Highly spirited, and energetic with a sophisticated touch, the New York City-born native Joyce Elaine Yuille has been calmly gracing stages in Europe for quite some time. At a very early age, she was already blessed with the “gift” of stage presence and the ability to capture an audience’s undivided attention. When she takes to the stage with her 6 feet tall stature, penetrating eyes, and first sultry note, one can’t help but be spellbound.
An alumnus of the renowned high school Fiorello LaGuardia High School for the Music & Performing Arts in Manhattan is where she studied and developed her vocal skills with some of the best voice teachers nationwide and some may even declare in the world. She continued with performing arts after her departure from the school, but a few years later decided to leave the United States to pursue a modeling career in Paris before finally deciding to reside permanently in Europe.
Italy is where she decided to plant new seeds and take a chance with the music scene.
Her admiration for divas such as Sarah Vaughn, Nina Simone, Etta James, Carmen McRae, and all-time favorite, Phyllis Hyman, have influenced her to create a personal style that is respectfully appreciated and admired by her audience. Always fearless on stage no matter what the circumstances, her heart, and soul are the keys during her performances. Her quick wit, sassy style, and ability to touch the public profoundly, always leave them with a “special feeling” and something memorable to take home.
Joyce has been fortunate to work with many international and Italian artists and served as a background vocalist with the celebrated disco diva Gloria Gaynor with whom she toured for six years. There have also been a few appearances on Italian television and with her extensive past role as a studio singer, her voice has been featured on numerous dance tunes, commercials, and radio jingles between 1999 and 2014. Nonetheless, Joyce’s smooth and more profound true vocal talents are more appreciated in jazz, which is her primary genre, and blues/soul where she has demonstrated her more get down “nitty-gritty” style.
She developed a range of experiences after working as a studio singer, eventually recording an album for the Sony/Tristar Italy label, “Deep Inside” in 1989 with the trio 3*D, notching a semi-hit with their cover of “Georgy Porgy”. She has performed as a backing vocalist for many Italian and international artists, including Gloria Gaynor with whom she traveled and performed as a backing singer for six years throughout Europe.
After having stood on many prominent stages, she eventually made the decision to step into her own light; this would be the moment her “solo” journey performing as a jazz artist would begin.
Her vocal style is elegant, powerful, and passionate, backed by the capability to glide from a sultry jazz standard into a “nitty-gritty” soul-stomping tune with refinement and ease. With an inimitable voice enriched in deep and sultry tones, it is difficult to confuse her with any other vocalist. She has graced stages performing with some of Europe’s finest jazz musicians and has been appreciated by many of the most prestigious jazz festivals and jazz clubs in Italy and around Europe with many more to be explored.
Her sold-out performances at Italy’s famed jazz temple Blue Note Milan have blessed her with many fans who continue to follow her on her journey. Her heartfelt performances welcome us into “her world”, where multifaceted and refined qualities reveal her incredible talent as a songstress and performer.
Her first solo album, a work that expels a strong jazz and blues feeling, “Welcome to My World”, was released in 2015 and within a short time was met with rave reviews from major music critics and radio stations across Europe and the United Kingdom. The album was produced by Luciano Cantone for Schema Records, the prominent Italian record label specializing in retro, Brazilian, and nu-jazz, that also released Mario Biondi’s hit debut “This is What You Are” among many others. Commissioned to record the album with Joyce was one of the best North-European jazz groups visibly present on the international jazz scene led by her good friend and Finnish sax superstar Timo Lassy and his quintet.
Joyce also self-produced a second album released in 2020; “The Soul of Porter”. A musical project dedicated to the great 20th-century composer Cole Porter, which includes a selection of Porter tunes with her personal touch. Alongside her on this project is the Italian based 5tet Jazz Inc.
The musical journey continues for Joyce as she continues to display her talents, performing at numerous jazz and blues festivals around Europe. Her class is a certainty, as well as her dynamism and vocal expressiveness. An intense charisma that gently but forcefully falls deep into the hearts of all she contacts.
