Texas native Rosana Eckert is a rising star in the jazz world, captivating listeners worldwide with her smooth voice and creative songbook. Fusing bossa nova, blues, and traditional swing with original songs and a unique arranging style, Rosana enchants audiences with her musical sincerity, exciting rhythms, and dynamic spontaneity. She has performed with such jazz greats as Kenny Wheeler, Marvin Stamm, Kevin Mahoganey, and Jon Faddis, and her first solo CD, At the End of the Day, was praised as “an occasion for celebration” (AllAboutJazz.Com) and “a superior debut” (Cadence Magazine). The CD was also a finalist for Best New Jazz Album in the 2006 Independent Music Awards and continues to receive international airplay.

Rosana grew up in a musical family in El Paso, TX. Her parents, both singers of a cappella barbershop harmony, filled the home with music from groups like Brazil 66, The Four Freshman, The Glen Miller Orchestra, and Singers Unlimited. As a result, Rosana developed a solid repertoire of jazz standards long before she began singing jazz.

A four-year Texas All-State French Horn player, Rosana accepted band and orchestra scholarships to the University of North Texas in pursuit of a BM in music theory. Within a few years, she was immersed in the school’s world renowned jazz program, playing her horn in the Jazz Repertory Ensemble and singing in the award-winning UNT Jazz Singers. By 1999, Rosana had completed a Masters degree in Jazz Studies as a vocalist, toured with the 1999 IAJE “Sisters in Jazz” Collegiate Sextet, and had become a member of the UNT Jazz Faculty. She was also a selected participant in the 2000 IAJE Thelonious Monk Aspen Jazz Colony where she was mentored by such greats as Christian McBride, Russell Malone, John Clayton, and Dianne Reeves. The two-week elite jazz retreat was documented by the BET Jazz Channel.

Rosana currently resides in Dallas, TX and teaches vocal jazz at the University of North Texas, both privately and in the classroom. She works on the faculty of the North Texas Vocal Jazz Summer Workshop and the Texas All Star Jazz Camp, and she is in demand as an ensemble clinician and festival adjudicator. Her arrangements and original songs have been performed by vocal groups worldwide, and her music has been published by Hal Leonard Music and UNC Press. Her quintet performs regularly at clubs, concert venues, and jazz festivals around the country, and she is currently working on her second CD.

In addition to her teaching and live performing, Rosana works regularly as a Dallas studio singer. She has sung back-up vocals for various recording artists including contemporary Christian singers Matthew Ward and Annie Herring, and she can be heard on hundreds of jingles and radio IDs around the world.

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