Waterloo Makes Music: Shirley Cook with Ava Preston Trio

Ava Preston: 

Ava has also performed as a guest singer at a number of national venues including Birdland Jazz Club (New York), Bluebird Café (Nashville), Andy’s Jazz Café (Chicago) and the Monty Alexander Jazz Festival (Easton, MD). She has participated in some prestigious summer jazz workshops for vocalists including Grammy Camp, Stanford Jazz Workshop, Litchfield Jazz Camp, New York Voices, Jazz Port Townsend and Tri-C JazzFest Academy.

Ava sings a variety of genres and languages including songs in French, Portuguese and Spanish. Ava draws inspiration from jazz legends like Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughn, Billie Holiday, Cyrille Aimee and Astrud Gilberto. Ava believes music is a universal language that can unite people and promote acceptance of differences around the world. 

Ava’s mentors include internationally acclaimed trumpeter Dominick Farinacci (TED Speaker & former Global Ambassador to Jazz at Lincoln Center), pianist Theron Brown (Director of the Rubber City Jazz & Blues Festival), vocal icon Kim Nazarian (Grammy Nominated New York Voices), guitarist Kurt Reed (Director of Fairlawn & Hudson School of Music), and singer/songwriter Susan Anders (Acclaimed Nashville Vocal Coach) among others.

Ava’s artistic influences and inspiration are best explained in her own words. She writes: 

“I find people inspiring most of all. Listening to the vocal “greats” including Ella Fitzgerald, Billie Holiday, Sarah Vaughn, Louis Armstrong and Nina Simone and appreciating their strong voices, not only in their singing, but in equality for all, truly made jazz into a movement as much as a genre. More modern artists such as Sarah Bareilles, Nora Jones, Alanis Morissette, Stevie Nicks, Eva Cassidy, Esperanza Spalding, Jazzmeia Horn, Jean Baylor, Somi, and Diana Krall stimulate my creative expression. 

I believe that music is a universal language that can unite people around the world. My platforms are dedicated to promoting unity and anti-bullying. My hope is to move society in a positive direction with my art. Although world peace is a nice thought, I believe it is an unrealistic absolute for a flawed human condition. My goal is to spread world tolerance and the acceptance of differences through my music.”