Michele Mele, a Toronto-based Canadian vocalist working across jazz and pop while also functioning as a songwriter, recording artist, and educator, delivers vocals marked by an airy texture carrying a trace of smokiness along with phrasing and timbre that echo Astrud Gilberto. Raised in a household of professional musicians, she started piano lessons in childhood and had already satisfied every music credit required for graduation by the time she reached high school. Degrees from the University of Toronto Faculty of Music and Faculty of Music Education followed. In her capacity as an educator she has led multiple workshops on songwriting and active listening throughout Ontario.
Her earliest commercial breakthrough occurred in 1989 when Neil Donnell recorded the composition “That’s All I Know,” a single that climbed nationally and later received gold certification in Canada. Two years later Mele organized a run of choral concerts for the Toronto Philharmonic Orchestra. For the balance of the decade she assembled a band, performed regularly in clubs, wrote material for other artists, and carried out arrangement assignments.
The 2002 release of her debut album Like This drew generally favorable critical attention. Laugh followed in 2004, its sharp songwriting style earning favorable comparisons to Michael Franks. In 2006 she issued Feel, which ventured into bossa nova and incorporated several standards. Her Canadian breakthrough came with Naked on the Rocks, an album that shifted among contemporary jazz, pop, rock, and blues; the recording doubled as the score for her one-woman show (accompanied by band) of the same name, which toured to international acclaim. She resurfaced in 2012 with Cha Cha, produced by Greg Kavanagh.
