“Lori Carsillo is a vocal musician of relaxed, cool self-assurance and her voice is special for its unfiltered feelings and melodic warmth.”
- Herb Wong, jazz historian, producer, Black Hawk Records & Palo Alto Records founder

Carsillo, (an Italian name, pronounced: “car-SILL-oh”) is a talented vocalist and a noted presence on the Bay Area jazz scene. She has performed at top Bay Area venues, such as Yoshi’s, Bimbo’s 365 Club, and the San Jose Jazz Festival, and performed up and down the West Coast. Carsillo traveled throughout Europe singing at such festivals as the North Sea Jazz Festival and Umbria Jazz Festival. She has appeared regularly at Cafe Claude for over 10 years, a San Francisco venue that continues to host and nurture some of the best talents in the Bay Area.

Her repertoire, a mix of well-known favorites and forgotten gems, draws praise from listeners as well as fellow musicians, and reflects her love of beautiful tunes that evoke the sweet ache of melancholy. She sings with an unaffected, unpretentious style, never overreaching, and always at ease. The nuance of her phrasing is constantly fresh and compelling. It’s no wonder that she’s built up a devoted following.

“Based in the San Francisco Bay area, Lori Carsillo has a simple and direct delivery, a coolly sensuous voice, and an improvising style that is quite subtle. Her choice of notes is excellent, she swings at all tempos. One suspects that a lot more is going to be heard from Lori Carsillo in the future.”
- Scott Yanow, LA-based jazz writer and historian, author of The Jazz Singers: The Ultimate Guide

Carsillo’s interest in music was nurtured from a young age in a family of musicians and artists. Her early musical interest led her to study classical music and opera. Exposure to musical theatre introduced her to many of the standard songs in the jazz repertoire, igniting her passion for the genre. Carsillo spent hours listening to recordings of singers Julie London, Nancy Wilson, Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald and instrumentalists Miles Davis, Bill Evans, Dave Brubeck, Paul Desmond, among others, providing inspiration and a deep connection to the music.

While jazz has remained her first love, Carsillo’s wide-ranging musical interest has led her to experiment with projects from opera to funk to electronica, dabbling in classic 60s lounge pop, Brazilian music, and R&B. The diversity of her musical background culminates in a rich, colorful singing style that is wholly her own.

A Bay Area native, Carsillo made an auspicious debut singing at the Palo Alto Jazz Festival with the Menlo-Atherton High School Jazz Band. Led by local legend, Frank Moura, the band opened for Carmen McRae, Tuck & Patti, The Yellowjackets. The band went on to play the Reno Jazz Festival and performed locally on a regular basis. Carsillo and the M-A Jazz Band toured Europe and performed at The North Sea Jazz Festival (The Netherlands), Umbria Jazz Festival (Italy), Lido-Bienne Big Band Festival (Switzerland), and at the Luxembourg Gardens in Paris, France. Much of Carsillo’s early exposure to the fundamentals of jazz was through this experience with touring and performing.

Expanding on this early experience, Carsillo studied jazz with several internationally renowned jazz singers: the Bay Area’s Kitty Margolis, and via the Stanford Jazz Workshop, Madeline Eastman and Concord recording artist, Kurt Elling.

Carsillo’s debut jazz CD, Bittersweet, is a unique collection of standards and lesser-known jazz tunes. Inspired by the 1961 record The Newest Sound Around by Ran Blake & Jeanne Lee, Bittersweet is like a noir soundtrack that walks the line between hope and sorrow. Her warm and intimate style emerges fully-formed and self-assured.

Bittersweet features “some of the Bay Area’s best - and most under-appreciated - musicians for her moody debut CD, Bittersweet,” (JazzIz Magazine) including Dave MacNab (guitar, co-producer), John Shifflett (bass), Jason Lewis (drums), Michael Bluestein (keyboards). Adding texture and depth to the recording, Eric Crystal plays saxophone, Robin Bonnell is on cello, and Robby Ach plays the theremin.

DownBeat Magazine praised, “...Savvy Bay Area ingenue, turns a deft phrase, sweetly reworks melodies and convincingly touches 10 standards” and JazzIz Magazine, said “composer Cole Porter probably never envisioned Carsillo’s seductive delivery on his “Get Out of Town.” Michael Handler of Jazz West noted that “this singer, has a smoky, sensuous feeling accentuated by the wonderful choices of ballads and love songs.”

Bittersweet was followed up by Cole Porter...Old Love, New Love, True Love, a tribute to one of Carsillo’s favorite composers. Inspired by a performance given at Yoshi’s (Oakland), the recording features Dave MacNab on guitar, Devin Hoff on bass, and Alan U’Ren on drums. MacNab provided the arrangements, reworking the tunes with a hip, modern vibe.

“Lori Carsillo...is in excellent form on Cole Porter...Old Love, New Love, True Love,” said Scott Yanow in The Jazz Singers: The Ultimate Guide.

In a slight departure from the first two CDs, Carsillo recorded Lullabies for Little Dreamers. The jazz-influenced CD is a collection of beloved classic and modern lullabies, plus one original. Carsillo co-arranged all the songs and co-wrote the original tune with guitarist and arranger, Jay Stapleton.

Lush and soothing Lullabies for Little Dreamers brings together the talents of jazz and classical players. It features Jay Stapleton (guitar), John Wiitala (bass), Jon Evans (bass, recording engineer), Alan U’Ren (drums and percussion), Jennifer Kloetzel (cello), and Carsillo’s sister, Jennifer Carsillo (violin), and her brother-in-law, Conductor Michael Butterman (piano).

Carsillo has spent more than a decade as the vocalist (aka Lola Bombay) for Project: Pimento, a 60s lounge band whose lead instrument is the theremin. Project: Pimento blends songs from the cocktail-lounge cannon: James Bond themes, Mancini and Bacharach favorites, bossa nova, and swing.

Aside from countless Bay Area performances in clubs and venues such as The Great American Music Hall, Cafe du Nord, and Bruno’s, the band has performed in Los Angeles, San Diego, Palm Springs, Las Vegas, and Seattle and had the distinction of being nominated twice for an SF Weekly Award and performing at the SF Weekly Awards Show itself. Among other highlights, the band performed for the Regional EMMY Awards Show at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco and at the San Jose Jazz Festival. Project: Pimento was featured in the island-life publication Tiki Magazine in Spring 2011.

The band has released two lounge/exotica CDs, Magical Moods of the Theremin and Space Age Love Songs. Jeff Berkwits in SCI-FI Magazine said “as Project: Pimento proves on their debut [CD], in the right hands the device still sounds fascinating and fresh. Inventive interpretations of 12 vintage tunes, including “Diamonds are Forever” and the Star Trek theme, sparkle with substance and style, adding a stirring, “space age bachelor pad” patina to a thoroughly intoxicating collection.”

Carsillo’s vocal sophistication and range of experience allow her to connect with her audience and leave an impression. Audience members often comment after a show that they feel as though she has been singing directly to them. Carsillo’s interpretation of jazz has an ageless appeal. Her audiences are often filled with people of different backgrounds and musical tastes.

With a vivacious and innate musical sense, Lori Carsillo is carving out her own place in the world of music. She has recently turned her attention to composing, with a new album of original jazz tunes in the works.