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Music has always been a huge part of Janet’s life. She first learned many of the jazz vocal standards as a child from her mother who loved to play the piano and sing the music of that era and who also directed musicals in the local playhouse. She took piano lessons from her aunt and jazz harmony arranging from her high school music teacher, Bud Roberds. This saturation in the musical world gave her a solid foundation for her future career.
Janet is said to be a “musician’s singer”. She is one of the few singers in town who can easily change styles and own all of them. She has worked singing jazz, big band, contemporary pop, rock, R&B, disco, country, gospel, show tunes, classical, renaissance, Sanskrit, and even Jewish traditional music. Each one a very different sounding style and vocal production, yet when Janet sings them, she "brings it". With this much versatility, she has come to be known as one of San Diego’s hardest-working and busiest singers. She has led many of her own bands and vocal groups at numerous EVENTS and VENUES, as well as having performed with hundreds of MUSICIANS. She has also TRAVELED extensively. Her abilities in sight reading, her large vocal range, and her versatility of styles have also given her recording opportunities in many STUDIOS which not only include her own recordings but also radio jingles, other peoples demos, and musical show debuts.
Current Performing Work: Janet actively performs at numerous venues throughout Southern California performing in duos, small ensembles, and with bands including The Xceptional Tribute to ABBA, Gemini, and her own bands and groups; Rhythm Express and Double Take, as well as Harmony Three; a trio of ladies who present 6 different shows: Sweethearts of Swing, Country Rose, Harmonettes, The Beach Girls, Flower Power, and Santa’s Sweethearts.
Church Position: Music has always been a source of spiritual enrichment for Janet. She has always been inspired to sing where the music can touch people on a deeper level. Janet has sung at many different churches, eventually leading her to sing at the Unity Center in 1996. In 1998 she started a 75-voice choir and became the Music Director in 2001 until 2021 where she booked guest artists, lead the choir, and created and lead the band, Soul Notes.
Music Business: As well as creating and leading her own bands and vocal groups, one of her most successful performing group achievements was her very popular Christmas caroling company, The Full Measure Carolers. Since its inception in 1989, it grew from one quartet to over 15 quartets booking an average of 250 gigs during the holiday season with the most gigs in one season at 436 gigs within a 5-week span. She sold this company in 2013.
Education and Teaching: Janet holds a Bachelors of Music degree and Secondary Education Music Teaching Credential from San Diego State University. She taught classes in vocal technique and lead the vocal jazz ensemble, Spectrum Singers, at Palomar College from 2003 to 2015. She also had a before-school choir program of 4th, 5th, and 6th graders in the National City school district as well as a choir at the Braille Institute. Currently, Janet gives vocal workshops and teaches private vocal lessons.
Artists History: Janet performed in numerous bands in San Diego over the past 40 years including the Mar Dels, the Big Band Jazz Machine, Storey Lines, and The Players just to name a few. For many years, she was everyone’s “favorite sub” because she could fit into any band. She has performed on several worldwide tours performing in 36 countries. She has opened for such name acts as Sheryl Crow, The Pointer Sisters, Steve Miller Band, Johnny Cash, and the Platters. Some of the many notable artists that she has worked with are Rock star Rick Springfield, Grammy Award winners Paul Overstreet (27 top ten songs), Bob Mintzer - sax (Yellowjackets), Eric Marienthal – sax (Chick Corea), Wayne Bergeron - trumpet (Maynard Ferguson), Kristen Korb - bass (Ray Brown), Holly Hofmann - flute (Mike Wofford), and several others.
Studio Work: Janet has recorded eleven CDs of her own as well as the featured vocalist on three Big Band recordings, one of which was nominated for best jazz recording of the year (2019) by San Diego Music. She has also recorded national radio jingles, international children's educational audio books and resources, pinball machine theme songs, video games, and other studio work for many projects.
Outside of the Music Industry: Besides her work as a musician and teacher, Janet has always been an entrepreneur.
Rose Route: She put herself through college selling roses in restaurants and nighttime establishments 5 nights per week. She also worked as a floral designer on the weekends; a skill she learned in her parents’ floral shop during her high school years.
Hammer Ceramics: Right out of college, Janet purchased her father’s wholesale ceramic containers business which serviced flower shops and grew her business to include more product lines, established a large warehouse and office, and supplied 250+ businesses per month for 18 years.
Real Estate: In 1992, she bought and flipped her first renovation project house which led her to “flip” 65 more properties until 2007. At this time, she decided to get into the rental industry and now owns several rental properties.
Janet Hammer