Biography
The sounds and styles of vocalist/composer Jocelyn Medina cross cultures, creeds and continents. Her original music fuses elements of Brazil, Spain, Africa and India with jazz harmonies, neo-soul/funk grooves and adventurous improvisations.
“Medina offers the jazz listener a musical journey that takes the foundation of Latin and Jazz idioms and successfully redefines the experience with thought provoking lyrics and vocal abilities far beyond the norm. Medina uses her voice as an instrument and storyteller, and invites the listener to delve into the corners of their mind with lyrics that reflect life and human conditions…” -Constance Tucker, All About Vocals
“A jazz artist whose compositions encompass the musical ethos of many different cultures… A Voice seductive, delicate, resonate, and crystalline – a major humanist who happens to communicate through singing.” (5 stars) -Grady Harp, Amazon
Born in upstate New York into a family of singers, Jocelyn determined her identity as a musician at the age of five through choirs and piano lessons. She later pursued opera work at Stanford University, earned a Bachelor’s degree from the Berklee College of Music, and a Master’s degree in Vocal Jazz Performance from the Manhattan School of Music. In addition to her degree credentials, Jocelyn is certified in all levels of master vocal pedagogue Jeanie LoVetri’s Somatic Voicework™, a functional, body-based method of vocal training, the principles of which guide her own technical practice and instruction.
Between her formal studies, Jocelyn spent 4 years living and performing in Madrid, Spain, where she recorded her first full-length CD of original compositions, “The Journey Begun.” Further musical explorations brought Jocelyn to Ghana, West Africa, as well as to Salvador, Brazil. In 2005 she returned to the United States to pursue her Masters studies, and in 2011 released her second album of original work, “We Are Water,” combining her jazz and Latin heritage with the rhythms and flavors of African and Brazilian music. Later travels brought Jocelyn to Mumbai, India, where she was exposed to new vocal and instrumental aesthetics, elements that resonate throughout the material on her third album “Common Ground,” released in 2017, blending jazz with the world music styles of India and Africa. Sponsored by a Colorado-based Pathways to Jazz grant, she began recording her fourth studio album of Brazilian material in Rio de Janeiro, and is currently completing the project with her Colorado-based band-mates, slated for release in early Fall of 2026.
Jocelyn is a passionate educator, arranger and ensemble director, and teaches lessons and masterclasses in vocal technique, vocal jazz, vocal health, improvisation and composition. Over the past 25 years she has taught at the California Jazz Conservatory, Bloomingdale School of Music, La Guardia Community College, Hunter College and the True School of Music (Mumbai). Jocelyn currently serves on the faculty at the University of Colorado, Denver, Metropolitan State University of Denver, the New York Jazz Workshop School of Music, the LoVetri Institute for Somatic Voicework™, and since 2024 at the University of Colorado-Boulder, where she directs their Vocal Jazz degree program.
As a bandleader, she has toured with jazz ensembles at venues and festivals throughout the United States, Europe, Asia and South America, including Spain’s JAZZPARLA festival, Alte Feuermache in Mannheim, Germany, Voicingers Jazz Festival in Zory, Poland, the Mahindra Blues Festival in Mumbai, India, and the Goethe Institute in Salvador, Brazil. During her 16 years living in New York City, she performed regularly at Jazz at Kitano, the Iridium Jazz Club, Cornelia Street Café, Bar Next Door, Zinc Bar, and 55 Bar, among others.
Since 2015, Jocelyn has curated and hosted the “Sunday Vocal Jazz Jam” weekly vocal jazz concert and jam session series at venues throughout NYC, currently taking place virtually via Zoom. She was awarded a 2023 JEXA award for Jazz Excellence in recognition for her work through the series in support of the jazz community, and continues to spearhead new collaborative jazz events both in-person and online.
In addition to her original repertoire, she sings, plays percussion and arranges for her Brazilian Jazz project and the Boulder Choro Club. Jocelyn relocated from New York to Colorado in 2021, where she can be heard regularly around the Denver metro area at venues such as Muse Performance Space and Dazzle Jazz.
SPECIALTIES:
Functional vocal technique, jazz vocal styling, vocal jazz, improvisation, music theory, jazz theory, composing, lyrics, song writing, voice rehab, breathing, arranging, jazz styles, blues, theater, Indian Hindustani
LANGUAGES:
English, Spanish, Portuguese (for music pronunciation)
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