Kate Kortum
Kate Kortum, vocalist from Houston, Texas, and Juilliard graduate, is the 2025 winner of the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition. She interprets the Great American Songbook with an intensely personal musicality, harmonically sophisticated improvisation, and a focus on inhabiting the lyric story.
Kate Kortum: Vocals
Tyler Henderson: Piano
Jared Beckstead-Craan: Bass
Aaron Seeber: Drums
Juilliard graduate and 2025 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition winner Kate Kortum has emerged as one of the most compelling new voices in jazz. Seamlessly blending bebop and Broadway, she has performed at Birdland, Blue Note, Mezzrow, Dizzy’s Club, and Jazz at Lincoln Center, and collaborated with Aaron Diehl, Jason Moran, Peter Bernstein, and Wynton Marsalis. Her latest album, Wild Woman (2025) pushes the boundaries of traditional vocal jazz, reclaiming music written by men through a boldly female perspective. The album has surpassed 5.1 million streams, with a deluxe edition released January 2026.