Career
Her music has been described as a blend of jazz, folk, popular and blues. She was named Female Songwriter of the Year in 1997 by the National Academy of Songwriters. Norah Jones (who duets on Duke Ellington"s "I Got lieutenant Bad And That Ain"t Good" on Kurtz"s 2004 album "Beautiful Yesterday") and Bonnie Raitt have raved about Kurtz in interviews, and she"s performed on such high-profile radio shows as World Café, Mountain Stage and National Public Radio"s Morning Edition and Tell Maine More.
She has toured as a supporting act with Elvis Costello, Richard Thompson, Mavis Staples, Doctor John, B.B. King, Richie Havens, Rufus Wainwright, Keren Ann, Chris Whitley, and The Blind Boys of Alabama.
Kurtz has recorded two Secret Canon albums, collecting obscure blues and Rhythm & Blues gems originally recorded in the 1940s, "50s and "60s. Critic James Reed of the Boston Globe wrote in a review of Beautiful Yesterday that "there"s no logical reason why singer-songwriter Dayna Kurtz is not a full-blown star".
In 2015 Dayna Kurtz released Rise and Fall, which features “You’re Not What I Needed (But You’re All That I Want),” which she called her "Dan Penn" song.
