DARA TUCKER BIO

Consummate vocalist, songwriter and bandleader Dara Tucker presents fresh and inspired arrangements of classic singer-songwriter and soul compositions of the protest era on her latest chart-topping jazz album Dreams of Waking: Music For a Better World.

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Tucker’s powerful release gives voice to the cry for social justice and change that has swept across the United States in the new decade. Songs from such legendary songwriters as Stevie Wonder, Donny Hathaway and Paul Simon are presented through a jazz lens with a compelling performance from the vocalist and her illustrious band of musicians. Dreams of Waking: Music for a Better World features Tucker alongside pianists Cyrus Chestnut and Sullivan Fortner, bassists Dezron Douglas and Vicente Archer, drummers Johnathan Blake and Joe Dyson along with saxophonist John Ellis and trumpeter Giveton Gelin.

This summer, Tucker’s powerful album peaked at #7 and spent thirteen weeks on the JazzWeek national radio charts. Her stirring version of Hathaway’s “Someday We’ll All Be Free” topped the Amazon Music Fresh Jazz Playlist. The album debuted at #6 on the ITUNES Jazz Charts.
 

“Dreams of Waking refers to the hope that our society will develop an awareness of the inequities that still exist,” Tucker said. “It’s the dream that we will become fully conscious and attuned to the hopes, dreams and needs of every human being.”
 

As a songwriter, Tucker is no stranger to composition as commentary as she teamed up in a similar spirit with blues & Americana artist Keb Mo’ to co-write the title track to his 2020 Grammy-winning album Oklahoma. Tucker’s sole original composition for her new album, “Do We Sleep?” issues a passionate call for cultural awakening that echoes the title of the album. As she seeks to educate, entertain and inspire, Tucker’s activism has also spilled over to the TikTok platform where she has amassed 352,000 followers. “Many of my original songs are internal statements that help to chronicle my growth, experiences and evolution that I hope will inspire others,” Tucker said. “This time, I decided to focus on the external. Are we really awake? What are we doing to give attention to the cries of injustice and inequality, or are we complicit by silence, ignorance or lack of interest and awareness?”