Heart First

Biography

Jazz-pop artist Halie Loren is an American singer-songwriter. Originally hailing from Alaska, she now resides in Oregon (USA). Loren’s debut release of eleven original songs and one cover (Joni Mitchell's "River"), Full Circle, was released in 2006. Her sophomore album, They Oughta Write a Song (2008), brought to light her life-long love of jazz standards, and subsequently won a national independent music award for best vocal jazz album, and soon after received distribution in Asia by JVC/Vi...

Jazz-pop artist Halie Loren is an American singer-songwriter. Originally hailing from Alaska, she now resides in Oregon (USA).

Loren’s debut release of eleven original songs and one cover (Joni Mitchell's "River"), Full Circle, was released in 2006.

Her sophomore album, They Oughta Write a Song (2008), brought to light her life-long love of jazz standards, and subsequently won a national independent music award for best vocal jazz album, and soon after received distribution in Asia by JVC/Victor Entertainment and in North America by Justin Time Records.

Her holiday album with pianist Matt Treder, Many Times, Many Ways: a Holiday Collection, also recorded in 2008, was first released in limited edition, then followed with worldwide distribution in 2011.

Her fourth CD, the live album Stages (2010), was met with critical praise, including being named as an Editor’s Pick at CD Baby and “best live album of the year” at Wildy’s World.

After Dark followed in 2010, with the Loren original Thirsty winning the Independent Music Awards’ Vox Pop poll for best jazz song of the year.

The concoction of jazz standards, re-imagined pop classics, and originals that made up 2012’s Heart First was honored by Japan’s Jazz Critique magazine as the "best vocal jazz album of 2011". Fly Me to the Moon, a bonus track, spent three weeks at No. 1 on the iTunes Japan jazz chart. It was among the top 10 jazz CDs in Hot New Releases at Amazon in the U.S. and Canada, and reached No. 1 on the iTunes Canada jazz albums chart.

For the past three years she has traveled the world with the members of her original band, including Canada, across the U.S., Japan, Italy, China, Hong Kong, and South Korea, and include big band/symphonic performances with the Jazz Orchestra of Sicily, the Corvallis-OSU Symphony Orchestra in Oregon, and the Monroe Symphony in Louisiana.

The year 2013 brought Halie Loren’s Simply Love, with three new originals and ten re-imagined classics from contrasting eras of the American songbook. It rose to the top of the Japan charts in pop and jazz even before its June release date, and claimed No. 1 in its first week and by its third week, climbed to No. 1 spot on Billboard Jazz / Japan. Singles included the string-infused original Cuando Bailamos, Carole King’s 1974 B-side hit I Feel the Earth Move, and the title track, which Loren co-wrote with Benita Hill.

Simply Love was released in the U.S. and Canada by Justin Time Records on Sept. 10, 2013, entering iTunes Canada as #1 jazz album. She and her band are touring the US and other parts of the world in support of the album. Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.