Katie Diamond

Katie Diamond was first exposed to jazz standards as a child, in family sing-alongs led by her father on ukulele. She often wonders how hearing it played on the ukelele could have fostered such a deep attachment to the sophisticated and urbane music written in the first half of the twentieth century.

Her love of this music was re-ignited almost half a century later, when her guitarist husband decided to forget rock and roll forever, and go back to the jazz he loved and had studied at Berklee School of Music in the 1970s.

Losing her job as a backup singer for the B Sides, Richard's rock group that had played for years in the Chelsea-Wakefield area, Katie (at that time still known only by the name Catherine) figured she'd better get on the new bandwagon.

The first band the duo formed was called Drama Queen, and borrowed bass, keyboard and drums from the old rock group. But soon it just became easierto rehearse and play as a duo, and the Katie Diamond Band was launched. For several years the KDB played both private and public venues in the Chelsea-Wakefield area, as well as at The Branch in Kemptville.

The KDB's trajectory was tragically interrupted by the guitarist's fatal illness in 2008.

It was only in January of 2016 that Katie had the extreme good fortune to meet pianist Bert Waslander, who generously agreed to work with her to see if the singing would come back. She has also had the opportunity to work under the inspired tutelage of Nicole Ratté, and has been lucky to receive gracious informal mentoring by such local jazz stalwarts as Karen Oxorn and Chris Thompson. Since the spring of 2016, Katie D. has performed several private and public concerts, and is thrilled to have been able to sing with a growing roster of talented local musicians, including Bert Waslander, J.P. Allain, Richard Moxley, Ron Backs, John Mitchell, Alf Warnock, John Haysom and Howard Tweddle.

In her professional life, Katie (Catherine Morrison) is a writer, editor and strategic communications consultant. Check out: http://www.longhaulmedia.com

Below: Earl of Sussex, Jan. 19, 2017

"Katie has a lively and energetic presence on stage with a great jazz voice that takes you back to the 40s when the genre really began to hit it’s stride." Ginny Simonds, jazzpianist

“I loved being lifted and transported with the crowd on your voice. . . . The performance had lift off and the audience was in your palm.

I was amused to find that your version of songs was crafted from the best of all those who pushed the songs up the charts of the days. Your versions were new, fresh, hummable and carried us along – singable. What fun. thanks.”  
Richard Dyson, jazz afficionado, on Katie’s 2024 debut performance