| Kendra Shank | |
| Birth Place: | Woodland, California, U.S. |
| Genre: | Jazz |
| Occupation: | Musician |
| Instrument: | Vocals, guitar |
| Years Active: | 1980s–present |
| Label: | Mapleshade, Jazz Focus, Challenge |
| Associated Acts: | Frank Kimbrough |
Kendra Shank is an American jazz vocalist.
Shank's mother was an actress and playwright and her father was a playwright[1] and teacher at the University of California.[2] When she was five, she appeared onstage with her mother in Threepenny Opera.[3] In her early teens she started playing guitar.[4]
Shank attended Pacific Lutheran University and the University of Washington, receiving a degree in art and French. During the 1980s, she performed in clubs in Seattle as a folk singer, accompanying herself on acoustic guitar. In 1989 she studied with jazz vocalist Jay Clayton at Cornish College of the Arts.[5] She was a busker on the streets and subways of Paris and while in Paris heard her first Billie Holiday album. Although she had been working as a folk singer in clubs, she bought a method book to learn a few jazz standards.
In the early 1990s, she went on tour with Bob Dorough. Shirley Horn saw her perform and became a mentor, introducing at the Village Vanguard in 1992. Mapleshade released Shank's debut album Afterglow on which she sang and played guitar.[6] She met Frank Kimbrough through Horn, and he became a member of her quartet which recorded A Spirit Free (Challenge, 2007), a tribute to her mentor and friend Abbey Lincoln. She has also recorded with Gary Bartz, Peter Leitch, Ben Monder, John Stowell, and Larry Willis.