Results for "Vocalist"

Norma Winstone

Born: September 23, 1941

Winstone has a lissome voice, agile and expressive, and she's a fine improviser, besides. That's not to say she's a vocal athlete, however; although she's known for her wordless improvisations, Winstone is a fine interpreter of lyrics and composed melody—a plain- speaking, rhythmically direct singer who gets to the heart of the matter quickly and effectively. Winstone played piano and organ in her youth. She began singing semi-professionally by the age of 17, influenced by conventional jazz vocalists. During the '60s she became attracted to the jazz avant garde. She played in groups led by pianists {{m: Michael Garrick = 6963}} and {{m: Mike Westbrook = 11283}}; she also sang with such forward-thinking musicians as saxophonist {{m: John Surman = 4735}}, flugelhornist {{m: Kenny Wheeler = 11294}}, composer Michael Gibbs, and pianist John Taylor (whom she married in 1972)

Nancy Wilson

Born: March 20, 1937

Nancy Wilson blurs the line between jazz singer and pop singer, preferring to be called a “song stylist.”  Born in Chillicothe, Ohio, on February 20, 1937, she is younger than Elvis, Little Richard and Esther Phillips, and only a year older than Etta James and Tina Turner.  Yet, stylistically speaking, she is worlds away from these rhythm rocking contemporaries.  Nancy is more like an earlier generation of vocalists such as Nat King Cole, Sarah Vaughan or Billy Eckstine.

At 15, after appearing at a talent show in Columbus, Ohio, Nancy was given her own twice-a-week television show, Skyline Melodies.  She worked at the Carolina Club on Prom Night and six months later with the house band. Cannonball Adderley once told her, “If you ever come to New York give me a call.” He was managed by John Levy, 

Cassandra Wilson

Born: December 4, 1955

The voice is more visual than audible; shaded, iridescent, tangible, substantial. It seems to flow effortlessly. Read any of the dozen or so biographies on Cassandra Wilson and you’ll discover some basics: born and reared in Jackson, Mississippi in the 1960s and 70s by musician and educator parents.

Classically trained on piano from age 6 until the age of 13, she also received further musical instruction as a clarinetist for the concert and marching bands of secondary school. During the 70s, she could be found performing Joni Mitchell songs behind an acoustic guitar, or singing with a blues band in Little Rock, Arkansas,  infront of a large funk band in Jackson, or in the company of long-time friends in an all-girls ensemble. In the eighties, Cassandra moved to New Orleans where she performed with local luminaries Earl Turbinton and Ellis Marsalis. After a year, she relocated to East Orange, New Jersey where she made a decision to take her chances on the New York jazz scene. After a stint as the main vocalist with Steve Coleman’s M-Base Collective, Cassandra began recording on her own.

Joe Williams

Born: December 12, 1918

Singing a mixture of blues, ballads, popular songs, and jazz standards, Joe Williams was an elegant and sophisticated baritone known for his clear pronunciation and jazz styling. His name may not as well known to the general public as it should be, but Joe Williams is nevertheless counted among the masters of jazz and blues singing; he has, in fact, earned the title "Emperor of the Blues." His singing style, which he developed over a long and consistently successful career, contributed to the success of the Count Basie Orchestra and influenced the style of many younger singers. Joseph Goreed was born in the small farming town of Cordele, Georgia, on December 12, 1918

Lee Wiley

Born: October 9, 1915

Sensual and dignified, sophisticated and warm, Lee Wiley has inspired outbursts of sheer poetry from many a captivated listener. Her sound induces a "marvelous," "ticklish" sensation, akin to "running your hand over a piece of fine Harris tweed," marveled producer Dave Garroway. She "blows smoke rings, each note a puff that melts into wisps of vibrato," conceptualized author Will Friedwald. Her voice and style "have long since made me extremely eager to go to bed with her," disclosed critic James Frazier. Not content with this daring confession, he also bluntly labeled her "one bitch of a singer." Protested singer and Wiley scholar Barbara Lea: "She had more fire, more rhythm, more roughness, more silkiness, more deep personal warmth, than the job description of Pop Singer called for." Asked writer Richard Hadlock, in an open letter to Wiley, "Lee, have you ever wondered why so many… from road-tough musicians to jaded pub-crawlers, act like kids on Christmas when they hear you sing?" (Wiley did wonder.) The eulogies could go on for pages, but the point is clear enough: Lee Wiley is a singer with a certain mystique. The Wiley mystique was generated by both personal and professional circumstances, and further fed by some willful biographical manipulation by her musical associates, her record labels, and the artist herself

Margaret Whiting

Born: July 22, 1924

Margaret Whiting was a dominant pop singer in the '40s and '50s, though whether she's a jazz vocalist is often in question. She had a clear, striking voice and the kind of quasi-innocent sensibility that worked on such songs as "It Might As Well Be Spring" and "Moonlight in Vermont." Some would question if she was an improviser, or had the kind of timing, sense of swing, and fluidity that defines the genuine jazz or jazz-influenced singer. The daughter of composer Richard Whiting, her run of hits began in the early '40s when she was featured on radio shows, singing with composer/vocalist Johnny Mercer

Carla White

Born: September 15, 1951

In the truest spirit of the jazz tradition, Carla White devoted her life to artistic exploration and growth. Born in Oakland, California and raised in Bellport, New York, Carla earliest musical education came from her parents' record collection, listening to "everything from Stravinsky to Sinatra" But her discovery of jazz at the age of 13 had a profound effect, setting her future in motion. "The first time you hear jazz - really hear it", she explains, "if it connects with your soul, it changes your life." After years of study in music, drama and dance that included two years at London's prestigious Webber- Douglas Academy of Dramatic Art, she embarked on a personal journey of exploration through Europe and North Africa

Valerie Wellington

Born: November 14, 1959

Valerie Wellington - Blues Singer Opera diva, actress, blues belter, Valerie Wellington tackled all three roles successfully while still in her 20s. After three years of studying the classics at the American Conservatory of Music, Valerie burst onto the Chicago blues scene, unleashing her roof-raising pipes on the blues scene in the summer of 1982 and snaring the role of Ma Rainey in a local stage play. Her rise was nothing short of meteoric, boosted by her 1984 Rooster debut album, “Million Dollar Secret.” A pair of very popular television commercials for the Chicago Tribune, aired on national superstation WGN-TV, plus a concert broadcast on National Public Radio, introduced this powerhouse singer to a nationwide audience. Wellington’s full-bodied sound combined the influence of contemporary singers like Ray Charles and Koko Taylor with the classic styles of Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey

Ethel Waters

Born: October 31, 1896

Vocalist and actress Ethel Waters was a key figure in the development of African American culture between the two World Wars. She broke barrier after barrier, becoming the first black woman heard on the radio, the first black singer to perform on television, the first African American to perform in an integrated cast on Broadway, and the first black woman to perform in a lead dramatic role on Broadway. As a singer Waters introduced over 50 songs that became hits, including standards of the magnitude of "St. Louis Blues" and "Stormy Weather." Her jazzy yet controlled vocal style influenced a generation of vocalists, black and white, and her career, encompassing stage, song, and screen, flowered several times in comebacks after tumbling to low points. Born October 31, 1896, in Chester, Pennsylvania, she had to overcome the squalor of her sordid childhood and early struggles

Toni Lynn Washington