Carol Mennie

Vocalist Carol Mennie has built recognition in New York City jazz circles chiefly through her partnerships with guitarist Dom Minasi. Though Minasi holds credentials in avant-garde and free jazz, his output reaches beyond those areas, and Mennie approaches singing with directness rather than abstract complexity. Her accessible style reflects the influence, direct or indirect, of Shirley Horn, Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald, and Julie London, expressed through a relaxed yet confident swing. Straight-ahead jazz supplies one source of inspiration, yet she also draws from traditional pop, cabaret, and Broadway or theater repertoire—an orientation consistent with her lengthy career performing in stage productions.

That dual commitment to theater and music prompted her move to New York, where she completed studies at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in the 1980s. She first encountered Minasi in 1989 and later married him; their joint professional appearances on the city’s jazz scene began in 1990, at times limited to an intimate vocal-and-guitar format. Only in 1999, encouraged by Minasi, did she finally record a debut album of her own, I'm Not a Sometime Thing. Issued by the independent CDM Records in 2004, the project was produced and arranged by Minasi, who supplied guitar and wrote five selections that highlight his skill in a conventional setting. Minasi remains an eclectic, open-minded musician capable of working across many contexts. Mennie’s vocals also surface on his 2003 release Time Will Tell, where she interprets the Thelonious Monk standard “Round Midnight.”