Results for "Vocalist"

Susannah McCorkle

Born: January 1, 1946

Born in 1946, in Berkeley, CA. Education: Bachelor's degree in Italian literature from the University of California, Berkeley. Addresses: Record company—Concord Records, Inc., P.O. Box 845, Concord, CA 94522; Bookings—c/o Anne Jeffreys or Andrew Lipman, Susannah McCorkle Music, 41 W. 86th Street, #16C, New York, NY 10024, Phone: (925) 682-6770; (212) 877-5918 Fax: (925) 682-3508 E-mail: Email—[email protected]. Though not a household name in America, jazz-pop vocalist Susannah McCorkle has released 17 albums during her 20-year career which have earned international critical acclaim

Maysa

A unique, instantly identifiable vocal sound encompassing both Jazz and R&B. Grammy-nominated Soul/Jazz Maysa, celebrates her 25th year as a solo recording artist this year. Born and raised in Baltimore, MD, Maysa Leak knew early on that she would be a musician. "I was six years old when my mom took me to see Purlie," she recalls. "When Melba Moore came on stage and sang her heart out, I knew at that moment I wanted to make people feel the way she made me feel." Maysa's journey took her from singing upon graduation with Stevie Wonder for a year to becoming the lead singer for Incognito in the 90s

Percy Mayfield

Born: August 12, 1920

If Percy Mayfield had done no more than compose “Please Send Me Someone to Love,” he would merit a decent footnote in the history of popular music. A classically proportioned 32-bar blues-ballad with a deceptively simple melody and a lyric that subtly links an individual's yearning for affection with the troubled state of the world, Mayfield's song has been a favorite of saloon-bar singers for the past half-century. Singer-songwriter Percy Mayfield was known as "Poet Laureate of the Blues," and his widely recorded compositions, have become standards in American popular music

Tina May

Born: March 30, 1961

Tina started exploring and developing her jazz sensibilities at University College, Cardiff. She attended vocal studies with Eilleen Price in the music dept. and almost immediately teamed up with other musicians to form small bands.She joined the Welsh Jazz Soc. run by Jed Williams and was soon a regular listening to Sweets Edison, Eddie 'Lockjaw' Davis, Al Cohn and many, many more at The Lions Den' in the Great Western Hotel in Cardiff. As a student of French ,Tina knew she would have the opportunity of living in France for a year as part of her degree course. She chose to study in Paris and began her apprenticeship in Jazz when ,by chance, she met up with some aspiring young music students, who invited her to 'faire un boeuf' - have a jam with them.These musicians were Pascal Gaubert and Patrick Villanueva - who recorded with Tina on the 'live in Paris' album nearly twenty years later! Very soon Tina was performing at Le Slow Club with the Roger Guerin Big Band with special guest Kenny Clarke - such a great drummer and sweet man

Johnny Mathis

Born: September 30, 1935

The fourth of seven children, John Royce Mathis was born on September 30, 1935 in Gilmer, Texas to Clem and Mildred Mathis. As a small boy, the family moved to Post Street in San Francisco. It was there that he learned an appreciation of music from his father who taught him his first song, “My Blue Heaven”. At age eight, his father purchased an old upright piano for $25. When he brought it home, it wouldn't fit through the front door. So that evening, Johnny stayed up all night to watch his father dismantle the piano, get it into the small living room of their basement apartment and then reassemble it. Clem Mathis, who worked briefly as a musician back in Texas playing the piano and singing on stage, would continue to teach his son many songs and routines. Johnny had proven to be the most eager of the children to learn all about music. He sang in the church choir, school functions, community events, for visitors in their home as well as amateur shows in the San Francisco area.

Greta Matassa

Born: September 5, 1962

In the Pacific Northwest, where she built her career, Greta Matassa wins wide acclaim; 7 times, the readers of Earshot, the Seattle jazz magazine, have voted her the best jazz vocalist in the Northwest. She was inducted into the Seattle Jazz Hall of Fame in 2014. Jim Wilke, the Seattle jazz maven and host of the syndicated "Jazz After Hours" radio program, praises her versatility. "She has a fearlessness in approaching material,” Wilke says, "that makes her like an instrumentalist in a jam session.” Bassist and producer John Clayton says “One of the best jazz singers we have to boast about these days.” Her 40 year career has been a whirlwind of exciting opportunities and experiences

Sara Martin

Born: June 18, 1884

Although overshadowed in the annals of blues history by her contemporaries Gertrude "Ma" Rainey and Bessie Smith, Sara Martin was a true pioneer in her own right as a performer and recording artist. Martin was a popular vaudeville act on the Theater Owners' Booking Association (TOBA) circuit that showcased African-American artists, and she also enjoyed a prolific career as a recording artist on the OKeh and Columbia labels. In the 1920s she made well over 100 records on those labels, often recording songs she co-wrote, such as "Mean Tight Mama" and "Mama's Got the Blues." Martin also worked with some of the other early blues giants of the day, such as W.C

Claire Martin

Born: September 6, 1967

Described by the New York Observer as "talented and hip beyond her years" and acclaimed as "the best ever British jazz singer" in a recent issue of America’s leading jazz publication Jazz Times, Claire Martin was born to sing. Growing up in a house full of music in Wimbledon, South London, she’d learned all of Judy Garland’s songs by the time she was 12. But it was hearing Ella Fitzgerald’s legendary “Song Books” that changed her life inspiring her to go to Stage School and then to study singing in London and New York. A further seminal moment came at 18 when she saw the great improvising singer Betty Carter at Ronnie Scott’s jazz club

Kitty Margolis

Born: November 7, 1955

Kitty Margolis is widely recognized as one of the most innovative and inspired singers in jazz today. Her imaginative improvisations, dynamism, and inventive scat have redefined the art of jazz vocals. Jazz Times has praised her "visionary approach to melody and rhythm," and noted New York writer Stanley Crouch observes, "Kitty Margolis is an original who has made the heritage of all the great jazz singers her own. Beyond her virtuoso technique, she has an epic feeling, a willful breadth of emotion that is artfully focused on the details of life. She is not afraid to be as intimate as a diary or as athletic as necessary in order to stand up to the power of her band

Norman Mapp

Born: March 31, 1928

Norman Mapp's musical career spans from the fifties to the mid eighties. Discovered by Dinah Washington, Norman Mapp's smooth light baritone stylings were a staple of the New York jazz scene. In addition to his successful debut album, "Jazz Ain't Nothin but Soul", Norman Mapp had numerous television appearances on the Joe Franklin Show and a successful tour as featured vocalist with the late great Count Basie and his orchestra. Norman Mapp was a gifted singer but he was also very prolific as a song writer. The Norman Mapp catalog of published songs contain over 120 works. Beside the jazz anthem, "Jazz Ain't Nothin but Soul", other Norman Mapp songs include, "Mister Ugly", " I Worry Bout>You", "Free Spirits", "In The Night" and "keep an Eye on Love". His songs have been recorded by such great artists as Arthur Prysock, Dinah Washington, George Benson, Betty Carter and Marvin Gaye to name just a few. Norman Mapp passed away in February 1988 but his music is still heard round the world