Rondi Charleston

The wealth of literature and music from classical to jazz, folk, and soul, which filled her home in the culturally rich south side of Chicago, set the stage for Charleston’s life of continuing education and accomplishment in such diverse careers as music, media and now film. “Dad was a university English professor, who left novels by my cereal bowl in the morning. Mom taught voice in the living room, and my brother was playing marimba in the dining room,” Rondi recalls with a smile. And so her life-long love affair with words, music and storytelling began organically, and is even more profoundly evident on her latest Motéma release, Signs of Life, featuring an increasing emphasis on originals, four of them with stories ripped straight from the headlines of her own life, and a fifth, The Cave Knows, which fostered a co-writing collaboration with one of her musical heroes, five-time Grammy nominee and jazz piano giant, Fred Hersch. The song is featured under the rolling credits of an internationally award winning film, No Place On Earth, which chronicles the story of Priest’s Grotto, a 77-mile system of caves in the Ukraine where 38 Jews survived for 17 months until the end of World War II. The film will be in wide release in the spring of 2013 and will first roll out in the US followed by an extensive series of releases internationally. “I somehow see myself as an archeologist, always digging for the truth behind the story, and it’s all about storytelling,” says Charleston. “If you’re open, you don’t have to search for songs. They come to you. A lot of discipline and immersion into the world of each subject is required,” she continues. Grammy winning journalist, Bob Blumenthal remarks, “That rare combination of native talent and keen perception has made Rondi Charleston a commanding vocal stylist and spellbinding storyteller, able to connect on the personal level of lived and shared experience. Her current power is exceeded only by the greater potential that her vision suggests.” This power is evidenced by her rapidly growing fan base, who have witnessed her electrifying, authentic live performances at key national venues as Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola, twice featured on The Lincoln Center Women in Jazz Festival, where she was also the first artist to document her live performance with a critically acclaimed DVD; The Blue Note, Town Hall, Birdland, The Iridium, Carnegie Hall’s Weill Recital Hall, The Regatta Bar, The Jazz Improv Festival, Jazz Education Network Festival, The Dakota in Minneapolis, Boston’s Scullers, a three time favorite at NYC’s iconic Joe’s Pub, LA’s Catalina’s and numerous Performing Arts Centers around the country. Her accessible, earthy yet stunning live performances have sparked stellar critical reviews, press and features in DownBeat, JazzTimes, Jazziz, JazzInside, local/national features in the Minneapolis Star Tribune (Front page headline and front page Arts & Entertainment feature); The Cincinnati Enquirer, The New York Times, Daily News, Boston Herald, Village Voice; Beck/Smith Hollywood, Jazz Police, Wine and Jazz and Jazz Review. On radio, Rondi has had numerous live interviews on JazzWeek radio stations and NPR’s affiliated nationally syndicated Art of The Song, prompting its creator and producer, Viv Nesbitt to say “Rondi Charleston brings art to life. Her song writing and interpretations of classics illuminates the power of music and story. She moved and inspired us as interviewers, with a journalist’s ability to get to the truth of the human condition, combined with an artist’s sensibility to tell it from the heart.” And her recent national tours found Rondi to be a frequently sought after TV guest nationally on local NBC, ABC and Fox Affiliates, Fox 5 featured Christmas live performance, and a highlighted feature spot on Entertainment Tonight, capturing her in the studio with her All Star band recording her original anthem of hope for the future, Song For the Ages, which was received and acknowledged by President Obama and was the headline performance at an election fundraiser held in Los Angeles, where Rondi performed and appeared alongside Jamie Foxx, Fran Drescher, Isaiah Washington, Mario Van Peebles and other well known celebrities who welcomed her to the fold. Along the way, Rondi made a commitment to continue the work of her friends and former neighbors, Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward, by performing at and donating portions of proceeds from her tours and record sales to Newman’s The Hole In The Wall Gang Camps, which provide children with cancer and other serious illnesses and conditions a camping experience of the highest quality, while extending year-round support to their families and health care providers. All services are provided free of charge. As a Motéma recording artist, whose mission it is to present artists of distinction producing passionate, outstanding jazz, label owner and artist, Jana Herzen says of Rondi, “I treasure Rondi’s passion, vision and talent for perceiving and telling compelling, universal stories. The arts, for me, are all about the journey, and Rondi has much to share on that front.” And Rondi’s journey has been as exciting, diverse and deeply compelling as her music. At 16 she entered Juilliard’s drama department, later switching to voice, completing her BM and MM in music. She was immediately hired as a lyric soprano in opera roles that frequently found her playing the maid because of her diminutive stature. She shares, “I felt as if I was on a narrow track and missing the real adventures of life and longed to be a cultural reporter alongside Charles Kuralt.” So she entered the NYU School of Journalism where she distinguished herself by breaking a front page NYTimes and Daily News Story uncovering the truthful causes of a Metro-North train crash. This fortuitous event landed her a job alongside Diane Sawyer as an investigative reporter for almost seven years on PrimeTime Live. Says Rondi, “When we were in the thick of scripting and we couldn’t see the forest for the trees, Diane used to say,’ Just tell the story,’ and those are still words I live by.” Rondi continues her commitment to education by providing master classes in colleges and universities around the country, sharing, inspiring and passing the torch to the next generation of Storytellers through her workshops on Songwriting, Live Performance, Vocal Production and Jazz Technique.