Jeanie Bryson

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Jeanie Bryson
Born (1958-03-10) March 10, 1958 (age 66)
New York City, U.S.
Genres
Latin
Occupation(s)Singer
Years active1993–present
LabelsKoch, Telarc

Jeanie Bryson (born March 10, 1958) is an American singer who sings a combination of

the Great American Songbook, Peggy Lee and Dinah Washington
.

Life and career

Bryson is the daughter of composer Connie Bryson and trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie.[1][2] Her paternity was kept a secret until after Gillespie's death because he was married, but she occasionally saw him growing up.[3] In 1998 Bryson filed a lawsuit against his widow, Lorraine Willis Gillespie, after her lawyer found court records from 1965 in which Gillespie admitted he was her father. She reached a settlement with his estate.[4]

Bryson grew up in East Brunswick, New Jersey.[3] She began playing instruments at a young age, piano in first grade and then flute in fifth grade.[3] Bryson attended East Brunswick High School.[5] She studied anthropology and ethnomusicology at Livingston College, Rutgers University, graduating in 1981.[3][1] That year, she performed with her father in Salem County, singing "God Bless the Child" by Billie Holiday.[3] After college she worked in a post office during the week and sang on weekends, by the end of the 1980s she was singing full-time.[3] Bryson released her debut album, I Love Being Here with You, on Telarc in 1993. Her mother contributed the lyrics to two songs on the album.[3] Bryson also sang on an album by Terence Blanchard devoted to Billie Holiday songs.[1]

Bryson has a son, Radji Birks Bryson-Barrett, from the first of her three marriages.[3] Her husband, guitarist Coleman Mellett, died in the February 2009 crash of Colgan Air Flight 3407.[6] The couple lived in East Brunswick, New Jersey.

Discography

Year Title Genre Label Notes
1993 I Love Being Here with You Jazz Telarc [7]
1994 Tonight I Need You So Jazz Telarc [8]
1996 Some Cats Know: Jeanie Bryson Sings Songs of Peggy Lee Jazz Telarc [9]
2001 Deja Blue Jazz Koch [10]
2006 Live at the Warsaw Jamboree Jazz Festival 1991 Jazz Import [11]

References

  1. ^ a b c Yanow, Scott. "Jeanie Bryson". AllMusic. Retrieved July 26, 2019.
  2. Buffalo News. Archived from the original
    on February 16, 2009. Retrieved February 14, 2009.
  3. ^ .
  4. ^ Smith, Greg B. (January 5, 2000). "Dizzy Gillespie Was Dad, She Sez, and Sues". nydailynews.com. Retrieved July 26, 2019.
  5. Newspapers.com
    . "Jeanie Bryson was a late bloomer in the world of cabaret singing.... Bryson attended East Brunswick High School and Colorado State University, then returned to the East, graduating from Livingston College at Rutgers University in 1981."
  6. ^ "N.J. musicians among victims of Continental plane crash near Buffalo". nj.com. February 13, 2009. Retrieved July 26, 2019.
  7. OCLC 696841593
    .
  8. .
  9. .
  10. .
  11. .

External links