Carole Simpson Remembered

[RSS Feed Guy]

As news of m: Donald Byrd's passing was leaking out slowly, jazz educator Keith Pawlak sent me a note on Facebook asking if I had heard that pianist/vocalist m: Carole Simpson had passed away.Her name is barely known except to a few collectors who specialize in female singers of the Eisenhower era. She was during that period almost an archetype--a gorgeous, glamourous blonde with an intimate singing style not far from m: June Christy and a pianistic approach that borrowed most heavily from m: George Shearing and m: Errol Garner. Her first album, All About Carole (Capitol) was an all-standards affair that featured her in both small group and "with strings" settings. m: Jim Hall played some great guitar on it, beautifully as always, and the brilliant m: Lennie Niehaus wrote the string arrangements...

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