“Hear us now, believe us later: the freakishly gifted young singer DANA LAUREN is still studying at New England Conservatory, but with her plush vocals and acute phrasing, she already has a captivating personal sound” – ThePheonix.com “Lauren, 19, proved to be not only a sassy, silken vocalist, but an effective bandleader as well.” – The Hartford Advocate Being at the right place at the right time is certainly relevant for Dana Lauren. On August 12, 2006, Dana attended the Newport Jazz Festival where Arturo Sandoval was performing. As luck would have it, Dana bumped into Mr. Sandoval as he was headed back to the stage in between performances. During a brief conversation, Mr. Sandoval found out that Dana was a jazz vocalist and getting ready to begin her first year at New England Conservatory as a jazz vocal performance major. He invited Dana to join him on stage at Sculler’s Jazz Club in Boston that following November. Since that time, Dana has had the honor of performing with Arturo at the Arturo Sandoval Jazz Club in Miami, the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival and Birdland in NYC to mention a few. This CD is the result of that meeting in Newport. Dana will always be thankful to Arturo for giving her this amazing opportunity and considers him not only her mentor but also a very good friend. Meeting Arturo Sandoval on the day of her 18th birthday was a life changing experience. Dana has loved music for as long as she can remember. Her parents knew she had a passion and love of music when she was playing songs by ear on her keyboard at 6 years old. Shortly after that, she began taking classical piano lessons. While she was always singing, it didn’t dawn on anyone that her “gift” was her voice. While Dana’s mother loved to listen to jazz, Dana did not discover her passion for jazz until she arrived at high school and was chosen as the piano player for her high school jazz ensemble. Through her high school years, Dana was a member of the jazz band, jazz choir and women’s choir. She also directed an a cappella jazz quartet. Dana added jazz piano instruction as well as voice lessons to her schedule knowing that she would be majoring in jazz performance in college. Dana was thrilled to receive the Outstanding Vocal Soloist Award at the 2006 Berklee College of Music High School Jazz Festival and the Judge’s Choice Award for her piano and choir performance. Dana is completing her sophomore year at New England Conservatory as a jazz vocal performance major. She is excited to be transferring to Berklee College of Music on scholarship for the fall 2008 semester where she will continue her jazz vocal training and get back to seriously working on her jazz piano chops. Dana continues to perform with her own band in venues along the East Coast.