The daughter of a pilot and a school music teacher with Scandinavian/Russian
Jewish/Native American ancestry, Vanessa Carlton was involved in music from an
early age (her uncle Larry Carlton is a well-known jazz guitarist). She learned
piano as a child and at 14 won a place at the School of American Ballet, but at
18 abandoned dancing to concentrate on a music career. Studying at Columbia
University by day Carlton started playing piano in Manhattan bars by night,
eventually recording some demos and being signed by the famous producer Jimmy
Iovine. After several false starts, she ...