KSDS 88.3 Blog

Listening to recordings of Chris Connor takes you back to the cool school of jazz.  She began singing with the Claude Thornhill Orchestra in 1940 and would later join Stan Kenton's band.  It was with Kenton's band that she recorded what would become her biggest hit single "All About Ronnie." In 1953 she went solo and saw early success with recordings on the Bethlehem label, including Sings Lullabys of Birdland and Sings Lullabys for Lovers.  These first two releases reached #1 and #2 on the Billboard jazz charts in 1955. 

After a few years with Bethlehem, she signed with Atlantic Records in 1956, a partnership that would yield more accolades and hits.  While the 1950s recordings have become classics, she continued recording until her final release on HighNote Records in 2003.  Connor's dusty sound and choice of material have secured her place as one of jazz music's most distinctive vocalists. 

While her name may not be as well-known as some others, Carol Sloane has enjoyed a career spanning more than sixty years.  She began singing at an early age, but hit the jazz scene when she was offered an audition with bandleader Larry Elgart.  She landed the job and spent a few years touring and singing with the Larry Elgart Band.  By 1960, she was done with the road and had started working temporary secretarial jobs, still singing when the gigs came along.  It was when Sloane was singing at a festival in Pittsburgh that her break really happened: Jon Hendricks was there and, after hearing her sing, asked Sloane if she could learn the Lambert, Hendricks, and Ross songbook just in case Annie Ross needed a fill-in. While checking out the group one night at The Village Vanguard, Hendricks invited her to come up and sing.  The club owner immediately offered her a gig...alongside pianist Oscar Peterson. According to Sloane, "I stammered an acceptance, and walked five feet off the ground on the way home".

It was Hendricks who suggested her to the Newport Jazz Festival and in 1961, she made her debut on the Newport Festival stage.  That gig led to a record deal with Columbia Records and her first albums "Live at 30th Street" and "Out of The Blue" with arrangements by Bill Finigan and Bob Brookmeyer were released in 1962.  After success with Columbia, Sloane continue to tour and later signed with Concord Records. She found a particularly receptive audience in Japan, where she would release several more albums.  With over 25 albums as a leader, her career having stops and re-starts, she continued recording through 2010 when "We'll Meet Again" was issued on Arbors records.  A native of Providence, she was inducted into the Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame in 2016.

It seems like Ernestine Anderson was born to sing.  When she was just a little girl, she was singing in church and hearing her father perform with a gospel quartet...and teaching herself to play piano by ear.  As a teenager, she attended Garfield High School in Seattle and made her professional debut in 1946 at 18, singing with the Bumps Blackwell Junior Band. Another student in the band at the time was Quincy Jones, who would later found Qwest Records and record two Grammy-nominated albums for her.  

Anderson's vocal versatility kept her in demand and she had early work with Johnny Otis's band.  She toured with Lionel Hampton in the early 1950s.  From heartfelt ballads to deep, soulful blues, her sound encompassed it all.  Her first album "Hot Cargo" was recorded in Sweden and released in the United States in 1958.  She would go on to record several more albums for Mercury Records, ultimately recording over 30 albums in a career that spanned six decades.  The 1960s ushered in rock & roll in America, so Anderson split her time between the U.S. and Europe.  She staged a sensational return to American Jazz with a 1976 performance at the Concord Jazz Festival and recorded some of her most acclaimed music for Concord Records, including her signature release, 1981's "Never Make Your Move Too Soon."  She sang around the world, achieving performances at The Kennedy Center, as well as every singer's dream...Carnegie Hall.  

Tierney Sutton is definitely more than the “girl singer” with the Tierney Sutton Band.  Rather, she is truly a part of the band, a musician whose instrument happens to be her voice. It’s both a creative approach and a business model that even by today’s standards of equality can seem a bit remarkable. 

Raised in Wisconsin and schooled at Berklee College of Music, Sutton developed a distinct voice in the jazz world, both as a singer and as a creative partner.  After her student time at Berklee, Sutton headed west and moved to Los Angeles in 1993, where she quickly made a name for herself as one of the premier vocalists in Southern California.  In addition to gigging, she spent time teaching vocal jazz at USC and has been the head of the vocal department at L.A. Music Academy in Pasadena.  A nine-time Grammy nominee, Sutton has earned critical acclaim, as well as performing for appreciative audiences worldwide. 

With the Tierney Sutton Band, she has explored the works of Frank Sinatra, Joni Mitchell, and Sting.  The band has actually incorporated as Hollow Reed, Inc., allowing each of the members to have full equality in both creative and financial matters.  The group is celebrating nearly twenty years together.

With roots in Memphis and a fan base from Paris to New Orleans, multi-faceted singer Dee Dee Bridgewaterhas earned critical acclaim in every area of her career for over forty years.  Bridgewater came into the jazz scene as the vocalist for the Thad Jones/Mel Lewis Orchestra in the 1970s and released her first solo album “Afro Blue” in 1974.  She has since successfully fulfilled the roles of singer-songwriter, producer, actress, educator, radio host, mentor, and touring musician.  She continues to fights against world hunger as a Goodwill Ambassador to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization.

 In the earlier years of her career, she was fronting the bandstand with such jazz legends as Dizzy Gillespie, Sonny Rollins, Max Roach, and Dexter Gordon, even the eclectic Rahsaan Roland Kirk.  But, her talents were not limited to jazz singing and she worked on Broadway in the Tony-award winning musical “The Wiz.”  She played Glinda the Good Witch, a role that would bring her a Tony Award for Best Featured Actress.  Her multiple stages roles included Billie Holiday in “Lady Day.”  Bridgewater’s musical forays have ranged from classic American Jazz and French classical to African-themed music inspired by collaborations in Mali.  Her albums, “Dear Ella” and “Eleanora Fagan (1915-1959): To Billie With Love From Dee Dee” were not only tributes to the legends who preceded her, but both won her Grammy Awards.  Her current release “Memphis…Yes I’m Ready” takes her back to her hometown roots.  As one of the world’s favorite jazz singers, Dee Dee Bridgewater continues to make musical history.

March is Women's History Month and KSDS-FM is celebrating by shining the spotlight on listener's favorite female vocalists. Listen every weekday throughout the month to hear daily musical features with some of the greatest singers in Jazz history, counting down to your number one favorite. For details about each singer go to the KSDS Blog to learn more. 

February 28, 2020- Today's BHM topic is: Central Avenue

From the beginning of the 20th Century, Los Angeles’ Central Avenue was the main thoroughfare of the African American Community. The Avenue itself stretched from downtown all the way to Watts. In the early years the black community was located around 12th and Central where the burgeoning African American music business was headquartered at The Spikes Brothers Music Store.

By World War II the center of the black community had moved further south. The black population of Los Angeles grew substantially during the war with people coming west to work in the defense plants. There were black owned businesses of all kinds up and down the avenue. The locals referred to it as “the main stem.” It was a city within the city, a very tight knit community that had tremendous cultural pride.

Defense workers had money in their pockets and there was a large nightlife district that provided entertainment around the clock. It was all centered around 42nd and Central. The classy Hotel Dunbar was the central attraction. The Club Alabam was the showplace of the avenue with floor shows, chorus girls and a house band that could hold its own against anybody.
Almost all African American celebrities that came to town stayed at the Dunbar. This included traveling bands like Ellington, Basie and Lunceford. When they got off work in Hollywood or Culver City it wasn’t uncommon to find the sidemen sitting in with the locals at the many Central Ave clubs.

And there were plenty of choices.

The Elk’s Auditorium had all kinds of events including big bands and jam sessions plus the likes of T-Bone Walker or Big Jay McNeely. The Last Word featured jump bands like Joe Lutcher and Jimmy Liggins. Jazz combos were featured at The Downbeat. Wardell chasing Dexter and The Buddy Collette, Baron Mingus Stars of Swing among others.

After the festivities ended for the night at those venues the after hours joints continued on till dawn.

Alex Lovejoy’s, home of the big-legged chicken was Art Tatum’s favorite place to hangout. There was also Backstage and Brothers where you brought your own bottle. If you didn’t have one there was always a guy in the parking lot of the market at 53rd St. selling booze after 2AM.

Jack’s Basket Room also known as Bird in the Basket featured late night jam sessions and local live broadcasts. Clora Bryant, Sonny Criss, Teddy Edwards, Gene Montgomery, Art and Addison Farmer, J.D. King, Russell Jacquet and Freddie and Maurice Simon went almost every night. In addition to the music there was their famous fried chicken. If you didn’t like Jack’s chicken there was also ex-Ellington vocalist Ivie Anderson’s Chicken Shack. When Roy Porter formed his bebop big band in 1948 they rehearsed every afternoon at Ivie’s. A very young Eric Dolphy was a member of the Porter band reed section.

Jefferson High School students would drop by after school to listen. It was an amazing scene. Hollywood stars used to show up in their big limousines to hear the likes of T-Bone Walker and Johnny Otis. It wasn’t uncommon to see the likes of Dorothy Dandridge, Joe Louis, Lana Turner and Humphrey Bogart sitting ringside at the Club Alabam.

There was no racial segregation on the avenue. White patrons were welcome, especially musicians. The avenue was swinging nightly for years but totally under the radar to most Los Angeles residents. There were never mentions in the LA Times of happenings on the Avenue yet The Los Angeles Sentinel covered everything from music to sporting events and community functions.

We would know a lot less about what happened today had it not been for some local entrepreneurs who started record companies in their garages to try for the elusive jukebox hit. In doing so small labels like Aladdin, Modern, 4-Star, Exclusive, Excelsior, Bop, Dial, Bel-tone and Dolphin’s of Hollywood documented much of the music that was happening on the stem.

By the end of the forties things were changing and many of the Central Ave. clubs were closing their doors for good.

The San Diego Latino Film Festival has been CANCELLED. More information is available at sdlatinofilm.com or call 619-230-1938.