[Dixielandjazz] RIP, Chris Conner

[Stephen G Barbone]

September 1, 2009 - NY TIMES - By Stephen Holden
Chris Connor, Jazz Singer Whose Voice Embodied a Wistful Cool, Dies at  
81

Chris Connor, the great jazz singer whose lush, foggy voice and  
compressed emotional intensity distilled a 1950s jazz reverie of  
faraway longing in a sad cafe, died on Saturday in Toms River, N.J.  
She was 81 and lived in Toms River.

The cause was cancer, her publicist, Alan Eichler, said.

A singer who used little vibrato and was admired for her inventive  
rhythmic alterations of ballads, Ms. Connor belonged to the cool  
school of jazz singers that included Anita O’Day, June Christy, Chet  
Baker and Julie London.

In her finest records, she conveyed the sound of a singer rapt in a  
romantic spell. Both O’Day and Christy, whom she emulated, preceded  
her as vocalists with the Stan Kenton band, which she joined briefly  
in 1952, replacing Christy. Ms. Connor had earlier sung with the  
Claude Thornhill band.

During her solo recording career, which began in 1953, Ms. Connor had  
only two charted hits: “I Miss You So” (1956) and “Trust In  
Me” (1957), both for Atlantic Records. But for jazz vocal aficionados,  
her signature song, “All About Ronnie,” Joe Greene’s smoldering ballad  
of romantic obsession, is a pop-jazz milestone of dreamy cool.  
Originally recorded with Kenton, she re-recorded it on Bethlehem  
Records after she went solo.

Today, many of Ms. Connor’s 1950s and ’60s albums are regarded as pop- 
jazz classics. Among the strongest are three from 1956, “Chris  
Connor,” “I Miss You So” and “He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not,” as well  
as “Chris Connor Sings the George Gershwin Almanac of Song” (1957) and  
“A Portrait of Chris” (1960).

She recorded two highly regarded albums, one for the Atlantic, the  
other for ABC Paramount, with the Maynard Ferguson big band.

Especially during the Atlantic years, Ms. Connor worked with the best  
arrangers, including Ralph Burns and Jimmy Jones, and jazz players  
like John Lewis, Oscar Pettiford, Phil Woods, Kenny Burrell, Milt  
Hinton, Clark Terry and Oliver Nelson. Other songs with which she is  
associated include “Lush Life,” “Good Morning Heartache,” “Something  
to Live For,” “High on a Windy Hill,” “Round About,” Lullaby of  
Birdland,” “Witchcraft,” “Glad to Be Unhappy” and “Get Out of Town.”

Born Mary Loutsenhizer in Kansas City, Mo., on Nov. 8, 1927, Ms.  
Connor studied clarinet for eight years as a child before becoming a  
singer in her late teens. She decided to pursue a fulltime career  
after her public singing debut in 1945 at the Jefferson City (Mo.)  
Junior College graduation was warmly received.

Ms. Connor worked as a stenographer by day and sang on weekends in the  
Kansas City area. Then, determined to hit the big time, she moved to  
New York City. There she met Thornhill, who was seeking a singer to  
fill out his vocal group, the Snowflakes. She toured with the band on  
and off until late 1952.

Her dream of singing with Kenton was realized when Christy, who had  
been planning to leave Kenton, heard her on a live broadcast in early  
1953 and recommended her as a replacement. Within days, Ms. Connor  
auditioned and began touring with the band.

The rigors of the road, however, took their toll, and she left after  
10 months to go solo. She signed with Bethlehem Records, which  
simultaneously released two 10-inch LPs, “Chris Connor Sings Lullabys  
of Birdland and “Chris Connor Sings Lullabys for Lovers.” They were  
hugely successful.

In 1956, she became one of the first white female jazz singers signed  
to Atlantic Records and recorded more than a dozen albums for the  
label. In 1963, however, when it came time to renew her contract, she  
decided instead to sign with her manager Monte Kay’s small label, FM.  
The label declared bankruptcy the following year.

That unfortunate decision coincided with the rock ’n’ roll insurgence,  
which swept aside singers like Ms. Connor, and her career never fully  
recovered. She endured what she later described as a bad period that  
lasted until the early ’70s.

Her setbacks were compounded by a worsening drinking problem, which  
she eventually overcame. Her 1980s comeback revealed a voice that was  
physically stronger than ever, but its emotional elixir was diluted.  
She continued to perform and to record for small labels. Her last  
three records, “Haunted Heart,” “I Walk With Music,” and “Everything I  
Love,” were released on Highnote Records, the final album in 2003.

Ms. Connor is survived by her longtime partner and manager, Lori  
Muscarelle.