Tamara Tunie with Paul Jost

The JazzStudio is a pop-up jazz club, and intimate setting reminiscent of the great jazz clubs from Pittsburgh to New York. This year at Pittsburgh International Jazz Festival, we feature two incredible vocalists and their bands. Tamara Tunie CD Release, and the Paul Jost Quartet.

Tamara Tunie never does anything by half measure. From her starring roles in films such as FLIGHT with Denzel Washington, 18 seasons on LAW AND ORDER: SVU, lead roles in AMC’s DIETLAND, Netflix’s BLACK EARTH RISING and in the Sundance Channel series THE RED ROAD, to roles in the theater, like Prospero in THE TEMPEST, Sharon in THE ROOMMATE, Calpurnia in JULIUS CEASAR , and Michelle in DREAMGIRLS; or as the Tony Award winning producer for SPRING AWAKENING. And when she reignited her singing career at FEINSTEIN’S in NYC just after Hurricane Sandy, one critic wrote, “Tamara Tunie restored the sparkle to New York City and gave the definitive answer “YES I SING”. Her previous show, “Legends from the Burgh”, at NYC’S 54 Below found her “singing to packed standing room only crowd where she not only sang an unforgettable evening of jazz, but gave the audience a noteworthy history lesson.”

Two years ago, she brought that evening of music to CITY THEATRE COMPANY, right here in the Burgh! Ms. Tunie has performed with many of the most incomparable musicians, and has helped raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for Penn State University Allegheny County’s Student Scholarship Fund, with her performances at ALL THAT’S JAZZ! She has graced the stage of the beautiful state of the art MADISON THEATRE, performed for the Mabel Mercer Foundation at TOWN HALL, and, also, at SYMPHONY SPACE, bringing down the house with music from Billie “Lady Day” Holiday to Cole Porter.

A critic wrote, “Tunie SWINGS, sings great, looks great!” Having studied classically and with a BFA in Musical Theatre from Carnegie Mellon University, Ms. Tunie added jazz several years ago and has performed at the legendary ALLEN ROOM at JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER.