Denise Kirkland & The Kirkland Project

Join Denise Kirkland as she continues her incredible journey into the magical world of jazz and blues. She takes up the mantle of progressive jazz and wears it graciously like black mink.

Both classy and sassy, Kirkland brings snap, crackle, pop and sizzle to the tradition of jazz, the rambunctiousness of the blues and the slickness of R&B.

She makes her interpretations a brand new experience for wildly diverse audiences everywhere she goes. Kirkland has been praised by some of the greatest jazz entertainers as well as some of the most discerning fans in the Southeast and beyond.

This lady catches the stage on fire and brightly burns through jazz standards like the StarChild that she is…making it white hot and positively charged with high voltage electrical heat.

Denise José (Yo-say) Kirkland was born on December 21, in Washington, D.C. She attended high school at Severna Park High School in Maryland and West Florence High School in S.C., where she performed in plays and musical theatre. She was a cheerleader and sang in school and church choirs. She took ballet, jazz and modern dance classes and studied piano.

In the midst of all this performance related education, she managed to get a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Francis Marion University. An accomplished actor and impersonator, her favorite character to play is Jackie “Moms” Mabley.

Denise didn’t begin singing professionally until her late 20’s but after discovering she could sing jazz & blues, she hasn’t looked back. Her musical influences include Ella Fitzgerald, Nancy Wilson, Sarah Vaughn, Billie Holiday Carmen McCrae, Alberta Hunter, Koko Taylor and a ton of others that would fill an ocean. Denise listens.

In 2006, she moved from Philadelphia to Atlanta, where she sings in jazz and blues clubs, restaurants and for private functions. She is also an accomplished songwriter and wrote lyrics and melody for nine songs on her debut CD “Progressive Groove” and "My Name Is Aunti" now in production. She writes jazz, blues, R&B, Southern soul, gospel and country songs for herself and other artists.

Denise says, “No matter what your obstacles, you have the will or can learn the skills necessary to create your own beautiful quality of life.” Her motto? “I ain’t braggin’, I’m confessin’!”