Debby Moore
Debby Moore (* 1925 as Emmaline Maultsby in St. Augustine , Florida ; † January 2, 2017 there ) was an American jazz singer .
life and career
Emmaline Maultsby attended high school (now the Lincolnville Museum and Cultural Center) in her hometown and moved to New York at the age of 17 in 1942 to pursue a career as a jazz singer. An aunt and her cousins already lived there. She sang with some success in clubs, with the bands of Earl Hines (soloist in orchestra 1954), Rex Stewart (Great South Bay Jazz Festival 1958) and Count Basie, and was sponsored by Louis Armstrong ; she was friends with his wife. She took the stage name Debbie and recorded Five Months, Two Weeks, Two Days with arranger Don Donaldson , which became a hit. The title follows the saying of a sailor who was a guest in a club where she performed, counting the time since he left the US Navy. She made a Japan / Korea tour for the USO and is best known today for her 1960 album My Kind of Blues , her second album. In addition to standards (including those by Jimmy Rushing and Ray Charles ) with a strong blues tinge, she also interpreted her own titles such as Five Months, Two Weeks, Two Days . The arranger was again Don Donaldson. She was accompanied on the album by jazz greats like Elvin Jones and Sweets Edison . She not only sang, but also whistled while she was singing (in her own words first in Japan after she had forgotten part of the text). She was also known for her humor. Shortly before her death, a musical about her life was performed in her hometown.
The recording of the album was the high point of her career. In her own words, she went through tough times afterwards. A collaboration with Frank Sinatra was broken up in his own words, as they belonged to different unions. In 1976 her mother died and she went back to St. Augustine and gave up her career as a jazz singer. She married Emmaline McDade (and was known as Debbie McDade in her hometown) and had two children.
She named Lena Horne as a role model to Leonard Feather (early recordings for Tuxedo, RCA Victor).
Recordings
- My Kind of Blues, with Sweets Edison (tr), Jimmy Jones (p), Barry Galbraith (g), George Duvivier (b), Elvin Jones (dr), Top Rank International 1960 (re-released on Fresh Sound Records )
literature
- Leonard Feather : Debby Moore's entry in Encyclopedia of Jazz, Horizon Press 1960
Web links
- Debby Moore at Discogs (English)
- James Nadal, review of her album, All About Jazz, 2015
- Sheldon Gardner, obituary in St. Augustine Record, Jan. 14, 2017
- Kimeko McCoy: St. Augustine native talks jazz career in the big city, St. Augustine Record, May 17, 2015
- Web presence
Individual evidence
- ↑ Feather, Encyclopedia of Jazz, gives on May 18, 1928. The information there is mostly based on information provided by the musicians
- ↑ obituary (legacy)
- ↑ According to an entry in Feather, Encyclopedia of Jazz, she studied singing with Donaldson in New York
- ↑ For the USO, according to the obituary in the St. Augustine Record. According to Feather, Encyclopedia of Jazz, she was traveling for the State Department and was in Japan in two films.
- ↑ After Leonard Feather, she successfully added "Blues Whistling" to her singing. Feather also listed guitar as her instrument.
- ↑ Interview St. Augustine Record May 17, 2015
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Moore, Debby |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Maultsby, Emmaline (maiden name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American jazz singer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 1925 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | St. Augustine , Florida |
| DATE OF DEATH | 2nd January 2017 |
| Place of death | St. Augustine , Florida |