Results for "Vocalist"

Dinah Washington

Born: August 29, 1924

The versatile vocalist Dinah Washington was born Ruth Lee Jones in Tuscaloosa Alabama on August 29th 1924. She grew up in Chicago where her family moved in 1928. Her mother was heavily involved in church community centered around St Luke’s Baptist and Dinah was surrounded by gospel and church music since her early childhood. She exhibited musical talents at an early age and was part of the church choir playing the piano and singing gospel in her early teens. At age 15, enamored by Billie Holiday, she started playing and singing the blues in local clubs and made quite a name for herself

Helen Ward

Born: September 19, 1916

Helen Ward was one of the most popular singers of the big band era, becoming a national sensation as vocalist for the Benny Goodman Orchestra. Helen Ward was born in New York City on Sept. 19, 1916, studied piano as a child before taking up singing, and by her early teens was on radio in New York. When she was 17 she worked with the Latin band of violinist Enric Madriguera. In 1934 she was working as a staff singer at NBC's studios where Benny Goodman was playing on the Nabisco Let's Dance radio show. When Goodman set out on his coast-to- coast tour, Ward joined up as the band's singer and was an vital part of his breakthrough in August 1935

Sippie Wallace

Born: November 1, 1898

Sippie Wallace, "The Texas Nightingale," was one of the major blues artists of the 1920s, whose renown as a performer carried well into the 1980s. Wallace was respected as both a blues singer and songwriter. Such original songs as "Mighty Tight Woman" and "Women Be Wise," which found new audiences with younger music listeners in the 1970s, are earthy and self-assertive blues songs. She is best remembered, however, as one of the foremost interpreters of the blues. Possessing a mellow and tuneful voice, she had the qualities of shading and inflection in her singing that marked the classic blues artist.

Melissa Walker

Born: July 3, 1964

With her rich, multi-octave vocal textures and impeccable phrasing, Melissa Walker has won kudos in concerts across several continents, working with such hallowed talents as Hank Jones, Gary Bartz, and Kenny Barron; young jazz geniuses like Christian McBride, Stefon Harris and Mokoto Ozone; and late greats like Ray Brown. Her three CD releases since 1997 - and well-deserved Canadian Juno award nomination and US Indie honorable mention -- have created a nuanced corpus of jazz standards and new material unrivaled in its reverence for America's jazz tradition. In performance in Manhattan at the Jazz Standard, Birdland, or Iridium; abroad, at the Blue Note or Sweet Basil in Japan or Pizza Express in London; or at Montreux and other jazz fests, Walker has turned heads and excited influential critics to rave about her "winning personality and technical excellence." Melissa's anchored and wide-open musicianship mirrors her dual cultural heritage

Roseanna Vitro

Born: March 28, 1954

Having toured the world as an esteemed performer, clinician, recording artist, vocal instructor and ambassador, she has proven herself a reigning member of the jazz community. Her collaborations, covering a wide range of music and stylistic directions, have been cited and celebrated, far and wide. Roseanna is a soulful communicator, showcasing a thirst for swinging hard and possessing an ear for melodic invention. Her strengths include rhythmic acuity and free-spirited spontaneity, often heard in her improvisations, using both scat syllables and lyrics. Ms. Vitro’s signature energy and grace can be heard on a host of recordings, notable among them, her breakout recording on Telarc (Passion Dance), which featured Elvin Jones, Christian McBride and longtime musical partner, Kenny Werner, and compelling tributes to Ray Charles (Catchin’ Some Rays), Bill Evans (Conviction), and Brazil (Tropical Postcards), The Delirium Blues Project: Serve or Suffer on Half Note Records, 2008- is a live, blues-based recording of jazz and pop repertoire featuring Kenny Werner’s arrangements and an all-star band of Kenny Werner, James Carter, Randy Brecker, Ray Anderson, Adam Rogers, John Patitucci, Rocky Bryant, Geoff Countryman

Marlene VerPlanck

Born: November 11, 1933

Marlene Paula VerPlanck was an American jazz and pop vocalist whose body of work centered on big band jazz, the American songbook, and cabaret. VerPlanck was born and raised in Newark, New Jersey Her father, Anthony J. Pampinella (1908–1993), operated a gasoline station there, and her mother, Pauline A. Biase (1913–2008), whose family ran an Italian restaurant. She married trombonist, composer, and arranger J. William "Billy" VerPlanck (1930–2009) in 1955, and he became her musical collaborator and champion. They were married for 52 years, until his death in 2009. VerPlank graduated from Bloomfield High School, and considered a career in journalism

Sarah Vaughan

Born: March 27, 1924

In the 1940s, when most women singers adorned big bands as stage attractions rather than legitimate members of jazz ensembles, Sarah Vaughan, along with her predecessor Ella Fitzgerald, helped elevate the vocalist's role as equal to that of the jazz instrumentalist. A woman known for her many vicissitudes, Vaughan's outspoken personality and artistic eloquence brought her the names "Sassy" and "The Divine One.” A talented pianist, she joined the ranks of the 1940s bebop movement and became, as a member of the Earl Hines and Billy Eckstine bands, one of its most celebrated vocalists. Her dynamic vocal range, sophisticated harmonic sense, and horn-like phrasing brought Vaughan million-selling numbers and a stage and recording career that spanned half a decade. Sarah Lois Vaughan was born the daughter of Asbury and Ada Vaughan on March 27, 1924, in Newark, New Jersey

Miguelito Valdés

Born: 1910

Miguelito Valdés - Latin vocalist (1910 - 1978) Internationally famous sonero (improvising Latin singer), composer, and riveting entertainer; nicknamed 'Mr Babalú' because he recorded and performed the song so often: an acclaimed pioneering interpreter of Afro-Cuban songs, which both celebrated the heritage of Cuban blacks and highlighted their suffering. He took his music from the streets of Havana to the international stages and established an enduring legacy in the process. Born to a Cuban-Spanish father and Mexican Maya Indian mother; from age ten he grew up in Havana's Cayo Hueso district listening to Santeria (Afro-Cuban cult music) and classical music; in his teens he befriended Arsenio Rodriguez, Chano Pozo and Félix Chappottin; their musical careers would all intertwine and all would become Cuban musical legends in their own right. By 1927 he was a singer with Sexteto Habanero Juvenil; by ’29 he joined group Sexteto Occidente as a chorus singer; Machito was also a member at the time

Steve Tyrell

Born: December 19, 1944

Grammy Award-winning vocalist Steve Tyrell is truly a renaissance man. In his 4 decades in the music business he has achieved great success as an artist, producer, songwriter, music supervisor and performer. He is a Grammy winning producer and a two time Emmy nominee. His productions have won numerous Grammys and have been nominated for Academy and Golden Globe Awards as well. With his breakthrough performances in “Father of the Bride” and “Father of the Bride II,” Steve Tyrell reinvented and re-popularized classic pop standards for a modern audience. With the grit and soul of a lifetime producing hits for artists ranging from Linda Rondstadt & Diana Ross to 2005’s Grammy-winner Rod Stewart (“Stardust…Vol

Big Joe Turner

Born: May 18, 1911

“The Boss of the Blues”

Providing an essential link between the blues and rock 'n' roll, Big Joe Turner is best remembered for his classic 1954 hit "Shake, Rattle and Roll," one of the pioneering songs of rock 'n' roll. Although Turner enjoyed his greatest recorded success with Atlantic Records between 1951 and 1956, rock 'n' roll was actually his second (or third) successful musical career.

He started out as an important member of the burgeoning Kansas City jazz scene and helped popularize boogie woogie in the late '30s with pianist Pete Johnson. He also pursued an influential career as one of the most potent blues shouters of the '40s. He was one of the few jazz and blues singers of his generation to become popular with the teenage rock 'n' roll audience. After spending the '60s in relative obscurity, Big Joe Turner returned to jazz and blues, singing on the Pablo label with the likes of Count Basie and Jimmy Witherspoon.