Results for "Vocalist"

Phyllis Hyman

Born: July 6, 1941

Devoted fans of the late singer Phyllis Hyman describe her as a songstress extraordinaire with a no-nonsense attitude, and a lavish, larger than life stage persona. Deep-voiced and statuesque, Phyllis sang with a life affirming energy and emotional intensity found in few other female vocalists. Born in Pittsburgh and raised in Philadelphia, her professional career began in New York city where, during an engagement, she was spotted by producer Norman Connors and contemporaries Jean Carne and Roberta Flack among others. Phyllis was immediately offered a guest appearance on Connors' “You Are My Starship” album, which included her rendition of “Betcha By Golly Wow.” In 1977 Buddah Records released her self-titled debut LP which featured the hits Loving You/Losing You and I Don't Wanna Lose You

Lurlean Hunter

Born: December 1, 1928

Lurlean Hunter was born Lurleane Hunter in Clarksdale, Mississippi, on December 1, 1919. Following the pattern of black migration to the North, her family moved to Chicago when she was two months old. In her senior year at Englewood High, Hunter was already performing club dates, notably with Johnny Long's Swing Band in South Bend, Indiana, in 1938. Upon her graduation, in February of 1939, Hunter pursued her singing ambition, and secured a gig with the Les Hite band at the Parkway Ballroom in January of 1941. Back in Chicago, in 1944, she auditioned before Red Saunders, who was sufficiently impressed to add her immediately to the Club DeLisa revue, where she became a regular for the next four years, and establish her as a Chicago institution

Alberta Hunter

Born: April 1, 1895

“ if you are at the end of your journey,weary, worn and nothing seems the same you’re not alone my love’s eternal,Remember my name.” So it is with these lyrics, we recognize Alberta Hunter, a jazz and blues singer from the early days of the jazz age. She has been inducted into the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame. She was a prolific performing and recording artist of the 20’s and ‘30’s having cut sides with legends of the era as Fats Waller, Fletcher Henderson, Eubie Blake, Louis Armstrong, Lil Hardin, and Duke Ellington. In 1977, after an extended layoff she triumphantly reemerged on the music scene at the age of eighty two, returning to the stage and studio

Helen Humes

Born: June 23, 1913

Helen Humes hailed from Louisville, Kentucky, she came from a happy, close-knit musical family and learned to play trumpet and piano when she was young. As a child she sang with the local Sunday school band, which boasted future jazz stars such as Dicky Wells and Jonah Jones. In 1927 she made her first records for the OKeh label in St. Louis. Humes then went to New York where she recorded again, this time accompanied by stride pianist James P. Johnson, and worked for several years with the orchestra led by Vernon Andrade, star of Harlem's Renaissance Ballroom.

She also recorded with Harry James and in 1937, was offered a job by Count Basie but turned it down because the pay was not enough. The following year she changed her mind and signed up, replacing Billie Holiday. Her recordings at this time mixed attractive performances of poor-quality songs and marvelous versions of the better material she was given. She left Basie in 1941 to freelance, and by 1944 was working on the West Coast. She had moved into the then popular R&B field. Humes had a big hit with “Be-Baba-Leba,” recorded with Bill Doggett and on a 1947 session in New York, supervised by John Hammond Jr., she made some excellent mainstream jazz records with Buck Clayton and Teddy Wilson.

Howlin' Wolf

Born: June 10, 1910

Howlin' Wolf was a seminal figure in the development of the Chicago blues style. His fierce, growling voice, punctuated by his trademark falsetto 'howl,' carried with it the primitive energy of the country blues he learned as a young man on the Delta. He successfully made the transition between the country style and the urban style, and in doing so, he was one of a handful of artists who shaped and defined the emerging urban blues sound. Literally hundreds of artists (his contemporaries included) have claimed him as an influence, and equal numbers have recorded their own versions of his songs

Lena Horne

Born: June 30, 1917

Lena Horne, the beautiful, elegant, talented singer and actress has become a legend. Her strong sense of her own identity, of justice, and of dignity forced her to struggle against social adversity, and allowed her to triumph. Music is just a part of her story. Lena Mary Calhoun Horne was born on June 30, 1917, in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, her parents separated by the time she was three years old, and she lived for several years with her paternal grandparents. Her early life was nomadic: Horne's mother, who was a fairly unsuccessful stage performer, took the young Lena on the road with her, and they lived in various parts of the South before returning to Horne's grandparents' home in Brooklyn in 1931 Horne had early ambitions to be a performer--against the wishes of her family, who believed that she should aspire to greater heights

Zakiya Hooker

Born: April 1, 1948

At first glance it would seem that Zakiya Hooker was born into the Blues. After all, her father is the late great Blues Legend John Lee Hooker. But rather than relying on her father, Zakiya has pursued life and music on her own terms. In 1991 Zakiya made her first public appearance with her father, John Lee Hooker at the Kaiser Center Theatre in Oakland, California. Since that time Zakiya has gone on to peform on shows with Etta James, John Hammond, Taj Mahal, Charlie Musselwhite, Narada Michael Walden and many, many more. By 1993 Zakiya released her first CD "Another Generation Of The Blues" on Silverton Records

Billie Holiday

Born: April 7, 1915

Billie Holiday ("Lady Day") is considered by many to be the greatest of all jazz singers. In a tragically abbreviated singing career that lasted less than three decades, her evocative phrasing and poignant delivery profoundly influenced vocalists who followed her. Although her warm, feathery voice inhabited a limited range, she used it like an accomplished jazz instrumentalist, stretching and condensing phrases in an ever-shifting dialogue with accompanying musicians. Famous for delivering lyrics a bit behind the beat, she alternately endowed them with sadness, sensuality, languor, and irony

Z.Z. Hill

Born: September 30, 1935

When Blues Singer Z.Z. Hill signed with the southern soul label Malaco in 1980, he also stepped into the role of a modern (back then) savior of the blues. Since blues supposedly no longer sold, everyone was shocked in 1982 when Hill's second album, “Down Home Blues,” sold 500,000 copies. It was the most successful blues album ever, revealing a core audience for quality blues records, revitalizing the appeal. It also became an anthem for R&B singers struggling against disco and the emergence of rap. The Blues was coming back from back down South, where it all started. Born in Naples, Texas, Arzell Hill spent much of his childhood singing in the church

Bertha "Chippie" Hill

Born: March 15, 1905

Blues singer Bertha “ Chippie” Hill began her career as a dancer working with Ethel Waters in 1919. She was given the nickname "Chippie" because of her young age and her small size early in her career. During the late 1920's, she began performing with the Rabbit Foot Minstrels as a singer and dancer and toured with them on the Theatrical Owners Booking Association (TOBA) circuit throughout the south. Chippie also began recording in the mid 1920's, working with musicians such as Louis Armstrong. Chippie continued to record and perform in the New York City area during the early 1930's until the late 1940's