Betty Shirley Music: April 2007

Jazz Vocalist extraordinaire, artist and teacher Betty Shirley has come full circle in her life and is now reaping the benefits of her hard-earned endeavors. The Times Picayune declares “…her range and command of the stage make Shirley’s a voice that should be heard round the world.”

Blessed with all the range and tonal control one might expect from a first-class Jazz singer, Shirley can scat, propel, coax and hang on to a note. She improvises with unnerving instincts and delivers exactly what a song needs, spinning notes like silk. Michael ‘Mr. Jazz’ Gourrier (of WRIR-FM, Richmond Virginia) says about Betty, “One of the top female vocalists on the New Orleans scene – sensitive, sassy, coy and a great interpreter.”

Betty Shirley says, “Most of my singing is a natural expression, the voice is an instrument and to be able to sing illuminates the entire world, it has given me a chance to express my sincere devotion to this music.” Shirley’s extensive repertoire ranges from original compositions, Jazz (modern and traditional), and Blues to R&B, and Bossa Nova. Lucy Galliher, Musician and former East Coast Editor - Jazz Now Magazine writes “… her songs are alive, mixing vocalizing, talking and scanting into a wonderful blend of colors…”

Born in Jackson, Mississippi, Shirley spent her childhood in Chicago, and “ran off” to study music and art in New York City at the age of 16. Betty Shirley honed her skills on the New York scene making use of Jazz Mobile, and performing in such clubs as Birdland, Green Street Café and the Village Gate. In the early 1990’s she followed her muse and settled in the great Jazz city of New Orleans where she has continued to perform at such clubs as Snug Harbor, Royal Sonesta and Donna’s.

She has sung with some of the best Jazz musicians in the world – Ellis Marsalis, Art Blakey Jr., Benny Green and Bross Townsend, to name a few – and her tours have included Europe and Brazil. Her credits include the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, the Pensacola Jazz Festival, Essence Fest and the Women in Jazz Series.

Betty Shirley’s most recent award was being named and honored as a 2007 Jazz All-star by New Orleans Magazine. Her other awards received included Best Jazz Vocalist, Gambit Magazine's Big Easy Awards and Duke Ellington Concerts Award.

As a recording artist, Shirley has 3 critically acclaimed CDs to her credit as a leader. Unveiled (1995), Betty Shirley Sings (with the Chuck Chaplin Trio, 2002), and Close Your Eyes (released March 2007). Unveiled was described by Offbeat Magazine as “not another album of tired standards. Shirley works the songs into new forms and lets them fly into unaccustomed orbits.” Her latest work “Close Your Eyes,” was completed just at the time Hurricane Katrina was rolling in. Other collaborations include working with pianist Betty List to write the lyrics for the song Jazz Waltz that appears on the CD Unveiled.

New Orleans Magazine states, “When it comes to Betty Shirley it’s all about jazz. She’s a creative improviser both in her music and in her life”. Betty’s musical influences include Billie Holliday, whose troubled life entered into her repertoire a vast number of wonderful lyrics. Others include Sarah Vaughn, Ella Fitzgerald and Betty Carter all great singers who challenged every possibility of sounds and phrases and were masters of control. Another great influence was Shirley’s mother, who could also sing and knew a lot of good music. Shirley would listen to the way she sang and call her to hear her hit a note sometimes.

Betty Shirley was “discovered” in Catholic School by nuns who were amazed by her singing. They tried to make her sing the beautiful Ava Marias however this music did not groove her at such a young age. Instead, Betty found herself more attracted to the heavier sounds of the blues. This fascination with the blues resulted in her spending lots of time hanging around catfish joints listening to blues singers. Shirley’s curiosity for this music grew even more when her mother then moved to Chicago where the blues was really popular.

Shirley eventually moved to New York at the age of 16, there she really “heard” jazz for the first time and met many musicians in the streets of Harlem. Shirley states the “the streets were a particularly great teacher and I loved studying with the street musicians”. Determined to refine her newfound craft, Shirley opted for some professional training by pursuing an Associate Degree in Music and Art from Staten Island Community College (SICC) in Staten Island, New York. She studied music wherever she could, taking private lessons in classical and jazz and attending the revered Jazz Mobile in New York City for 3 years from 1985 to 1987. Shirley also refined her scatting ability by listening and following such horn players as Gene Ammons, Miles Davis and Charlie Parker.

At Staten Island Community College, Shirley won the Duke Ellington Award, at a Duke Ellington Concert held there in 1985. At this event she had the opportunity to perform with Sonny Greer who was a drummer in Duke Ellington’s Band. Initially she started performing with other Jazz Mobile alumni and was given some of her first gigs by Charles Washington (father of Kenny Washington) performing at Roberto Clemente State Park in the Bronx. She continued gigging at clubs in New York City and collaborated and performed with the great musicians on the scene at the time. Dating from 1987, these include:
# Jazz club1st on 1st with Gillie Coggins (pianist) & Jo Jones Jr. (drummer) (both played and recorded with Miles Davis).
# Clifford’s (72nd & Broadway), with Brian Klarmin, & Patrick Polidian both pianists. This venue was also a hang out for Jazz Mobile alumni
# Maxwell’s in Hoboken, with Benny Green and Marsha Frazier, both excellent pianists.
# Flamingo Lounge in Brooklyn for 4 to 5 years, working with musicians including Lance Bryant (sax), Len Christi (bass), Lewis Nash (drummer), James Wideman, Danny Mixon, Bobby Forrester (organ), Percy Franc (sax), Bross Townsend, Joseph Tranchina.
# Other venues including Birdland, Smalls and Green Street Café and the Village Gate.

Shirley started hosting a jam session at Angry Squire (27th & 7th Ave) with the Allen Kaymen quartet in 1990. There she met musicians, singers and poets from Spain, Brazil, Europe and New Orleans who would all come and sit in. She was encouraged by some of the New Orleans musicians to check out the scene there.

Betty’s first trip to New Orleans was to record with Mat Lanius. She eventually returned and got a date at Snug Harbor hosted by photographer and jazz enthusiast Pat Jolly. Strangely, perhaps, the folks she met in New York had moved out of town. “I was on my own – I am a child of the universe.” She did hook up with folks like David Torkanowsky, who lived across the street from her, as well as pianist Joel Simpson.

Shirley and pianist Larry Sieberth began working together, regularly including trips to Baton Rouge. She was a regular at the Palace Café with Peter Martin (All-Star 1994) at the piano and headed to Europe with Sieberth and Bill Huntington. She performed with other New Orleans greats such as Ellis Marsalis. It was Ellis Marsalis who encouraged her to start teaching again, saying, and “The schools could really use you.” She took his consul and taught art at various schools in the New Orleans public system as well as at St. Mark’s Charter School.

“I originally came to New Orleans looking for this music and what I could contribute. After Katrina, what drew me back to New Orleans, was the fact that I just could not walk away from the place I had learned to love so much,” states Shirley when reflecting on Hurricane Katrina’s effect on her life. Shirley believes that New Orleans has its own culture and something you find in the music that can’t be found anywhere else. She had something to look forward to on her return to the city after Hurricane Katrina, her latest CD, which was completed just at the time Katrina was rolling in. “We could hear the thunder, inside the Word of Mouth Studio on the West Bank” remarks Shirley. This new CD master survived the storm thanks to great people at Word of Mouth Studio on the West Bank. The CD, “Close Your Eyes” was released on March 12, 2007 with a great show at Snug Harbor.

Betty Shirley believes that women in jazz play a significant role in music and they inspire younger singers trying to achieve and start their own jazz careers. Betty, “thanks all the other great jazz vocalist of the past and those currently on the New Orleans scene who needs to be heard and who help to keep this craft alive” and great musicians she has been working with over the years such as Richard Molten and Chuck Chaplan and Kirk Branch.

Parts of this Biography were taken from a piece written by Lucy Galliher, Musician and former East Coast Editor - Jazz Now Magazine and By: Geraldine Wyckoff, Our Jazz All-Stars the Class of '07, New Orleans Magazine.

Betty Shirley Music

Betty Shirley's Bio

Betty Shirley Music Store

About Me

Blog Archive