Results for "Vocalist"

Mamie Smith

Born: May 26, 1883

Mamie Gardener began her career in show business as a dancer with the Four Dancing Mitchells. By 1910, Smith was touring the Midwest and East Coast with the Smart Set Company, a Black minstrel troupe. She married singer William “Smitty” Smith in 1912. The couple moved to New York where she began working as a cabaret dancer, pianist, and singer. Her first major break came in 1918, when she appeared in Perry Bradford’s musical “Made in Harlem.” Though technically not a blues performer, Mamie Smith notched her place in American music as the first Black female singer to record a vocal blues

Keely Smith

Born: March 9, 1932

The “Queen of Las Vegas” swing, Keely Smith, is one of the last living legends of the great Rat Pack era of the 1950s and ‘60s. For nearly half a century, the Cherokee-Irish singer has thrilled audiences around the world, entertaining music fans with unequaled charm. Keely is perhaps best known for her partnership with Louis Prima, with whom she helped turn Las Vegas into an entertainment mecca for the rich, the famous and everyone in between. Keely’s royal ascent began in Norfalk, Virginia, where she, aged just 11-years old, became a regular on a popular, Saturday morning children’s radio program, “Joe Brown’s Radio Gang.” By 16, she was singing professionally alongside local big bands, entertaining servicemen at local Army, Navy and Marine bases and, more importantly, getting a chance to experience the swing movement first-hand

Alma Smith

By Jim Gallert

Alma Smith has been a professional musician for more than fifty years. The youngest of nine children, Alma was born in Montgomery, Alabama and raised in the North End area of Detroit. Alma's fascination with music started early. Her mother had played piano as a youngster and she encouraged Alma to continue.

"My brother played very good boogie-woogie, but he died young," she recalls. "And my sister could play. But I was the one that made music my livelihood."

Bessie Smith

Born: April 15, 1894

“Empress of the Blues” She embodied the meaning of the blues, living the life she sang about. Bessie Smith set the standard for blues singers on how it should be done. Bessie Smith, born on Apr. 15, 1894, in Chattanooga, Tennessee, was one of ten children. Her parents died by her eighth birthday, and she was raised by her older sister Viola. She was taught to sing and dance by her older brother Clarence, who later arranged an audition for Smith with the traveling Moses Stokes Show where she was hired as a dancer in 1912. She became friends with Gertrude "Ma" Rainey, a blues singer, who became her mentor

Frank Sinatra

Born: December 12, 1915

Francis Albert Sinatra was an American singer who is considered one of the finest vocalists of all time, renowned for his impeccable phrasing and timing. Many critics place him alongside Bing Crosby, Elvis Presley and The Beatles as one of the most important popular music figures of the 20th century.

Sinatra launched a second career as a dramatic film actor, and became admired for a screen persona distinctly tougher than his smooth singing style. Sinatra also had a larger-than-life presence in the public eye, and as "The Chairman of the Board" became an American icon, known for his brash, sometimes swaggering attitude, as embodied by his signature song "My Way"

Frank Sinatra, Jr.

Born: January 10, 1944

When Franklin Wayne Sinatra was born, on January 10, 1944 in Jersey City, New Jersey, his famous father was in Hollywood making a movie. Frank Sr. told reporters that he hoped Frank Jr. would never become a singer—“no following in Dad's footsteps, that's for sure.” With that kind of ambivalence early on, it's no surprise that it has been a rocky road for Frank Sinatra Jr., a supremely talented yet terminally insecure individual, a man who once described himself as the “Volkswagen in the Sinatra garage,” yet who in all fairness should be considered one of the most interesting and skilled pop vocalists of the era.

Judi Silvano

What Judi Silvano has been able to accomplish thus far gives the appearance of multiple artists' careers strung together—but it's all Judi. In fact, she's always got a new project ready to fly, oftentimes dovetailing and overlapping her previous efforts. Born in Philadelphia, with a degree (in both Music and Dance) from Temple University, Judi made her way to New York City in 1976 where she launched her career as an improviser—of dance at first. But jazz would not be far behind. An alchemist of music and movement, her career as a choreographer and dancer led her straight to NYC's downtown music scene where her improvisational spirit could run free

Janis Siegel

Born: July 23, 1952

Over the past four decades, the voice of Janis Siegel, a nine-time Grammy winner and a seventeen-time Grammy nominee, has been an undeniable force in The Manhattan Transfer’s diverse musical catalog. Alongside her career as a founding member of this musical institution, Siegel has also sustained a solo career that has spawned almost a dozen finely-crafted solo albums and numerous collaborative projects, amassed a large international fan base and garnered consistently high critical praise. Janis continues to tour with The Manhattan Transfer and her own band, continues to teach and do masterclasses, all while she gears up for her newest solo release “NightSongs” on Palmetto Records in September of 2013

Daryl Sherman

Born: June 14, 1950

Rhode Island born Daryl Sherman has been a part of the New York City jazz scene since the mid-70s and she is one of the rare singing pianists equally talented in both roles. Sherman is a unique stylist with charm, quick wit , chemistry with her audiences and ability to make herself at home in any musical setting. From her early stints at Sinatra hang-outs like Jilly’s, there’s hardly a jazz joint, supper club or hotel Daryl has missed. When Artie Shaw formed a new band after his retirement, Sherman was his chosen singer, calling her “a first rate singer –musician”. Her CDs are in regular rotation on Cable TV’s Music Choice, Sirius/XM Radio,BBC, JazzRadio Berlin and she’s been a frequent guest on Marian McPartland’s NPR Piano Jazz. Renowned for a stellar 14-year run at the Waldorf=Astoria, Daryl played Cole Porter’s Steinway

Joya Sherrill

Born: August 20, 1927

In the early 1940s, Duke Ellington discovered a seventeen year old with remarkable poise and singing ability. Joya Sherrill worked with Duke Ellington for a short spell in 1942 and, after writing the lyrics to Take the "A" Train, joined his band in 1944. Rejoining the group, Sherrill scored a major hit with "I'm Beginning To See The Light." She stayed with Duke Ellington's jazz band well into the fifties and is generally considered to be one of the finest (and smoothest) jazz vocalists of that era. She married Richard Guilmenot in 1946. After years with Ellington she became a solo singer but returned to the band to perform in the television program A Drum is a Woman (1956)