

In addition to leading her own jazz quartet, she has performed with many notable jazz musicians, including Cleve Eaton, former bassist with The Count Basie Orchestra and the Ramsey Lewis Trio.  Eaton provided valuable mentorship, as he has accompanied jazz greats Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, and many others.  She also appeared in the premiere production of the musical "Tuxedo Junction", with the legendary bandleader and trumpeter Erskine Hawkins.   

Janet has studied jazz vocals with Anita Wardell (winner, BBC Best of Jazz), Sandy Cressman, Judy Niemack, and Grammy-nominated jazz vocalist Janet Lawson. She has also studied with Barry Harris,  Ellis Marsalis,  and David Amram.  She studied music theory with Hampton Reese, arranger for B. B. King.    

Janet,  with help from her husband Dave Swan, was the founder of the Dunwoody Jazz Society.  The society sponsored house concerts and vocal jazz workshops in the Atlanta metro area  from 2009 to 2015.  Notable artists who presented vocal workshops and clinics include Sandy Cressman, Anita Wardell, and Sachel Vasandani. 

A member of the Jazz Education Network (JEN), Janet is dedicated to the cause of jazz education. Through JEN she networks with jazz artists and educators worldwide.  

Janet has a B.A. in Journalism and a Master of Library Science from the University of Alabama.  Her work experience includes newspaper reporter, public, law and medical librarianship, 11 years of public service as a federal employee (including teaching adults), and stints with several government contractors as a web developer and IT specialist.