Valerie Troutt

Valerie Troutt

With wide-ranging influences such as Bjork, Dianne Reeves, Carmen McRae, Joni Mitchell, Walter Hawkins and Cassandra Wilson, jazz and gospel vocalist Valerie Troutt is a tremendously creative artist for whom art and activism are intertwined. Bay-area born and bred, her spiritual and social justice-driven performances mirror her lifelong hunger for social connection and cultural narratives. Troutt likens herself to a modern day griot for the people.

Since returning to the Bay Area after her studies in New York (The New School) and subsequent touring, Troutt has partnered with East Bay Performance Art Center, the Museum of African Diaspora, San Francisco Queer Cultural Center, the Embodiment Project, and Zoolabs (where Troutt is currently an artist in residence). 

Troutt has performed at famed venues in New York and the Bay Area, including SOBs, The Knitting Factory, Yoshi’s Jazz Club, Laurel Street Fair, The Mint L.A., CODA Jazz Supper Club, and Oakland’s Art ‘n’ Soul Festival. She has shared stages and collaborated with major recording artists like Les Nubians, Jennifer Johns, Maria Muldaur, Kimiko Joy, and Sister Monica Parker. She has recorded with modern composers like Gregory Del Piero, Emanuel Ruffler, Howard Wiley and Jaz Sawyer. For nearly two years, she also served as a principle singer in La Pena – Ayer, Hoy y Pa’Lante, an original suite of music by three-time GRAMMY nominee Wayne Wallace, with libretto by Aya de Leon. She has also performed extensively with Linda Tillery’s Cultural Heritage Choir.

“Thank goddess for Valerie Troutt… mentored by jazz vocalist Dianne Reeves, Troutt approaches R&B standards, house grooves, and her original socially conscious jazz and soul compositions with the verve of the missing masters.” - SF Weekly