Leigh Harris

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Leigh "Little Queenie" Harris (also "Li'l Queenie", * 1953 or 1954; † September 21, 2019 ) was an American jazz singer who was known in the New Orleans music scene.

Live and act

Growing up in Old Metairie, Harris showed promising experience as a singer from a young age. In the late 1970s, she and keyboardist John Magnie founded a duo that performed regularly on Monday evenings in the newly opened Tipitina's . This collaboration developed into the formation Li'l Queenie & the Percolators , with whom she became known in the New Orleans area. The Percolators, musically similar to the Neville Brothers , also played in clubs like Dream Palace and Jimmy's Music Club . Soul , funk , jazz and New Orleans rhythm & blues flowed into the mix of the band. The percolators theme song "My Darlin" was the epitome of New Orleans; Thirty years after its release, it closed the soundtrack of the first episode of the HBO series Treme .

In 1980 the Percolators made their New York debut and received a rave review in the New York Times . In it, critic John Rockwell wrote: "Miss Harris has more voice, personality and stage presence than any other young artist this observer has met in a long time." Like Janis Joplin , Harris was "a small, dynamic southern woman with a tough one , earthy, bluesy voice that can rise ecstatically in renunciation of the gospel, ”enthused Rockwell. In contrast to Joplin, Harris can also " sing ballads, jazz and jazz rock , and she has a soprano character that gives her voice much more color." The percolators disbanded in 1982; One of the few recordings by the band was a single release of "My Darlin" in New Orleans.

In the following years Harris worked in various styles a. a. with guitarists Peter Holsapple and Jimmy Robinson in the formation of Mixed Knots , a bluegrass- style band , in the cross-genre jazz-funk quintet Roy G Biv with two drummers and two keyboardists. She also directed the funky vocal groups alternately known as the Ofay Soul Choir and Little Queenies Wahini Dakinis . She also directed ensembles with which she appeared at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival ; she also played jingles for the companies Barqs and Dixies. Her acclaimed album "House of Secrets" from 1999 showed the nuances and breadth of her voice.

Harris et al. a. 2019 the album Purple Heart ; it contains a dozen unpublished recordings (including "My Darlin 'New Orleans") that Harris made between 2003 and 2005. In the field of jazz, she was involved in four recording sessions between 1979 and 2000, according to Tom Lord . During her career she played with artists such as Professor Longhair , Allen Toussaint , Dr. John , Irma Thomas , James Booker , The Meters , BB King , Elvis Costello , Marsalis Family Members , Harry Connick Jr. , The Neville Brothers and Bryan Ferry . After Hurricane Katrina , she moved to Greensboro , North Carolina. She died of complications from cancer in September 2019 at the age of 65 in a North Carolina nursing home.

Discographic notes

  • Ron Cuccia: The Jazz Poetry Group (1979), a. a. with Charles Neville
  • Tom McDermott: Tom McDermott and His Jazz Hellions (Jazzpolgy, 1993)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Keith Spera: Leigh 'Little Queenie' Harris, singer of New Orleans band the Percolators, dies of cancer at 65. NOLA.com, September 22, 2019, accessed September 26, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Tom Lord : The Jazz Discography (online, accessed September 26, 2019)
personal data
SURNAME Harris, Leigh
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Little queenie; Li'l Queenie
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz musician (vocals)
DATE OF BIRTH 1953 or 1954
DATE OF DEATH September 21, 2019