Queen Esther is an African-American vocalist, songwriter, lyricist, musicia… Read Full Bio ↴Queen Esther is an African-American vocalist, songwriter, lyricist, musician and solo performer.

Her sound – Black Americana – is a hybrid of the music that raised her: back-porch blues, straight-up old timey twang, sanctified gospel and 70’s country rock.

Queen Esther stepped out of her Low Country childhood and took her classically trained four-octave range from a prestigious performing arts high school in Atlanta, Georgia to Austin, Texas, quickly becoming a local/regional favorite as a singer and performer/entertainer on the theater scene and as a member of Ro-Tel and the Hot Tomatoes.

After relocating to New York City, her work led to creative collaborations in neo-vaudeville, alternative theater, various alt-rock configurations, (neo) swing bands, trip hop DJs, spoken word performances, jazz combos, jam bands, various blues configurations, original Off Broadway plays and musicals, experimental music/art noise and performance art.

As Queen Esther’s distinct sound — Black Americana — began to emerge, she performed regularly with blues guitar icon Hubert Sumlin and collaborated with jazz guitar icon James “Blood” Ulmer while joining forces with guitarist Elliot Sharp as the alt-blues duo Hoosegow (their critically acclaimed effort Mighty, formerly on the now defunct Homestead Records, is available as a German import). Produced by Vernon Reid (Living Colour), her featured vocals on No Escape From The Blues (Hyena) garnered praise while earning a spot in Rolling Stone’s pick of The Best 50 CDs of 2003.

Most recently, her songs and vocals are featured on Blues & Grass: The 52nd St. Blues Project (Chesky), produced by Mr. Ulmer and featuring Charlie Burnham on violin, Aubrey Dayle on drums and Mark Petersen on bass. All Music Guide says: “(But) as great as (Blues & Grass) is, Ulmer fans have heard much of this music before; the real revelation on this album is Queen Esther, whose uplifting songs and great singing are definite highlights on a consistently strong album. Just see if you can get ‘Sunnyland’ or ‘I’m Goin’ out of your head at the end of the disc.”

Queen Esther is the featured vocalist on Underneath A Brooklyn Moon, Grammy Award-nominated composer/pianist JC Hopkins’ Biggish Band’s debut CD. The band is a thirteen piece line-up of celebrated New York City musicians (Patience Higgins, James Zollar, Vincent Chancey) and guest vocalists/songwriters (Madelene Peroux, Norah Jones, Syd Straw) that highlights original swing tunes and hard bop. Of her performance on the recording, Jazzitude says: “(Queen Esther’s) work on this CD is ultra-hip, not because of who she reminds the listener of, but precisely because, whatever influences she brings to the table, she manages to make you think of no one but herself.”

After securing a publishing deal with Bug Music, Queen Esther started EL Recordings and self-released Talkin’ Fishbowl Blues, her full length debut CD of Black Americana, in September, 2004.

Most recently, Queen Esther won the 2008 Jazzmobile Vocal Competition.