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Blossom Dearie

"I'm Hip, I'm no square, I'm alert, I'm awake, I'm aware ... I got so much out of life.." Blossom Dearie

Blossom Dearie

A singer, pianist and songwriter, with a "wispy, little-girlish" voice, Dearie is regarded as one of the great supper club singers. Blossom Dearie was born 28 April 1928, in East Durham, New York, USA. She still performed in 2006 with Lyle Lovett. She had a little-girl voice but she attracted every major jazz musicians, band leader, and singer - throughour her life. She was truly cool, she got so much out of life - just as she sings in her song - I'm Hip.

Her father was of Scottish and Irish descent; her mother emigrated from Oslo, Norway. Dearie is said to have been given her unusual first name after a neighbour brought peach blossoms to her house on the day she was born.

She began taking piano lessons when she was five, and studied classical music until she was in her teens, when she played in her high school dance band and began to listen to jazz. Early influences included Art Tatum, Count Basie, Duke Ellington and Martha Tilton, who sang with the Benny Goodman band. Dearie graduated from high school in the mid-40s and moved to New York City to pursue a music career. She joined the Blue Flames, a vocal group within the Woody Herman big band, and then sang with the Blue Reys, a similar formation in the Alvino Rey band.

In 1952, while working at the Chantilly Club in Greenwich Village, Dearie met Nicole Barclay who, with her husband, owned Barclay Records. She moved to Paris, France, the same year and formed a vocal group, the Blue Stars of Paris, which included Michel Legrand's sister, Christiane, and Bob Dorough. Altogether there werefour male singers/instrumentalists, and four female singers; Dearie contributed many of the arrangements. In 1954 the group had a hit in France with a French-language version of "Lullaby of Birdland".

The Blue Stars would later evolve into the Swingle Singers. While in Paris she met her future husband, the Belgian flautist and saxophonist Bobby Jaspar. Dearie also met impresario and record producer Norman Granz, who signed her to Verve Records, for whom she eventually made six solo albums, including the highly regarded My Gentleman Friend. One of her most famous songs from that period is "The Riviera", which was written and composed by Cy Coleman and Joseph McCarthy Jr. in 1956. Unable to take the Blue Stars to the USA because of passport problems (they later evolved into the Swingle Singers), she returned to New York and resumed her solo career, singing to her own piano accompaniment at New York nightclubs such as the Versailles, the Blue Angel and the Village Vanguard. In the late 1950s Blossom Dearie made six American albums as a solo singer and pianist for Verve Records, mostly in a small trio or quartet setting.

She dazzled worldwide audiences with her lingering phrasing and her distinct clear ultra-feminine voice. She was famous for telling stories with her songs.

She also appeared on US television with Jack Paar, Merv Griffin and Johnny Carson. In 1966 she made the first of what were to become annual appearances at Ronnie Scott's Club in London, receiving excellent reviews as "a singer's singer". She recorded four albums in the United Kingdom during the 1960s which were released on the Fontana label.It was written that her most important asset was her power to bring a personal interpretation to a song, while showing the utmost respect for a composer's intentions. In the '60s she also made some albums for Capitol Records, including May I Come In?, a set of standards arranged and conducted by Jack Marshall.

In the early '70 a true pioneer she was one of the first artist to self-publish in response to the traditional record labels lack of interest in her type of jazz. She start her own company, Daffodil Records, in 1974. John Mercer gave her I'm Shadowing You in 1975. Her first album for the label, Blossom Dearie Sings, was followed by a two-record set entitled My New Celebrity Is You, which contained eight of her own compositions.

The album's title song was especially written for her by Johnny Mercer, and is said to be the last piece he wrote before his death in 1976. Hegave one of his final compositions to Blossom Dearie for the title song of her 1976 Daffodil album, My New Celebrity is You.

During the '70s Dearie performed at Carnegie Hall with former Count Basie blues singer Joe Williams and jazz vocalist Anita O'Day in a show called The Jazz Singers.

In 1981 she appeared with Dave Frishberg for three weeks at Michael's Pub in Manhattan. Frishberg, besides being a songwriter, also sang and played the piano, and Blossom Dearie frequently performed his songs, such as "Peel Me A Grape", "I'm Hip" and "My Attorney Bernie". Her own compositions include "I Like You, You're Nice", "I'm Shadowing You" and "Hey John".

From 1983, she performed regularly for six months a year at the Ballroom, a nightclub in Manhattan. In 1985 she was the first recipient of the Mabel Mercer Foundation Award, which is presented annually to an outstanding supper-club performer.

In the early '90s she appeared several times a year at the Pizza On The Park, Blossom Dearie, with her intimate style and unique voice, remained one of the few survivors of a specialized art.

Her distinctive voice and songs have been featured on the soundtracks of several films, including Kissing Jessica Stein, My Life Without Me, The Squid and the Whale and The Adventures of Felix. She also recorded songs with other singers, including Lyle Lovett. She lent her voice to several educational films.

Dearie continued to perform in clubs until 2006. Dearie died on February 7, 2009, at her apartment in Greenwich Village, New York City.