Mildred Bailey, the "Rockin' Chair Lady," began her singing profession demonstrating sheet music songs for individual customers in Seattle, Washington, when she was 17 years old. She would then go on to spend her entire career singing in the same intimate, person-to-person manner. Rather than shouting, scatting, or employing gimmicks, Bailey honored a wide variety of lyrics and melodies with her perfect diction and delicate voice, enchanting each listener who came under her spell. Some critics have questioned whether Bailey was truly a jazz singer or simply an exceptional pop singer. Nonetheless, her influence on generations of jazz vocalists who followed is unquestioned. Considered the first female microphone singer, Bailey taught the next generation how to use this new technology.
Despite an unhappy childhood, Helen Forrest achieved great success as a singer in several big bands. She got her start singing in commercials and then moved to a supper club, where Artie Shaw came and invited her on tour. She then joined Benny Goodman’s band for two years, and after that joined the Harry James band. Traveling with the band, Forrest was the only woman among eighteen or more band members. During the early big band era, few women vocalists had the confidence to ask for individualized arrangements. Helen Forrest was one of the first singers in the big band era whose vocals were featured throughout a full band arrangement. She continued to record, achieving several solo hits, in addition to her band recordings.
When Helen Forrest joined the Harry James band in 1941, she broke new ground for American vocalists. She asked that specific arrangements be written just for her and that the band accompany her lead vocal. Harry James agreed, and Forrest went on to record five gold records: “But Not for Me,” “I Don’t Want to Walk Without You,” “I Cried For You,” “I’ve Heard That Song Before,” and “I Had the Craziest Dream.”
Born Anna Marie Wooldridge in Chicago, Illinois on August 6, 1930, and raised on a farm in Calvin Center, Cass County, Michigan, Abbey Lincoln (stage name) was an African-American jazz singer, songwriter, actress, and civil rights activist. The tenth out of twelve children, she began her singing career at a young age, performing in school and church choirs. At 19, Lincoln won her first amateur concert.
When she was 22 years old, Lincoln moved to California and then spent a year in Honolulu, Hawaii, as a singer at a nightclub with the stage name Gaby Lee. She moved back to California where she met Bob Russell, lyricist, who became her manager and gave her the stage name Abbey Lincoln.
Born Anne Latta Dinsmore, 17 February 1935, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Growing up near Readong, Pennsylvania, Phillips ‘played piano by ear non-stop as a child’, later studying piano and voice. She attended Oberlin College, singing in her freshman year with the college big band. She had her own radio show, singing and playing on the college station, and sang with a college trio that was the supporting act on the occasion of Dave Brubeck’s famous Brubeck At Oberlin concert. After attending the New England Conservatory of Music, she relocated to New York City. There, she performed on a number of live television shows as a member of two of the best known choirs, the Ray Charles Singers and the Norman Luboff Choir. She also sang demonstrations for songwriters such as Burt Bacharach and Hal David, Carole King, Neil Diamond and Paul Simon.
Born on June 22, 1917 (some sources say 1923), in Darlington, SC; died on February 16, 2004, in New York, NY; sister of bandleader Buddy Johnson; married Odell Day.
Performed with Buddy Johnson and His Orchestra, toured extensively and headlined at Savoy Ballroom in New York City, 1940s-1960s; recorded hit singles, including "Please, Mr. Johnson," 1940; and the jazz standard "Since I Fell for You," 1945; retired from singing and recording, 1977.