Vocalist, percussionist, composer and poet, Paula Jeanine is an artist with a deep and soulful commitment to the creative path. A native of Cleveland, Ohio, Paula Jeanine was raised in a jazz household, being the daughter of June Evinger, a former big band singer with the Emerson Gill Orchestra. Ms. Jeanine honed her musical skills further with mentor Bill Gidney, who had been the regional pianist for Billie Holiday.

As much a percussionist as a vocalist, she played in many local bands including that of Robert Jr. Lockwood. Upon moving east, she studied world music at the legendary Creative Music Studio in upstate New York which led to performances and recordings with Bob Moses, Jaco Pastorius and Medeski, Martin & Wood (Blue Note). She has added her artistry to the Alessandra Belloni group, Didjworks and Annabouboula (under the name Paula Potocki). Paula Jeanine has led several popular bands in the New York area, including the chamber jazz quartet Bordeaux '95 and the tropical rhythm band Tigresa. In recent years, she has performed at Carnegie Hall, the Guggenheim Museum, Radio City Music Hall, the Brooklyn Academy of Music and the Beacon Theater.

In December 2001, Ms. Jeanine was a guest of the Jazz India Vocal Institute in Mumbai where she studied the traditional raga vocal tradition and its application to jazz. While in India, she presented a series of concerts throughout the country that were met with rave reviews. Ms Jeanine also studied south Indian percussion with Vidwan Shri T.S. Nandakumar and participated in a classical concert with his ensemble. A subsequent visit to India in the fall of 2004 once again yielded a glowing reception, highlighted by her participation in Joe Alvares' prestigious "Jazz for Veda" concert. Ms. Jeanine is an Air India sponsored artist.

Always committed to artistic collaborations, Ms. Jeanine is a staff musician at the Alvin Ailey Dance School and is the preeminent female musician-in-dance in New York City. In summer 2006, she created new compositions and performed with choreographer Kristofer Storey in residence at Colorado's Perry Mansfield, the oldest arts camp in America. She has participated in numerable theater and dance projects including the Uqbartango Ensemble and the Interarts Group off-Broadway production of Ionesco's Rhinoceros. Paula Jeanine was part of the SUNY Purchase Arts Summer in Spain program with choreographer and master teacher Kazuko Hirabayashi.

A published poet since the age of seven, Paula Jeanine's lyrics are inspired by musical tours of Egypt, France and Morocco as well as her love of art and architecture. Ms. Jeanine is a Billboard award-winning songwriter. She lives on the Brooklyn waterfront and can see the Statue of Liberty from her roof.

Currently, Paula Jeanine heads American Ghazal in which she explores her love for classic forms of South Asian music through her unique New York sensibilities.