Jeanie Bryson | |
---|---|
Born | New York City, U.S. | March 10, 1958
Genres | Jazz, pop, Latin |
Occupation | Singer |
Years active | 1993–present |
Labels | Koch, Telarc |
Jeanie Bryson (born March 10, 1958) is an American singer who sings a combination of jazz, pop, and Latin music. Her repertoire is based on jazz and pop standards from the Great American Songbook, Peggy Lee and Dinah Washington.
Bryson is the daughter of composer Connie Bryson and trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie. [1] [2] Her paternity was kept a secret until after Gillespie's death because he was married, but she occasionally saw him growing up. [3] In 1998 Bryson filed a lawsuit against his widow, Lorraine Willis Gillespie, after her lawyer found court records from 1965 in which Gillespie admitted he was her father. She reached a settlement with his estate. [4] When describing her father, Bryson once stated: "He was not the traditional dad, not at all. Let’s just put it this way: I remember being 18, going to see him in a club, going out to a van that was parked outside, and sharing a joint with him."
Bryson grew up in East Brunswick, New Jersey. [3] She began playing instruments at a young age, piano in first grade and then flute in fifth grade. [3] Bryson attended East Brunswick High School. [5] She studied anthropology and ethnomusicology at Livingston College, Rutgers University, graduating in 1981. [3] [1] That year, she performed with her father in Salem County, singing "God Bless the Child" by Billie Holiday. [3] After college she worked in a post office during the week and sang on weekends, by the end of the 1980s she was singing full-time. [3] Bryson released her debut album, I Love Being Here with You , on Telarc in 1993. Her mother contributed the lyrics to two songs on the album. [3] Bryson also sang on an album by Terence Blanchard devoted to Billie Holiday songs. [1]
Bryson has a son, Radji Birks Bryson-Barrett, from the first of her three marriages. [3] Her husband, guitarist Coleman Mellett (married 2004) died in the February 2009 crash of Colgan Air Flight 3407. [6] The couple lived in East Brunswick, New Jersey.
Year | Title | Genre | Label | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|
1993 | I Love Being Here with You | Jazz | Telarc | [7] |
1994 | Tonight I Need You So | Jazz | Telarc | [8] |
1996 | Some Cats Know: Jeanie Bryson Sings Songs of Peggy Lee | Jazz | Telarc | [9] |
2001 | Deja Blue | Jazz | Koch | [10] |
2006 | Live at the Warsaw Jamboree Jazz Festival 1991 | Jazz | Import | [11] |
Norma Deloris Egstrom, known professionally as Peggy Lee, was an American jazz and popular music singer, songwriter, and actress whose career spanned seven decades. From her beginning as a vocalist on local radio to singing with Benny Goodman's big band, Lee created a sophisticated persona, writing music for films, acting, and recording conceptual record albums combining poetry and music. Called the "Queen of American pop music", Lee recorded more than 1,100 masters and co-wrote over 270 songs.
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