Karyn Malone began her professionalsinging career in the early 1970's as a single parent raising two small children. At only twenty-two years old, she would support her family by sitting in with various musicians andplaying in clubs. One-nighters became steady gigs so Karyn toured, mainly
in the Southeast and the Midwest, and she always brought her kids. However, when offered a recording contract she declined because as they grew older, it became more difficult for Karyn to tour with her children. She then stayed home and took steady nightclub gigs in and around Atlanta. Soon Karyn Malone's soaring vocal abilities became widely known throughout Georgia. She was a staple in the music scene and found fans in such luminaries as Jimmy Carter and Helen Reddy.
Throughout the seventies she sang everything from pop to blues to disco music, but Karyn considers herself to be a vocal stylist whose first love is jazz standards. Of the many bands with which Karyn Malone sang, The Hal Buice Trio had the most influence on her style of singing. "He was a very 'bluesy' pianist," Malone says, "and I learned to sing accordingly." During her time with the trio she discovered such great jazz vocalists as Sarah Vaughn and Ella Fitzgerald. She felt she'd connected with the vocal style and it's still her favorite music to sing.
After she married the drummer from one of her bands Karyn put her career on hold for several years to raise two more children. She began performing again in 1998. Since that time Karyn has found that she enjoys singing more than ever and has discovered a new freedom in her music. "I used to sing because I had to support my children. Now I sing because of my passion for singing of for the love of all of these great songs," she explains. Karyn is about to release her first recording, a live, full-length jazz CD called The Cocktail Sessions. The disc, a collection of mostly jazz standards, was recorded at Eddie's Attic in Decatur, Georgia. The Cocktail Sessions is set for release on SBS Records, the independent label owned and operated by Karyn's daughter, musician Michelle Malone. Karyn's husband Steve plays drums on the recording, her son Christian plays guitar, and Michelle lends her sultry vocals on "The Look of Love."
Michelle offers, "my mother has always had the most beautiful voice I've ever heard and is musically my biggest influence. I always find the every time I hear her sing I'm more amazed with all the things she can do with her voice. I'm just as excited about putting out her record as I am about releasing any of mine."