Linda Solotaire

Whether you book Linda Solotaire as a duo or ensemble of any size, you can be sure of warm, friendly, experienced professionals showing up on time, prepared, dressed appropriately and ready to charm your guests.

A typical performance may start with an instrumental. Linda would follow that with a fun light opening song, introduce the band and acknowledge the hosts. The band's set can be crafted to engage the audience, or to fall back - creating an upbeat sonic backdrop for your event. For longer events the ensemble would take a short break about once an hour.

Linda is a trained actress and experienced Emcee - experienced in intimate cabaret performance - and just as comfortable in a huge stadium. Her performances have been critically acclaimed, and the musicians she works with are of the highest caliber. She is adaptable and a quick study, and will do what it takes to make your event a seamless success.

Linda Solotaire is a vocalist, bandleader, curator, and teaching artist. Classically trained in music and theatre, she began her career as an actress in the late 1970s. As a vocal artist, she is most deeply influenced by Nina Simone, Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, Abbey Lincoln, Sheila Jordan, and Judy Garland. While the Great American Songbook is at the heart of her repertoire, she strives to infuse her straight-ahead jazz sets with more obscure, contemporary and original songs.

Currently, Linda is working with her long-time collaborator Stu Greenspan on a collection of new arrangements of songs by Thelonious Monk, as well as a non-jazz project called Songs of Love & Hate with co-leader Chris Bernhardt. Past projects include Dreams of You: the Sun, the Moon, and Johnny Mercer, embracing the world of one of America’s finest lyricists; Phoenix Project strove to re-imagine the songs of Jacques Brel, Leonard Cohen, Marlene Deitrich, and her Speakeasy Show, created specifically for Pete Miller's in Evanston.

Linda studied dance, voice, music, and acting from an early age. She studied acting with William Hickey at HB Studios in NYC, and voice with Typhanie Monique and Carol Loverde in Chicago, among others. She received her BA from Columbia College Chicago. With a background in theory, classical, and 20th-century music, Linda has enjoyed roles in musical theater and in-studio session work, and she has collaborated on original works with artists including conductor/composer Carmen Helena Téllez, playwright/composer Thomas Weber, new music composer Christopher Preissing, NON:op Opera Company, Small Fish Radio, Local Infinities creators Meghan Strell & Charlie Levin, and poet/composer Everette Howe.

Linda was invited to join Actors Equity Association in 1984. Since then, she has had principal roles in scores of theatrical and on-camera projects ranging from Catherine in O’Neill’s Mourning Becomes Electra to Annie in Annie Get Your Gun, from commercial industrial videos and multimedia to surreal collaborative films, and most recently appeared as Board Member on the American TV drama series, Chicago Med. She frequently works as a voice-over talent as well and has performed in a variety of performance situations and venues around the world.

Linda is the founder and artistic director of True Muse Productions, an organization that promoted live performance, in particular, under-exposed music genres. True Muse produced music and other happenings supported music education &held workshops for artists. She has founded multiple not-for-profit arts organizations, and worked as an arts administrator in various roles during her life. Dedicated to the democratization of the arts, Linda teaches music to children, mentors burgeoning artists and works to raise arts awareness whenever possible.

Musicians with whom Linda has performed: Harrison Bankhead, John Beard, Chris Bernhardt, Bret Benteler, Lance Brown, Steve Corley, James Cornolo, Jim Cox, Fred Faller, Tim Fitzpatrick, Pat Flemming, Jim Gailloreto, Lise Gilly, John Goldman, Phill Gratteau, Chris Greene, Stu Greenspan, Stephen Hashimoto, Jeremy Kahn, Geordie Kelly, John William Lauler, Jean-Christophe Leroy, Val Leventhal, Michael Levin, Doug Lofstrom, Bob Lovecchio, Dennis Luxion, Shawn Maxwell, Doug MacDonald, Donovan Mixon, Diana Mosquera, Tommy Muellner, David Onderdonk, Joe Policastro, Abigail Riccards, James Sanders, Zoey Szmulewitz, Benjamin Scholz, Paul Abella, Fred Simon, Steve Strunk, Daniel Tabion, Daniel Thatcher, Leandro Lopez Varady, Chris White and Saalik Ziyad.

Trivia: Linda has performed at the Lake Placid Olympic Arena, in ancient Turkish ruins, and on the deck of a battleship in the Mediterranean Sea

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