Dena Taylor

Ask jazz vocalist, Dena Taylor, about being a "seasoned" musician and the relevancy of her music in an age of youth and she'll first respond with one of the brightest smiles you could imagine then she'll shake her head and will, most likely, respond that she hadn't counted on making it to 30 no less still making music past 50. A jovial spirit with a contagious robust laugh is what you will find if you're fortunate enough to spend any time with her.

Taylor spent twelve years abroad in the military, combining her years of service with a series of low-profile concert and event gigs. She also accepted invitations to sing with touring USO shows whenever it was compatible with her military schedule.

Taylor's road to success has been hard-won, even inspirational. Upon leaving the military, Taylor found herself in a violent car accident that left her with a severe brain injury requiring a full two years to regain her ability to speak and walk again. And, since that time, she has also waged her own personal battle against breast cancer.

Having relocated to Florida, she returned to the stage as one of the gold-star cast members of the Historic Cocoa Village Playhouse. From there, she went on to establishing herself as a solid solo performer. Her pairings with some of the regions finest musicians resulted in her award winning CD, Round Midnight, made with Ron Teixeira, Ron Pirtle and Dave Dunscombe.

Besides her own bands, Dena & Company (with notables Ron Teixeira, Dave Dunscombe and John Fitzgerald) and Troika (with gifted Hammond B-3 artist, Kenny Clarke, and drummer Dave Dunscome), her reputation also made her a frequent guest vocalist of visiting national jazz and blues groups.

Taylor was named one of the Top Five Vocalists in the SingersUniverse "Best Vocalist Of The Month" Competition just prior to relocating to Austin, Texas in January of 2009.

Now based in Austin Texas, she went to work on her second award winning CD, Certitude, which was released in March of 2010 and includes notables Grammy winner Redd Volkaert and Ernie Durawa. One of the tracks from this effort, Song for My Father, was rewarded with an IAIRA Certification of "International Top 100 Hit" shortly after its release.

In addition to the donations that Taylor makes from all of her CDs to the charities of her choice, she also recorded and released several minis in 2013 specifically to support charities: Hymns for Hunger, a c