Singers & Singing

New York cabaret legend Bobby Short died Monday of leukemia at age 80. The singer performed at New York's Carlyle Hotel for nearly four decades. Short was born in Danville, Ill., and began his career at age 9, known as "The Miniature King of Swing." He was named a Living Landmark by New York's Landmark Conservancy and a National Living Legend by the Library of Congress.

Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews The Callas Conversations on DVD and Maria Callas: Legend, a CD and DVD.

He's been playing piano and singing at the Carlyle Hotel in New York City since 1968. He's considered one of the great cabaret singers of our time. The 79-year-old song stylist was slated to retire from the Cafe Carlyle this coming New Year's Eve, but he's extended his schedule, and he's not going anywhere for the time being. Short has been named a "living landmark" by New York's Landmark Conservancy and a "national living legend" by the Library of Congress.

Book Critic Maureen Corrigan reviews “The Time of Our Singing” by Richard Powers.

Soprano Eileen Farrell has died at the age of 82. Well listen back to a 1992 interview. Her career began in radio, with her own show on CBS, in the 1940s. In the fifties she started singing opera, and performed with every major opera company and symphony orchestra in the US, including five seasons with the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Starting in the sixties, she began putting out albums of jazz standards. Her 1999 autobiography is entitled, Cant Help Singing. She was also a professor of music at Indiana University and the University of Maine.

Classical music critic Lloyd Schwartz reviews Three Mo' Tenors, a PBS Great Performances program and a new CD. It features the African-American tenors Rodrick Dixon, Victor Trent Cook and Thomas Young.

Also star Vernel Bagneris who also wrote, directed and starred in the hit show, “One mo’ Time’ and the sequel “Further Mo.’

We remember jazz singer Joe Williams who died yesterday at the age of 80. Williams begin singing professionally at age 17, influenced by Erskine Tate, Jimmy Noone and Coleman Hawkins. In 1954, he became Count Basie's number one singer and was perhaps the principal reason the band was the dominate big band of the 50s and 60s. His hits include "Every Day (I Have the Blues)" and "All Right, Ok, You Win." He started performing as a soloist in 1961. (REBROADCAST from 6/20/89)

Soprano singer Julianne Baird. Her new CD is "Fanny Mendelssohn Lieder" (Newport Classic). She is an expert musicologist of 18th century European baroque music. But she also explores music of other periods, including contemporary works and 19th century popular tunes. She recently toured France, Poland, Austria, Germany and Holland in recital. Her discography includes more than 85 recordings. She is on the faculty of Rutgers University in New Jersey.

We remember bluesman, songwriter and pianist Charles Brown. He died yesterday from congestive heart failure. (REBROADCAST from 6/22/89)

The soul musician has written his autobiography "Truly Blessed" (Putnam). Pendergrass was a popular soul singer in the group "Harold Melvin and The Blue Notes". He went solo in 1976. In 1982, he was paralyzed after a near fatal car accident in Philadelphia, his hometown. Since then he has returned to the studio and produced several albums.

Adams died Monday at the age of 67. We present a rebradcast of an interview with Adams that took place in December of 1997. He was one of songwriter Doc Pomus' favorite singers. He recorded a collection of Doc Pomus songs, "Johnny Adams sings Doc Pomus: The Real Me." His most recent album is "Man of My Word," released in August (Rounder). Adams died of cancer. (Originally aired 12/12/97)

Gospel singer Cissy Houston has released her biography titled "Cissy Houston, How Sweet The Sound: My Life with God and Gospel." (Doubleday) Cissy Houston won the 1997 Grammy Award for Best Traditional Soul Gospel album for "Face to Face." She is the minister of music at New Hope Baptist Church in Newark, New Jersey and lives in Fort Lee, NJ. Her daughter is the singer Whitney Houston.

Rhythm and Blues singer Ruth Brown. She got her start in the 1940s, and influenced a whole generation of singers including Stevie Wonder, Aretha Franklin, Little Richard and Bonnie Raitt. Her hits include "Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean" and "Teardrops From My Eyes." Later she appeared in John Water's film "Hairspray" and in the Broadway hit "Black and Blue." In 1996 her autobiography was published, "Miss Rhythm"(Donald Fine Books) and this year she has a new CD, "R + B = Ruth Brown"

Also performing with Penn and Oldham, Rufus Thomas, the self-proclaimed world oldest teenager. He played an integral role in the success of major record labels in the nineteen-fifties, Sun Records and Stax Records. He celebrates his 80th birthday at the festival by playing with his son, Marvell Thomas.

Baker, one of America's great rhythm-and-blues singers of the 1950's, died earlier this week. She was 67. The Associated Press says the cause was heart complications. Baker was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1991. Her hits included "Tweedlee Dee," "Jim Dandy," and "I Cried a Tear." After living in the Philippines during the '70's and '80's, Baker made a comeback in the '90's when she appeared on Broadway in "Black and Blue." (REBROADCAST FROM 3/26/91).

Rock historian Ed Ward profiles veteran bluesman Z.Z. Hill. Hill's career spanned decades, but took off in the 1980s, just when rap was becoming the dominant form of black music.