Nancie Banks
Nancie Banks (born Nancy Manzuk , born July 29, 1951 in Morgantown (West Virginia) , † November 13, 2002 in New York City ) was an American jazz singer , arranger , band leader and copyist .
Banks grew up in Pittsburgh ; as a child she took piano lessons from her mother, a classical pianist. Her father was a singer in the church choir. At the age of 17, she moved to New York and studied with Barry Harris , Alberto Socarras and Edward Boatner ; she also participated in workshops of the Jazzmobile . In the following years she worked with her own smaller ensembles as well as with big bands such as the Lionel Hampton Orchestra, to which she belonged in the mid-1980s. She also worked with Sadik Hakim , Walter Davis junior , John Hicks , Barry Harris, Dexter Gordon , Woody Shaw , Walter Booker , Bob Cunningham , Bross Townsend , Duke Jordan , Jon Hendricks , Walter Bishop junior , Clarence Sharpe , Wayne Escoffery and Charli Persip . In 1989 she received a scholarship to study at the New School's Jazz Department .
With the support of her mentor Cecil Bridgewater , who led the student band, she founded her 19-piece Nancie Banks Orchestra , with which she performed at numerous festivals in the 1990s. a. at the Mary Lou Williams Women's Jazz Festival in Washington, DC in 1994 her debut album Bert's Blues , u. a. with Kenny Rampton on trumpet and Edwin Swanston on piano. Her album Waves of Peace was nominated for the best jazz album of the year in the critics poll of the Village Voice . Until her death in 2002 at the age of 51, she presented three more albums. Banks also worked as a copyist and worked on the score for Spike Lee's Mo 'Better Blues , as well as on several Broadway productions. As a copyist she worked a. a. for the Count Basie Orchestra , George Benson , Diane Schuur , Buck Clayton , Frank Foster , Grover Mitchell , Joe Chambers , Jack Jeffers and Monty Alexander . In the field of jazz, she was involved in five recording sessions between 1991 and 2001. Nancie Banks was married to the trombonist Clarence Banks (* 1952). Her album Out of It was released posthumously in 2006 , on which u. a. Trumpeter James Zollar also took part.
Web links
- Obituary at Jazzhouse
- Nancie Banks at Allmusic (English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b Obituary for Local 802
- ^ Album Bert's Blues on Allmusic
- ↑ Tom Lord Jazz Discography
- ^ Nancie Banks Orchestra: Out of It (2006) for All About Jazz
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Banks, Nancie |
| ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Manzuk, Nancy (maiden name) |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American jazz singer, arranger, band leader and copyist |
| DATE OF BIRTH | July 29, 1951 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Morgantown, West Virginia |
| DATE OF DEATH | November 13, 2002 |
| Place of death | New York City |