| Genres: |
Vocals
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| Descriptive "tags": |
jazz • blues • funk • vocal jazz • soul • smooth jazz • female funk • under 2000 listeners
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| Decades Active: |
1960s
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1970s
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1980s
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1990s
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2000s
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Biography
23 September 1930, Savannah, Georgia, USA, d. 4 January 2008, USA. Beginning her singing career in church choirs, Reid tried her luck, in her late teens, at New York’s famed Apollo Theatre. This was in 1948 and she won the amateur talent contest there four weeks in a row. This resulted in employment with Dick Vance’s band, then resident at the Savoy Ballroom on 125th Street in Harlem. She stayed with the band for two years, then struck out as a single. Her lamp burned steadily but low until 1961 when she joined Count Basie. She stayed with Basie for a year, touring Europe and appearing on some of the band’s live concert albums. It was both an enjoyable and a learning experience. ‘Singing with a big band, when the arrangements get behind you and the adrenaline is there, it’s wonderful’. After Basie she continued her solo career, often working with an organ-guitar-drums trio billed as Irene Reid And Company. Once again, however, although...
Read the Full Biography of Irene Reid
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