 Diane Schuur grew up in suburban Seattle, Washington and was encouraged by both her parents to sing. She started singing when she was two-and-a-half, and by age nine, was getting professional gigs. She has said that as a small child she would often retreat to the closet to be alone with herself and sing.[1] Her early childhood music heroines were Sarah Vaughan and Dinah Washington. Schuur had her first gig at Tacoma's Holiday Inn at age ten in which she sang country music. Attending the Washington State School for the Blind, she began performing original material, and starting at the young age of sixteen, revealed a distinctive voice and began performing. Her big break came when Stan Getz became positive about her work on hearing her sing "Amazing Grace" at legendary Monterey Jazz Festival in 1979, returning in '88 and '91. In 1982, Getz asked her to join him at a performance at the White House. Nancy Reagan invited her to perform again as a vocalist with the Count Basie Orchestra in 1987. Stan Getz later played on Schuur's first three albums, Deedles (1984), Schuur Thing (1985 also with Jose Feliciano ) and Timeless (1988).[2 ]"Kenny" Drew was born in New York City in 1928 and received piano lessons from the age of five.[1] Drew's first recording, in 1950, was with Howard McGhee, and over the next two years he worked in bands led by Buddy DeFranco, Coleman Hawkins, Lester Young, and Charlie Parker, among others.[1] After a brief period with his own trio in California, Drew returned to New York, playing with Dinah Washington, Johnny Griffin, Buddy Rich, and several others over the following few years.[1] He led many recording sessions throughout the 50s, and in 1957 appeared on John Coltrane's album Blue Train. Drew was one of several American jazz musicians who settled in Europe around this period: he moved to Paris in 1961 and to Copenhagen three years later.[1] While he sacrificed much of the interest of the American jazz audience, he gained a wide following across Europe. Kenny Drew was a well-known figure on the Copenhagen jazz scene, recording many sessions with the Danish bassist Niels-Henning Ørsted Pedersen. "Living in Copenhagen, and travelling out from there," Drew remarked, "I have probably worked in more different contexts than if I had stayed in New York where I might have got musically locked in with a set-group of musicians. This way, I have been able to keep my musical antennas in shape, while at the same time I have had more time to study and also get deeper into my own endeavors."[2] Kenny Drew and Dexter Gordon appeared on screen in Ole Ege's theatrically released hardcore pornographic film Pornografi - en musical (1971), for which they composed and performed the score.[3] Drew died in 1993 and was interred in the Assistens Cemetery in Nørrebro, Copenhagen. He has a street named after him in southern Copenhagen, "Kenny Drews Vej" (Eng., Kenny Drew Street). His son, Kenny Drew, Jr., is also a jazz pianist. More Info |
