[Dixielandjazz] Barbara Lea (Raleigh News and Observer)

[Robert Ringwald]

Barbara Lea, April 10, 1929 - December 26, 2011
Raleigh News and Observer, December 30, 2011
New York singer and actress Barbara Lea passed away peacefully in Raleigh on December
26, 2011, surrounded by her dear friends, Jeanie and Bill Wilson and Bob "Junk" Ussery.
Barbara fought bravely in her long battle with Alzheimer's and continued to record
and make personal appearances until she was no longer able to do so.
A 1951 graduate of Wellesley College, Ms. Lea majored in music theory and in 2009,
received their highest honor, the Alumnae Achievement Award for excellence in her
field. She studied acting, received a Masters degree in drama from Cal-State Northridge
and worked as an actress in everything from Shakespeare to Sondheim. Singing was
her life's passion; Barbara was one of the most widely respected and admired interpreters
of the classic American popular song. An uncompromising jazz singer with style and
taste, she has been called "one of the greatest singers of our time" by the New York
Times. Her long career has taken her from cabarets and concert stages in New York
and Boston to recording studios and theatres across the world.
Her professional career started upon graduation and her early recordings were met
with immediate critical acclaim. In 1956, Ms. Lea won the DownBeat International
Critics' Poll Award as the best new singer. During her career, Ms. Lea worked with
many major musicians including Marian McPartland, Vic Dickenson, George Wein, and
Bobby Hackett. Among her influences were Lena Horne, Dinah Shore, Billie Holiday,
Lee Wiley and Mabel Mercer along with Fats Waller, Louis Armstrong, Jack Teagarden,
Bunny Berrigan and Sy Oliver. In 1978, she appeared on the groundbreaking public
radio show American Popular Song with Alec Wilder. The program won a Peabody Award
and was responsible for the resurgence in her career -- leading to albums, performances,
and rave notices by the New Yorker, The New York Times, and The Nation.
The 1980's found her working alongside Benny Goodman as well as with cornetist Dick
Sudhalter, vocalist-pianist Daryl Sherman, and tenor saxophonist-pianist Loren Schoenberg
in the group Mr. Tram Associates, an association that continued well into the 1990's.
In more recent years, she sang with the big bands of Bob January and Loren Schoenberg
and headlined at Jan Wallman's supper club in Manhattan. She also was in charge of
the long running series Midday Jazz at St. Peter's church in Manhattan. Her last
CD was recorded and released in 2006 "Do You Know What It Means To Miss New Orleans."
A memorial service will be held in New York City, to be announced at a later date.
__________
Obituary and guest book:
http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/newsobserver/obituary.aspx?page=lifestory&pid=155249207


--Bob Ringwald
www.ringwald.com
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