About NLO

Scores of young girls see Julie Andrews in "The Sound of Music" and say "that will be me someday." They will sing their hearts out and touch an audience. But very few make it happen. Kathy Jenkins is one that did. Jenkins is a jazz singer with a big, sensuous sound that moves and captivates, and how she got to where she is today is a story full of both seredipity and hard work.

Born in St. Paul, Minnesota, Jenkins grew up listening to her father's beautiful Irish tenor and her mother's torch versions of Judy Garland songs. She knew from the age of four that she wanted to sing, and her earliest "performances" were to construction workers in her neighborhood to coax them to buy from her lemonade stand! She joined her school choir, took guitar lessons, and sang along to Streisand records -- all the while wondering where her voice would take her. She started folk singing in local clubs while still in high school, then joined a band singing top 40 and country rock. Successful though she was, the music did not move her.

It took joining the Air Force to find her vocal self. As a vocalist for the Air Force Band Jenkins started singing Broadway tunes and big band numbers, and she found she couldn't get enough. The sound of a big band "was a revelation to me" and she honed her vocal style singing hundreds of concerts throughout the US and Europe, including a memorable performance for then President Reagan.

After four years in the Air Force Jenkins moved to New York, determined to take her love of big band jazz singing to the next level. She studied at the American Musical & Dramatic Academy and performed with big bands such as Lynn Oliver's. In 1989 Jenkins took the bold step of owning and operating an off-Broadway theater -- The Gateway -- where she produced musical revues and staged readings. She also performed in many community and regional theaters in the New York area, particularly embracing the role of "The Beggar Woman" in Stephen Sondheim's macabre musical, Sweeney Todd. Again, though, her career was about to take a precipitous turn.

While watching audition tapes of vaious musicians to accompany her on a singing engagement, Jenkins came across the tape of Nick Levinovsky. Dazzled by his piano playing but even more impressed with his sensitivity to his fellow musicians, Jenkins hired him on the spot. It was a fateful meeting. Levinovsky, a noted jazz pianist/composer from Russia, "fell in love the minute he heard her sing." He hired her to perform with his 8 piece orchestra, wooing her with a shared love of each other's artistry. They married, and she performed with his jazz ensembles at international jazz festivals including a memorable 1992 Russian tour of Moscow, Saratov and St. Petersburg. They also put together a vocal nostalgia trio reminiscent of the Andrews Sisters for the 50 year World War II reunion at Atlantic City's Taj Mahal. The "G.I. Sweethearts" later performed at venues such as the Marriott Hotel in Washington, DC and Gateway National Parks & Recreation shows.

In 1996 Jenkins helped Levinovsky form the Nick Levinovsky Big Band, whose debut CD "Listen Up!" has Jenkins as featured vocalist. Jazz Times noted that Jenkins is "a superb jazz singer in her own right" and her rendition of "My Favorite Things" received frequent radio play across the country. In 1998 it was time for Jenkins and Levinovsky to collaborate again, this time with Jenkins as solo vocal artist backed by The Nick Levinovsky Big Band and Trio. The CD "From This Moment On" prompted composer/arranger Peter Matz to pronounce, Kathy's vocal is stunning" and Joy Todd to exclaim that Jenkins has "an exciting way with words...(she) paints vibrant and emotionally charged pictures." Jenkins' background in cabaret and musical theater gives her an emotional connection to the lyrics, a quality that is recognized by public and critics alike. Reviewing her CD in All About Jazz late in 1999, Jack Bowers noted that Jenkins' "has mastered the subtleties of jazz phrasing" and her "debut as a full-fledged jazz singer is a smashing success."

With accolades like that, Jenkins is looking to record a second CD as well as persue musical theater and concert opportunities. She and her husband recently formed NLO, an orchestra / production / record company that has them involved in every aspect of the music business. But as busy as NLO is getting, it won't keep Jenkins from doing what she does best -- creating a sound of music all her own.