Biography - short version
Acclaimed flutist and a three time Global Music Award recipient, Brooklyn native Lori Bell is a flutist and composer of admirable depth and broad musical sympathies. A resident of San Diego, she has contributed to the development of higher standards of performance while earning acclaim from both peers and critics for her artistry on stage and in recordings.
In 2016 Lori paid heartfelt tribute to her family and birthplace on her critically acclaimed album Brooklyn Dreaming earning four star ratings from Jazz Journal UK, Jazz Times, the Los Angeles Times (four and a half stars) and Downbeat, which chose it as “Best Albums of 2016.” Huffington Post also chose Brooklyn Dreaming for their “Best of Jazz 2016”. Bill Milkowski wrote in the March 2016 issue of Downbeat: “Bell flaunts prodigious chops on both C flute and alto flute, though her pen might be mightier than her sword. Her originals all reveal a wide harmonic palette, a sophisticated rhythmic sensibility and a refined sense of dynamics, along with an urge to swing.” Veteran jazz critic Scott Yanow chose it as one of his Top 25 Best jazz CD’s of 2016. It also won a Global Music Award for Outstanding Achievement for compositions and arrangements.
Her most recent album project released in 2024 is a tribute to the legendary saxophonist and composer, Joe Henderson. The Lori Bell Quartet – Recorda Me; Remembering Joe Henderson was selected at Jazz Congress in NYC for Jukebox Jury, received international press, and was selected Top 10 Jazz Critics Poll in Cadence Magazine, Top 10 Essential Releases by jazz critic Scott Yanow, and Best Jazz Albums of 2024 in All About Jazz.
Lori has toured in Asia, including Singapore and Hong Kong. She has also performed in high profile ensemble settings at The Kennedy Center in Washington, DC, SOKA Performing Arts Center, The Wadsworth Theatre at UCLA, Birdland NYC, The Blue Note NYC, SFJAZZ, the Joe Henderson Lab, and most recently, on a project of jazz arrangements and classical compositions for the Los Angeles Philharmonic Music Library. She has performed three times at the Gala for the National Flute Association.
In addition to her global renown as a performer and recording artist, Lori is a respected force in music education. She is currently on the faculty as an Instructor of Flute and studio artist teacher at San Diego State University and over the years, has privately taught hundreds of students of all ages in flute, piano (her secondary instrument), classical technique, jazz improvisation, theory, composition and arranging with a focus on artistry and imagery at her studio in San Diego.
Lori has taught master classes for the New York Flute Club, Columbia University, Mannes Music Conservatory NYC, The New School NYC, San Jose State University, Chico State, San Diego State University, UCLA, Utah State University, The National Flute Association 1989, 2003, 2016, University Wisconsin Green Bay, San Diego Flute Guild, in Hong Kong and Singapore.
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Her debut on Discovery Records, "Love Will Win" with pianist Dave Mackay and bassist Andy Simpkins, received warm praise and four and a half stars (out of five) from the esteemed Leonard Feather and was selected on the Grammy list for Best New Artist in 1983. A second Discovery disc, "Take Me To Brazil", demonstrated her ability to maintain a high level of inspiration. This album featured the first of several fine original compositions and was enthusiastically given four stars by the Los Angeles Times in 1989.
Over the past 20 years, Ms. Bell’s many performances in venues such as the Wadsworth Theater, SOKA Performing Arts Center, and the Kennedy Center, established her reputation, among musicians and audiences alike, as a remarkably vital interpreter. A recent performance at The Vic was exemplary of this quality, prompting the critic for the L.A. Times to note that "Bell’s playing - on C flute and the lower, darker sounding alto flute - was gorgeous, filled with light and air on the ballads, briskly inventive on her bop-tinged improvisations".
In 1998, this artistic maturity was delightfully demonstrated with her stellar work with Dave Mackay and guitarist/vocalist Ron Satterfield in the trio INTERPLAY. Their self-titled first album was selected on the 1999 Grammy ballot in four categories, including Best Jazz Solo by Ms. Bell on Pat Metheny’s, "It’s Just Talk." The disc, which garnered four stars from Scott Yanow in Strictly Jazz magazine, also features her composition "Playing in The Snow", a waltz that skillfully combines an uncommon musicality with a fresh, intrinsic charm.
After a 2004 date at "The Vic", the L.A. Times noted that INTERPLAY'S "constantly engaging set" rendered "the tunes with the collective enthusiasm and musicality that defines the work of this superlative ensemble".
Ms. Bell conveyed her special talents to a wider audience with her first solo endeavor, her eponymous CD. Released in 2002 on the Beezwax label, the "Lori Bell" album featured several fine arrangements of original compositions and standards. The Grammy Award panel recognized the album’s comprehensive excellence with selections in five categories, among them Best Instrumental Arrangement, Best Composition, and Best Instrumental Solo. The CD also won a 2011 Global Music Award. "The GMA's Award of Excellence goes to Lori Bell for her album 'Lori Bell" which features music of depth and outstanding arrangements of original composition."
In 2008, Lori signed with Resonance Records. The first CD, entitled "The Music of Djavan" was released in the fall and features such superb artists as pianist Tamir Hendelman, bassist David Enos, and drummer Enzo Todesco. Praised as "...a rousing send up at the hands of one of the finest virtuoso flutists of our time" (Latin Jazz Network) and "a brilliant piece of discovery for jazz explorers." (All Jazz Network), the disc also received a 2009 San Diego Music Award nomination for Best Jazz Album. The newfound sympathy and inspired music making of this collaboration was most recently rendered in live performances in Los Angeles at Catalina Jazz Club, Crown Plaza LAX Jazz Club, Vitello's and a special performance for the Los Angeles Philharmonic Music Library.
