Profiled among 120 internationally regarded jazz artist/educators in the 2010 book, The New Face of Jazz, Lisa Kelly (Scott) has been recognized as a pioneering vocal jazz artist/clinician creating new opportunities for aspiring jazz vocalists, and as a regarded musician, winning eight DownBeat Magazine jazz awards as a vocalist, composer, and arranger. She was selected in 2000 as the vocalist for the IAJE Sisters in Jazz all-female combo and inducted into the 2013 Jacksonville Jazz Festival “Hall of Fame” recognizing her esteemed performance career, extensive and passionate jazz mentoring, and years of service and advocacy to the festival and to the jazz community at large.

From Wilm, NC, based in Jacksonville, FL, Lisa’s mother was a regarded opera singer, her father a legendary classic harmonica player, her grandmother a saxophonist in an all-female big band. Coming up through music the ‘old school’ way, singing opera in her youth, singing in talent shows and beauty pageants, and as a recording studio jingle and demo singer. She became a formidable vocalist in a folk duo and several regarded variety groups, before discovering her niche and passion for jazz and the Great American Songbook. She became a top-call jazz vocalist and group leader in the northeast, hiring and learning from the area’s most seasoned instrumentalists, being featured with the St. Johns River City Band under Dir. Sam Fricano in 1987, to opening for the headline act with her own group, Jazz Works, in 1988 on her 1st of many years (over 30 appearances) performing on the Jacksonville Jazz Festival. Offered the opportunity to attend UNF in 1994 by then director Bruce Silva, she became the first vocal member of UNF Jazz Ensemble I and the vocal jazz track was born, studying with Bunky Green, Jack Petersen, Dr. Bill Prince, Don Zentz, and other esteemed faculty. She won many awards and scholarships, including the UNF Mullikin-Matteson Memorial Scholarship, Central Florida Jazz Society’s Joe Perkins Memorial Scholarship, and the NFAA Grant.           

Lisa has been the featured vocalist and recorded with the legendary Larry Elgart Orchestra, UNF JE I, and the former official state band of Florida, the St. Johns River City Band. She has sung on numerous recordings, TV, and radio commercials. Lisa is the only vocalist to be featured on (five) UNF CD recordings with UNF JE 1 big band, and on two SJRCB releases, “Swinging Up the River” and “25th Anniversary Silver Threads.” She debuted her solo CD, “By Request,” at the 1997 Montreux Jazz Festival, and just co-released her 7th CD, “Artfully Christmas, the Kelly/Scott Jazztet,” with co-leader, trumpeter JB Scott. She has appeared with many jazz notables, including Ed Calle, Arturo Sandoval, Slide Hampton, Claudio Roditi, Jane Monheit, Mulgrew Miller, Carmen Bradford, Bunky Green, Danny Gottlieb, Jack Petersen, Todd DelGiudice, Steve Davis, Dennis Marks, Larry Elgart, Lynne Arriale, Yotam Silberstein, Bob Draga, Barry Greene, John Lee, Bill Allred, Jason Marsalis, Ingrid and Christine Jensen, Bill Waltrous, Cyrus Chestnut, Bill Prince, Allan Vache, Maceo Parker, Dave Steinmeyer, many of the top call Florida music artists, and many others.  

In 2025, Lisa was a featured guest artist for the Jacksonville Symphony music series honoring the legacy of jazz vocalists. Nearing 40 years, devoted to a passion for jazz, she has performed internationally and throughout the greater U.S. for jazz clubs and jazz societies, private to corporate events, cruise ships, as a guest artist with collegiate and pro ensembles, and on major festivals including the Montreux Jazz Festival, Monterey Jazz Festival, North Sea Jazz Festival, Vienna State Opera House & Festival Vien, Pescara Jazz Festival, Kennedy Center/Mary Lou Williams Women In Jazz Festival, Jacksonville Jazz Festival, Savannah Jazz Festival, Clearwater Jazz Holiday, Elkhart Jazz Festival, Sacramento Jazz Jubilee, Mammoth Lakes Jazz Festival, Suncoast Dixie Classic, Sun Valley Jazz Jamboree, and the prestigious Midwest Band & Orchestra Clinic. Lisa shares her love for community enrichment through monthly jazz duo concerts for regional retirement communities, performed with trumpeter JB Scott and other artists.     

In education, Lisa earned her B.M. Degree in Jazz Studies and M.M. Degree in Jazz Performance from the University of North Florida. She has taught music theory, vocal courses, and music business courses formally at LaVilla Middle SOTA, Douglas Anderson High SOTA, the First Coast Community Music School, and in interim at the University of North Florida, returning in the Fall of 2026, as the applied instructor for the reinstated UNF jazz vocal track. She has served at various jazz camps, conducted her own one-day annual jazz vocal workshop, and sung as the featured vocalist with the FMEA Directors Reading Band from 2000 to 2017 under Dir. Al Hager. In 2019, she originated and directs the multi-generational annual jazz enrichment camp, Swingin’ Summer Jazz Camp, for middle-school to adult vocalists and instrumentalists in northeast Florida, now in its 8th year.

Lisa has presented vocal clinics for FMEA/FVA & FBA (Florida Music Educators Assoc/Florida Vocal Assoc. & Florida Band Assoc.), for Jazz Educators Network (JEN) Conferences, and for numerous high school and collegiate jazz programs. In 2012, she originated the first and only state-wide vocal jazz blind audition and selection process to mentor four high school vocalists in a 2-day workshop and performance clinic presentation at the Florida Music Educators Association’s Professional Development Conference in Tampa. Conducted for 6 years, the annual opportunity also included preparing a vocalist for singing with the All-State High School Jazz Band. Lisa has presented jazz clinics for school programs, including an annual 1-week residency for Harrison High SOTA in Lakeland, FL, now in its 14th year. In 1997, she created the Jacksonville Jazz Festival’s official jam session, which she hosted annually for 20 years for thousands of aspiring young musicians to perform with seasoned regional to international pros. She has served as an annual artist adjudicator and band clinician for the Lakeside Jazz Festival in Port Orange, FL since 2000. Lisa has served as a volunteer on the Jacksonville Jazz Festival Piano Competition Committee, on the Board of Directors for Friday Musicale, and as an adjudicator.

As the Vocal Jazz Adjunct at UNF, Lisa continues her mentoring of aspiring jazz vocalists in quality musicianship skills and practical, useful information towards career successes in the music business. Lisa Kelly maintains a very active performance and mentoring schedule.