Lil Greenwood

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Lil Greenwood (born November 18, 1924 in Prichard, Alabama , † July 19, 2011 ) was an American rhythm and blues and jazz singer who is remembered for her membership in the Duke Ellington Orchestra .

Live and act

Lil Greenwood, daughter of a preacher, began her career as a nightclub singer in California in 1949 . From the early 1950s she worked in the San Francisco Bay Area and sang for three years with Roy Milton and His Solid Senders. She also took part in their sessions for Modern Records ; in June 1950 the blues song Heart Full Of Pain was written . She recorded other singles in 1952-54 for Federal Records , a sub-label of King Records in Los Angeles under the direction of producer Ralph Bass , such as My Last Hour , the Monday Morning Blues (1952), a vocal duetLittle Willie Littlefield , the ballad I'll Go (with the vocal group The Lamplighters ) or Mercy Me (1954). At the end of the decade she was hired by Duke Ellington for a tour. The band leader described her voice in Ebony magazine as

a mixture of Marian Anderson , Ella Fitzgerald , Dinah Washington and Mahalia Jackson ; and I don't know but what she's better on spirituals than when she's walking and singing the blues .

Your signature melody in the band was the song Walking and Singing the Blues . It can also be heard on some live recordings by the Ellington Orchestra from this period, such as on the Columbia album Duke 56/62 or Live in Paris 1959 (Affinity). In the 1970s she made guest appearances on American television series; She moved to Mobile, Alabama , in the late 1970s and was largely forgotten. In the 2000s she gained notoriety through local groups such as MOJO and appearances at the Gulf Coast Ethnic & Heritage Jazz Fest ; their singles from the 1950s were eventually re-released on CD by the British record label Ace. With the composer David Amram and the producer Harold "Buz" Rummel the last album Back to My Roots was created . Greenwood died of complications from a stroke in July 2011 at the age of 86.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Portrait at Ace Records ( Memento of the original from October 15, 2011 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. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.acerecords.co.uk
  2. ↑ a b c Obituary at Alabama.com (English)
  3. ^ Federal Records Discography
  4. ↑ Obituary (English)
  5. ↑ Portrait page about Lil Greenwood ( Memento of the original from July 23, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.lilgreenwood.net
  6. ^ Bielefeld catalog 1985 & 1988
  7. ↑ Lil Greenwood in the Internet Movie Database (English)
personal data
SURNAME Greenwood, Lil
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American rhythm and blues and jazz singer
DATE OF BIRTH November 18, 1924
PLACE OF BIRTH Prichard, Alabama
DATE OF DEATH July 19, 2011