Often referred to as a joyologist, Ashley Orlando is a jazz vocalist, Kanile’a ukulele artist, and educator based in south Louisiana. Her warm, vintage style blends jazz, the Great American Songbook, French chanson, and Louisiana musical traditions into performances that are elegant, joyful, and full of personality. With a delightful, clear voice and swinging ukulele rhythms, Ashley invites audiences to relax, reminisce, and connect through music.

Ashley started singing before she can remember, but her ukulele journey (which began on a whim during a trip to Hawaii in late 2016) is what finally connected her to her first musical love: jazz. Since then, she and her uke have performed at renowned venues including the New Orleans Jazz Museum, Baton Rouge Manship Theatre, and at Houston’s Heights Theater, House of Blues, and Dosey Doe Big Barn. Ashley has opened for ukulele virtuoso Jake Shimabukuro and for Jim Heath of the renowned rockabilly band Reverend Horton Heat. She has also shared the stage with big bands throughout Louisiana and Texas, and as a guest vocalist for the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra.

As an educator, Ashley is passionate about introducing students to the variety and depth of music they can access on the ukulele. She creates song tutorials for RockClass101.com, has taught beginning ukulele to kids, and served as an advisory board member for the Ukulele Kids Club, which supports music therapy in hospitals and access to ukuleles for medically fragile children.

What Ashley loves most about the ukulele is its universal ability to connect people of all ages and musical abilities to the joy of making music, whether you’ve played an instrument your whole life or are just picking one up for the first time. Her ultimate goal is to help students find their own musical voice.
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