Lisa Lindsley, who was born in Ogden, Utah, grew up listening to jazz greats like Evans, Brubeck, Ella Fitzgerald, and Sarah Vaughan because her father kept jazz and classical music playing on the stereo. Her mother, who imbued in her a love of theater, was a budding film actress, Carolynn Ross, who had left Hollywood in the 1950s under the advice of her good friend, the producer/director Joseph Mankiewicz, because of the McCarthy-era blacklist.

While Lindsley gravitated to the rock and pop music of the day as a young teen, she soon discovered musical theater, a passion that carried through to adulthood. She attended the prestigious California Institute for the Arts (CalArts) theater program, then spent the next decade touring and performing with The Imagination Company.

Raising and homeschooling three daughters put her performing ambitions on hold for a few years, but she developed a successful career as a voice-over artist, cast in video games, national ad campaigns, and radio shows. Once her daughters themselves got involved in musical theater, however, she ended up taking the plunge into singing. Her work as Vicky in a 2008 production of The Full Monty caught the attention of the owner at a Point Richmond jazz spot down the street, and he invited her to sit in at the jam session.

The experience was an epiphany. Realizing that jazz was an ideal creative outlet coupling singing and acting, Lindsley delved into the Bay Area’s rich pool of jazz education. She honed her skills at Contra Costa College with Roger Letson, whose vocal group, Vocal Flight, was a six-time winner of DownBeat magazine’s student music award in the college vocal group division. She then studied with Maye Cavallaro, Laurie Antonioli, Julia Dollison and Pamela Rose at the Jazzschool in Berkeley. She now studies at The Jazz Institute, a branch of the Jazzschool, gives a progressive undergraduate education program taught by world-class musicians and music educators.

Lisa Lindsley may be a latecomer to singing jazz, but the wealth of creative experience she brings to American Songbook gems turns familiar tunes into bracingly contemporary tales. session that announces the arrival of an artist who knows that beautiful melodies don’t need much adornment and that oft-interpreted lyrics have yet to reveal all their secrets.

In turning herself into the consummate professional, Lindsley has also turned into a powerfully expressive artist. Recorded during the breakup of her marriage, her debut album, Everytime We Say Goodbye is due out March 8th and reflects the currents of longing, melancholy, and fortitude running through her life at the moment. In concert, she brings vivacious energy to the stage, with a repertoire reflecting her resilience and rekindled exuberance. But that’s a story for another time.