Jamie was in love with music long before the fifth grade, when her first trumpet became the focus of a lifetime dedication. She recalls sitting on a swing behind her family’s Wyoming home for hours in the summertime writing poems with secret melodies. The dance of words and images still inspires her musical imagination.

After high school, Jamie earned a B.S. in Music Education from the University of Mary in Bismarck, ND, but she found that her degree, and her experience with the university’s monastic teachers only led her to more questions about the deeper meanings in music. The ancient melodies of Gregorian chant she heard at the University of Mary priory captivated her interest and, anxious to find answers in their sublime strains, she acquired an M.M. in musicology from Florida State University and a Ph.D. from the University of Toronto.

Jamie Younkin is today one of America’s most engaging new jazz artists. Regarded for her sensuous vocals and nuanced trumpet performances, she has been compared to Diana Krall and Chet Baker. Younkin has received numerous awards for University Excellence in Florida, honorary memberships to educator’s associations, and she is the Vice President and a founding member of the nation’s foremost jazz competition, the American Jazz Pianist Competition.

Her recent album, “Did It Anyway” has garnered significant praise for its sensitivity and original song writing.