Help My Record Project Blossom! female jazz icon

Wow. Thank you. I'm so grateful to be able to share my new recording project with you.

 

My name is Roberta Donnay. I've been in the music industry for over 20 years as a jazz singer, composer and producer. Most of my life has been spent in the recording studio or on the road performing. And I've been fortunate to record with other great artists, including Dan Hicks, Bob Dorough, and more.

 

I’m about to go into the studio to record "Dear Blossom", a vocal jazz album dedicated to the extraordinary music and sound of Blossom Dearie.

 

This project is near and dear to my heart because Blossom represents a women's voice in jazz history. A female jazz icon, Blossom is an artist who is overlooked. Unfortunately, Blossom's music has largely gone forgotten or been ignored. I was fortunate enough to hear Blossom play live and I even got to meet her. I spent a lot of time listening to her recordings and have been inspired at every note.

 

Miles Davis once remarked that Blossom Dearie was the most soulful white woman in jazz...

 

My goal is to bring Blossom's music to a larger audience.

 

"Dearie had remarkable pianistic skill, which was arguably less recognised than her vocal talents. Shortly after Dearie's passing, pianist Dave Frishberg recalled asking Bill Evans about his use of fourths in chord voicings. "His immediate answer was that he heard Blossom Dearie play that way and it really knocked him out," wrote Frishberg. "Then he did a little rave review of Blossom, naming her as one of his models of piano playing."- She said she considered herself "a jazz musician, learning to be a jazz singer". - Pop Matters

 

And so, I'm skipping backwards to the 1950s-60s to share something beautiful, soulful and also timeless. It was a time of exploration, of poetry. It was a time of innocence, upheaval and revolution. It was a time of unconventional and innovative creativity, with major shifts in the world creating new genres in music and the appearance of bebop and cool jazz.

 

If you've never heard of Blossom but have watched "The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel" on Amazon, then you've probably heard Blossom Dearie's music weave its way through several episodes.

 

"Blossom Dearie was born sometime in the 1920s in upstate New York. By the late 1940s, she had become part of the New York City jazz scene, hanging out with Miles Davis, his arranger Gil Evans, baritone saxophonist Gerry Mulligan, and singer Dave Lambert. They'd get together to listen to and talk about the music Evans would bring home from the public library. He was the only one with a library card." - NPR

 

More HISTORY:

 

Blossom became one of the only jazz singers to take on a truly modern persona as a storyteller. She embodied these characters to the point where they seemed to be her. And she also had a kind of “wink” in her voice as she sang these songs. “Am I these people,” it seemed to ask, “or am I commenting on these people?” Either way, the performances were riveting.

 

Blossom Dearie’s work also had meaning in the cauldron of race and gender matters in American culture. As a white woman who was not only singing but also playing and improvising, she was already a daring figure in the late ’50s. But hers was a kind of transgression that did not trade in imitation. She was not a white performer who sounded black such as, arguably, Anita O’Day. And she was a not a woman who was happy to retreat from playing the piano once her singing became the main course (like Sarah Vaughan). Rather, Blossom was a white woman who sang and played just like herself, inhabiting her individual identity and therefore fulfilling the great promise of jazz to strong effect: to find your own voice and use it to bend the material such that your own voice is transformative. - Pop Matters

 

ABOUT OUR PROJECT:

 

To do right by Blossom, I’m collaborating with the extraordinary Mike Greensill on piano. Mike has been playing and arranging jazz for decades and was music director for Wesla Whitfield during their many years together. Rehearsals and arrangements have been going swimmingly and we're all very excited to be re-imagining this music, some of which hasn't been heard in decades.

 

This is Blossom Dearie's time to shine.

 

Shortly before Bob Dorough’s passing, I got to record an album of songs with him. Bob is a jazz legend, having written songs for Miles Davis, composed songs which became jazz standards, and the show "Schoolhouse Rock".

 

Bob was also good friends with Blossom Dearie. They recorded and performed together. When I worked with Bob, he deliberately chose three songs that he had previously recorded with Blossom. Only one track has been released at this time, and you can listen to it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0DA27oyPjP0 

 

Recording with Bob was the first time in my career that I had stepped into Blossom’s shoes and it opened my eyes to her music and planted the seed to what is now this project.

 

YOUR BENEFIT:

 

If you want to give any amount, please do. Every amount will be used towards the recording, manufacturing and promotion of this album.

 

The budget is available to view. If you want to see it, please don't hesitate to get in touch with me for this information.

 

Here's the fine print for contributors:

 

Here's Blossom performing "I'm Hip" live, a wonderful jazz standard written by Dave Frishberg and Bob Dorough: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMB5CzzWXMQ

Thank you for your support and encouragement of the ARTS.

My sincere appreciation to everyone for reading this far and considering a contribution to help make my dream a reality!

 

More updates coming soon!

 

Peace & Blessings, - Roberta Donnay

 

For more info, please see www.robertadonnay.com

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