Ranee Lee

Ranee Lee spent her early years in Brooklyn yet has called Montreal home through most of her adulthood, earning widespread notice chiefly through her acclaimed releases on Canada’s Justin Time label. While still in high school she sang in public, later joined a regional ensemble for a tour of the United States, and, after settling in Canada, portrayed the lead in the stage work Lady Day at Emerson's Bar and Grill. Echoes of Billie Holiday and Dinah Washington surface periodically in her phrasing, although Ranee Lee has forged a voice distinctly her own; the caliber of her work is reflected in the presence of Milt Hinton and Oliver Jones on her debut album Deep Song and the central contribution of Red Mitchell to her second recording, Jazz on Broadway.