Originally from Washington, D.C., Felicia Carter earned accolades from audiences, musicians, and critics for her “immaculate pipes” and dramatic song delivery. Her diverse performing arts resume started in the theatre. While earning a Bachelor of Arts in Drama, she began operatic vocal training. In the 90’s she was a key figure in Baltimore’s theatre and rock-n-roll scene. Carter performed leading roles with Axis Theatre, Mongrel Theatre, the Theatre Project, was guest member for the improv comedy troupe The Flying Tongues, and portrayed television character Lee Bigelow on “Homicide: Life on the Street.” Her musical direction of Axis Theatre’s “Tuesday” received critical acclaim. Contributing her voice to cabaret acts such as Snackie Hillman’s “The Gong Show” and “Sapatac”, as well as bands including The All Mighty Senators, Annex, and They Came from Nowhere, Carter’s first songwriting began with Mark Harp and Guttersnipe. She then led her own punk-pop quartet Pottymouth for which she produced two albums of original music; “Lunch” and “Giddypopjunk.”
Around this time, Carter was invited to sing professionally with Alan Dale’s New Legacy Jazz Band, and began additional vocal studies with opera singer Margot Bos Stambler. In 2000, she recorded her first jazz standard singing the title track for bassist Victor Dvoskin’s “There’s A Small Hotel.” 2001 marked the release of Carter’s self-produced jazz recording “In the Pink…and Songs in Blue.” That same year, she was guest performer on New Legacy Jazz Band’s release “5 Months, 2 Weeks, 2 Days” which included two of Carter’s original compositions. She subsequently celebrated over 30 artists by writing and producing two shows, “Great American Songwriters,” and “Great American Performers.” In 2003 Carter was composer and lyricist for “Dipteracon,” an original musical adaptation of Jean Paul Sartre’s “The Flies” which premiered at LaMaMa ETC in Manhattan. The Unified Jazz Ensemble featured Ms. Carter on the 2005 release “Live at 49 West.” From this recording, the track “Makin’ Whoopee” was culled for inclusion on Baltimore Jazz Alliance’s 2006 compilation CD “Jazzscapes.”
In 2007 she was invited to perform in Chile with the Tony Martucci Quartet at the “Jazz y Vino Festival,” and was a featured performer on saxophonist Russell Kirk’s recording “Black and White.” As a member of the “Sistas Can Sang!” ensemble she appeared at numerous venues including Martin Luther King International Chapel. In collaboration with bassist / composer Amy Shook, Carter wrote music and lyrics for the PBS documentary “Next Stop: Silver Spring,” which aired on WETA(DC) in 2008. Carter’s original composition “Louise” was a finalist in the 2008 International Songwriting Competition.
From Felicia Carter’s website, courtesy of Skizz Cyzyk
2001(CD) (indie) in the pink… & songs in blue
