Ondine Appel
As a native New Yorker, Ondine has performed with many bands and genres over the years.
Her soulful presence, distinct tone and unique phrasing compliment her rich and expansive style.
A story teller at heart, her repertoire is eclectic but primarily focuses on a curated mix of jazz, blues, bossa nova, several songs of which she sings in French, Spanish and Portuguese. She has also performed a cappella doowop, funk, soul and some original music from time to time.
Jazz and Blues
Beguiled is mix of jazz, blues and Bossa, recorded with the beautiful pianist, Ayako Shirasaki and renowned bassist, Marco Panascia. Both wonderful composers and performers in their own right who graced me with their accompaniment on this album of standards and international songs in French, Spanish and Portuguese.
You can hear the album Beguiled below (on Bandcamp) and check out a few snippets from the Altomonte Blues Festival in Calabria, Italy, Summer Jazz Fest in Asbury Park, NJ and The Zinc Bar, downtown in little ol' New York City.
Original Music
I started writing songs as a teenager and had a chance to revisit a couple of them with the wonderful guitarist, Sebastian Noelle, who helped me realize them after all these years!
A Capella Doowop
During my journey from teenage folk songs to sultry, I took a detour and spent several years with acappella doowop-R&B group called The Variations. Our group comprised four women and one man, who envisioned our repertoire and held down the bass line. He chose lesser-known tracks, allowing us ladies to take turns on lead vocals. It was exhilarating to explore this incredible music, harmonize together, and connect with the passionate community celebrating the "1950s-60s nostalgia" for R&B and soul.
Listen to a few of my lead songs from our album "Wish You Were Here," and take a peak at a "vintage video of me performing "Please Come Back To Me" at the renowned Symphony Space Theater in New York City, where we had the honor of sharing the stage legendary doowop artists and received the "Best Doowop Rookie Group of the Year" award. Over twenty years later we were invited to reunite for Lead East 2021, a national Car & Rock n' Roll Festival, and to our, we discovered we still had a loyal fan base. What a delightful twist!