What's a 20-year-old from Nashville, Tennessee doing singing jazz?

It's a good question, but one that Rachael Price finds easy to answer. “I appreciate all kinds of music, but jazz hit an inner chord with me at the age of five. I heard Ella Fitzgerald's rendition of The Lady is a Tramp. I didn't understand the lyrics, but I liked the feeling it gave me.”

Price has dedicated her life to her love. She is a jazz studies major at the New England Conservatory in Massachusetts. “Prior to attending the Conservatory, it was like getting the gist a foreign language,” Price said, “but not understanding every word. Now I know what each word means and those special nuances.”In fact, some great talents in and from Massachusetts have already impacted the young singer. Cambridge-born, multi-Grammy nominated jazz vocalist Nnenna Freelon brought the young singer to the attention of her manager after Freelon heard her in her clinic in Montreux. Now under the tutelage of Dominique Eade at the Conservatory, Rachael is focusing on repertoire, improvisation and style, among other things. And Price is proving that something special in her voice and style is bridging the worlds inhabited by these illustrious tcontemporary vocalists and those of lore and history: noted actress/singer Kathryn Grayson of MGM fame says of Price: "The best young voice I've heard, period. No one around can even touch her voice and style -- a style all her own."

In 2003, Price was tapped by the Grammy Foundation as a vocalist with the High School Grammy Jazz Choir, and she was a semi-finalist at the Montreux International Jazz Vocal Competition in France. In 2004, Price wowed the audience (and was the youngest competitor) at the Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition (this year for vocalists which last time around brought Jane Monheit to prominence and Terry Thornton to resurgence). And August 2005 brought her professional U. S. jazz festival debut – opening for Joshua Redman (another Thelonious Monk Jazz Competition alum)!

Rachael's quick grasp of the subtleties of jazz has led to an independent debut CD entitled: Dedicated To You It is a compendium of jazz standards. Pop the disc into tray and you're transported to a bygone era when “girl jazz singers” such as Doris Day or Anita O'Day dominated the airwaves.

Bad Habit is an upbeat, swing arrangement that Rachael says is about teenage angst . The next cut is a mid-range song, You Took Advantage of Me, which speaks to ambivalent love. I'll String Along With You sounds like Rachael is singing to a special someone. Next up is the bouncy/scat piece People Will Say We're In Love. Tea for Two is a paean to Doris Day and that “cheek-to-cheek” ballroom dancing with the best beau. Price delivers the next cut with musical assurance and credibility, The Folks Who Live on the Hill. Well paced is the best way to describe the quirky lyrics and music of Everything I Got. Rachael kicks it down a notch and her voice caresses -- A Nightingale Sang in Berkeley Square. Just Friends, Out of Nowhere, Whisper Not and Dedicated to You — are a good mix/balance and rounds out the rising star's debut album.

Her voice is rich and accomplished and it goes without saying, Rachael has more to give. And, this is not surprising because all of the Prices (they moved to the U.S. from Sydney, Australia when Rachael was three) are talented. Elizabeth Price, Rachael's mom, works for the Grand Ole Opry; sisters Juliette and Emily are singer/actresses in musical theater and older brother, Joel, is a DJ and is studying music engineering. Bad Habit , the title song was composed by dad, Tom Price.

“Jazz is sincere. It is real. You can convey—tell a story with your voice.” And, Rachael Price is already telling her story.