from The Seattle Times:
Call it a midlife crisis or call it an epiphany. Either way, Gail Pettis got bit by the jazz bug and reinvented herself as one of the most sensuously swinging new singers on the American scene.
One day she’s tuning up smiles at her successful orthodontic practice in Issaquah, and the next she’s spreading grins from the bandstand, where she’s forged deep creative ties with some of Seattle’s deepest players.
“I enjoyed the patients, but I was looking for a change,” Pettis says. “At the time I wouldn’t have said, ‘I’m leaving my practice to pursue music,’ but it turns out that’s what happened.”
For jazz fans outside the Seattle area, Pettis seemed to emerge out of nowhere in 2007 with the release of her luminous debut CD “May I Come In?” on OA2 Records. She confirmed her status as an exceptional interpreter of the American Songbook with the January release of “Here In the Moment.” Soulful and understated, her voice caresses each melody, transforming even the most familiar standards into highly personal narratives.
Continue reading at The Seattle Times.