Kendall native releases her first jazz CD

Wilma Lemcke aka Ann Mitchell has been a mainstay at jazz clubs in Rochester and Buffalo for many years

Photo by Jack Zuff: Ann Mitchell performs in a Buffalo jazz club.

SPENCERPORT – A Kendall native has just released her first jazz CD, “Again … for the first time” and it features timeless classics spanning the jazz era from the 1930s through the 1950s.

Wilma Lemcke graduated from Kendall in 1976, and has been performing as a jazz singer for many years in the Rochester and Buffalo. She performs under the name Ann Mitchell.

The Spencerport resident has been singing professionally for many years in a very competitive market.

The cover art for the album was designed by Karl Slominski, Ann Mitchell’s son.

“I’ve always followed my heart and passion with music,” she said during an interview by phone today.

Mitchell is a frequent guest on Jazz 90.1, and she performs in jazz clubs, restaurants, and at weddings and funerals in the Rochester and Buffalo region.

She has juggled her professional singing career with raising a family and working as a substitute music teacher. She pushed to get a CD done, and will have it available at her events for $15, and expects it will be in music stores.

“It’s a humbling feeling,” she said today about holding her CD. “You put your heart and soul into it. It’s been quite a journey.”

Lemcke grew up on Carr Road in Kendall. She graduated in 1976 when the country and local community were celebrating the bicentennial of the USA. That commemoration included a trip by Kendall music students to Philadelphia. It was a great year for the Kendall music program, she recalled.

Mitchell earned a degree in theater from SUNY Brockport. She then found her niche in jazz performance as the vocalist for the former bands, Brass Menagerie Big Band and Bob Ames & Co.

Mitchell then formed her own combo to focus her performance on the rich vocals of the jazz era’s timeless classics. Her focus has been to preserve and share music recorded by artists such as Peggy Lee, Rosemary Clooney, Ella Fitzgerald, Julie London and Judy Garland.

Mitchell’s new album was recorded, mixed and mastered by Andy Calabrese. The songs recorded were written by Gershwin, Rogers and Hart, Coleman and Leigh, Warren, Bacharach.

The album include collaborations with musicians Michael Van Allen, John Gabriele, Kyle Vock, Christos Dembeyiotis and Ralph DeBergalis. Mitchell said they have a real understanding of her vocal style and song interpretation.

She will be performing this Saturday from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. at the Flight Wine Bar, 262 Exchange St., Rochester. The Ann Mitchell Jazz Trio will be featured in the Jazz 90.1 Greece Baptist Church Concert Series on at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 15, at 1230 Long Pond Rd., Rochester.

Mitchell said she would welcome the chance to perform in Orleans County at a concert series. For more information, check her website www.annsings.com or send her an email at annmitchelljazz@gmail.com.

Photo by Tom Rivers: Wilma Lemcke sings “God Bless America” in Kendall on Sept. 29, 2019 when a new war memorial was dedicated at Kendall’s community park.