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<DIV><FONT size=2>David,</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT size=2>A lovely tale! I am moved to dig out my old
Cleo vinyls too. A very beautiful lady, even now, in her
old age (75?) still with the same charisma and charm and that incredible four
octave voice range.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>While she is of the modern jazz school, she is quite capable
of belting out a classic from the twenties, such as "Give Me A Pig Foot", with
all the zest and raunchiness of Bessie Smith.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT size=2>One of the great musical combinations and husband/wife
partnerships of recent times must be John Dankworth and Cleo Laine. I
believe the family runs workshops/courses (or used to) for jazz at their country
home in Wavendon, England. One of her sons went to Berklee in
Boston, according to her autobiography, where he learnt to play jazz string
bass. Was he there during your time?</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT size=2>Brian Towers</FONT></DIV>
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<DIV><FONT size=2></FONT></DIV><FONT size=2>>Ok, my two cents
worth.<BR><BR>>I met Cleo Laine when she handed my that very expensive music
degree at my Berklee College of Music graduation in 1982. Upon shaking her
>hand I said, "Oh Cleo what a thrill, I'll never wash this hand again." At
which she replied, without missing a beat, "Nor me!"<BR><BR>>Charming and
talented, I've always been awestruck by her talents. I'm digging around the old
vinyl tonight looking for those dusty old albums.<BR><BR>>I've recently
enjoyed her Ellington CD. Terrific.<BR><BR>>David
Story<BR></FONT></DIV></FONT></DIV></BODY></HTML>