Josh White, Jr.

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Josh White, Jr. (born November 30, 1940 in New York City ) is an American, socially engaged singer, guitarist and actor. His musical repertoire mainly includes folk , blues and spirituals .

Josh White, Jr. in October 2016

life and career

Josh White, Jr. was born in 1940 in New York City, the son of the musician, actor and civil rights activist Josh White (Sr.) of the same name . His godparents were then American President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his wife Eleanor , with whom his father had had a close relationship since he appeared in the White House in 1941 .

Young White made his first stage appearance at the age of four at the side of his father at the New York jazz club Café Society . In the following two decades, the two appeared together regularly, including as actors in Broadway productions. In 1949, White received a Tony Award for Best Child Actor for his role in How Long Til Summer? He made his debut in the music business with the single See Saw , which was released by Decca in 1956 and which was co-written by Marvin Hamlisch . White knew Hamlisch from the Professional Children's School , where he met classmates such as Elliott Gould , Sandra Dee , Leslie Uggams and Christopher Walken . In the course of the folk revival in the early 1960s, White increasingly focused on his music career and had a first minor success in 1962 with his single Do You Close Your Eyes .

In 1983, White returned to the theater stage to appear in a musical for the first time. In the same year he presented the successful play JOSH: The Man & His Music , which retells the life of his father, who died in 1969, and which he has performed regularly since then - every few years.

The instrumental album Jazz, Ballads and Blues , also dedicated to his father, was nominated for a Grammy in 1987 . In the following years White released numerous albums on the Silberwolf label, including another 1999 tribute album entitled In Tribute to Josh White: House of Rising Son in honor of his father.

Discography (selection)

  • The Josh White Jr. Album (1967, United Artists Records )
  • One Step Further (1968, United Artists Records)
  • Josh White Jr. (1978, Vanguard Records )
  • Jazz, Ballads and Blues (1986, Rykodisc )
  • In Tribute to Josh White : House of Rising Son (1999, Silverwolf Records)
  • Cortelia Clark (2000, Silverwolf)
  • Live (2003, Silverwolf)
  • By Request (2009, Silverwolf)
  • Tuning For The Blues (2010, Silverwolf)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.gvillemag.com/feature/g_tune/southern_soul
  2. ↑ https://www.allmusic.com/artist/mn0000828389 Biography of Josh White Jr. in the All Music Guide , written by Jason Ankeny
personal data
SURNAME White, Josh Jr.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American folk, spiritual, and blues guitarist and singer
DATE OF BIRTH November 30, 1940
PLACE OF BIRTH New York City