Ethel Ennis
Ethel Llewellyn Ennis (born November 28, 1932 in Baltimore , Maryland - † February 17, 2019 ) was an American jazz singer .
Live and act
Ethel Ennis performed as a pianist while she was still in school; In the early 1950s she began a career as a singer. In 1955 her debut album Lullabies for Losers appeared on the Jubilee label , followed by the album Change of Scenery, which was released on Capitol in 1957 . After an extensive European tour with the Benny Goodman All-Stars Band, Ennis returned to Baltimore to continue working there; in the next few years she rarely performed outside of her hometown. In 1958 she took the album Have You Forgotten? on; after that there were no new recordings of Ennis for six years.
In the early 1960s she recorded three albums for RCA Victor . a. was accompanied by Dick Hyman , Claus Ogermans Orchester and Marty Manning . In 1964 she appeared - accompanied by Billy Taylor , Cozy Cole and Slam Stewart - at the Newport Jazz Festival and had a television appearance with the Duke Ellington Orchestra on the Bell Telephone Hour show. She then sang in a duet with Joe Williams at the Monterey Jazz Festival . In the following years she performed mainly in her hometown, among others with the Count Basie Band and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra . Together with Cab Calloway she appeared in Harlem's Apollo Theater .
In 1967 Ethel Ennis sang the theme song for the television show Frankenstein's Monster Party . After a long break, she recorded 10 Sides of Ethel Ennis for BASF in 1973 ; End of the year, she sang at the re-inauguration ceremony of Richard Nixon ; she also appeared in the White House for Jimmy Carter . In the late 1970s she was Baltimore's cultural ambassador and performed a program of Chinese folk songs in Baltimore's twin city, Xiamen . In 1980 a live album was released; after that she only recorded a Standards album again in 1993 and the album If Women Ruled the World in 1998 . In the 1980s, Ethel Ennis and her husband, author Earl Arnett, opened their own music club, Ethel's Place. In 1988 she sold the club and again worked mainly as a singer.
In 1999 she made a guest appearance in Bonn at an event organized by the US Information Service and the US Embassy.
Frank Sinatra called her "my kind of singer." A reviewer on Downbeat wrote of Ethel Ennis: "Her voice is deep, she exudes the personality of a bright woman who has lived many lives."
Popular titles by Ethel Ennis in the 1960s were The Moon Was Yellow (And The Night Was Young); Say It Ain't So, Joe and I've Got that Feeling.
Discographic notes
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Web links
- Ethel Ennis in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Ethel Ennis at Allmusic (English)
- Ethel Ennis at Discogs (English)
- Portrait at All About Jazz
- Ethel Ennis's oral history video excerpts at the National Visionary Leadership Project
Notes and individual references
- ↑ On December 18, 1956, she also recorded the single A Pair of Fools / Got It in My Blood (to Love You) for Atlantic (Atco 45-6086).
- ↑ Portrait at All about Jazz ( Memento of the original from November 25, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ In the original: "her voice runs deep, exuding the personality of a sage who has lived many lives." quoted at allaboutjazz .
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Ennis, Ethel |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Ennis, Ethel Llewellyn (full name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American jazz singer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | November 28, 1932 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Baltimore |
| DATE OF DEATH | 17th February 2019 |