Kate Kortum

"When you hear her sing — look out. She's able to tell a story through her music, and it makes everyone around her want to stop and listen." — Donald Vega

Kate Kortum grew up in Houston, where she studied flute and saxophone at the High School for the Performing and Visual Arts before falling in love with singing. She earned a degree in jazz voice from the University of Miami's Frost School of Music and a master's degree from The Juilliard School.

Her debut album, Good Woman (2023), reimagines jazz standards originally written by men, reclaiming them through bold arrangements and a distinctly female perspective. It passed one million streams in its first month. The follow-up, Wild Woman (2025), pushes further, with songs about obsession, self-pride and the feelings women are often told to hide.

Kortum has performed with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and collaborated with Wynton Marsalis, Cyrille Aimée, Peter Bernstein, Bryan Carter and Emmet Cohen. She is also a member of The Sunhouse Singers, a New York vocal trio with June Cavlan and Joie Bianco that has appeared on Live From Emmet's Place.

"Kortum's music has an old soul but a young heart. She takes big liberties on every swinging little number and those interpretative skills make her familiar music sound fresh."Matty Bannond, Jazz Journal UK