For Your Consideration

“Dara Starr Tucker”

by Dara Starr Tucker

ABOUT DARA STARR TUCKER

Referred to as “a fighter for social justice wielding music as a balm,” (Morgan Enos – Grammy.com) DARA STARR TUCKER melds her presence as a jazz and roots singer-songwriter with her growing notoriety as a social media commentator on race, cultural equity, music, and film. Over the past 18 months, Tucker has amassed an astounding audience of one million followers via the TikTok platform. Her video commentary on social justice and her original songs have been featured with HBO, FX, OWN Network, Revolt! TV and Ebony/Jet.

Dara’s new eponymously titled album, Dara Starr Tucker (2023, Green Hill), showcases six lively original compositions alongside inspired arrangements of modern and classic songs by writers such as Billie Eilish, Bill Withers, John Denver and Kurt Weill. Tucker’s sonority and lyricism arrives with a “penetrating yet comforting, lullaby quality that is awake and assuring.” (Marc Myers – Jazzwax/Wall Street Journal) Pre-pandemic, she logged touring time with renowned hybrid guitarist Charlie Hunter’s band and in 2020, before leaving Nashville, Dara teamed up with blues & Americana artist Keb Mo’ to co-write the title track to his GRAMMY-winning Best Americana Album, Oklahoma.

Tucker’s evocative new project provides needed catharsis in a post-pandemic world with emphasis on self-reflection, mental wellness and, ultimately, healing. “It’s my hope that the songs would speak to others who are experiencing similar things,” Tucker said. “The TikTok platform is unique in that it has given me the opportunity to reach hundreds of thousands of people — numbers that are almost unheard of in the jazz world.” Tucker also acknowledged that her expansive and comprehensive social media reach has the power to reach a much broader audience, including young listeners. “I feel uniquely positioned to connect with people who rarely listen to jazz. When they’ve experienced my social commentary or my satirical videos, and suddenly find out I’m a singer, it sparks their curiosity, and oftentimes, they want to hear more.”

Tucker’s striking compositions are equal parts contemplation and commentary – an approach that has been integral to her artistry well before her social media stardom. One of the highlights of her previous album Dreams of Waking: Music For a Better World (2021, Green Hill) was “Do We Sleep?”, a thought-provoking, musical response to the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, which received praise in American Songwriter Magazine.

As evidenced on Dara Starr Tucker, the Philadelphia-based musician is making her mark in the world of organic, heartfelt music by blending the melodic and lyrical richness of the central plains with the soulful strains of the Black American experience. Her eclecticism is guided by the diversity of her narrative. Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma to a family of singers and ministers, Tucker and her siblings traveled across the U.S. singing with their parents.

From there, Tucker has experienced a diverse array of locales that she has called home including Interlaken, Switzerland; Nashville, Tennessee, New York City and now Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Tucker is an alumna of The Woodshed Network, sponsored by 651 Arts and founded by NEA Jazz Master Dee Dee Bridgewater. She has appeared on NPR’s Jazz Night in America and Jazz Inspired and made her national television debut on The Tavis Smiley Show on PBS. Her newest album is recorded by GRAMMY-winning engineer Mike Marciano.

Rod McGaha– trumpet
Simon Moullier– vibraphone
David M. Rodgers – arranger

Engineered, mixed, mastered by GRAMMY-Award Winner Mike Marciano
Produced by Greg Bryant
Executive Producer: Ben Binner