Salena Jones Explained

Salena Jones
Background:solo_singer
Birth Name:Joan Elizabeth Shaw
Alias:Joan Shaw
Birth Date:January 29, 1938
Birth Place:Newport News, Virginia, United States
Genre:Jazz, cabaret, R&B
Occupation:Vocalist
Years Active:1949 - present
Label:Savoy, MGM, Regal, Abbey, Coral, Gem, Jaguar, ABC-Paramount, Sue, CBS, JVC Victor
Associated Acts:Keith Mansfield (husband)
Website:SalenaJones.com

Salena Jones (born Joan Elizabeth Shaw, January 29, 1938) is an American jazz and cabaret singer. After performing and recording in the US as Joan Shaw from the late 1940s until the early 1960s, in various styles including jazz and R&B, she moved to England and from then on performed as Salena Jones. She has toured internationally and recorded over forty albums.

Biography

Early life and career

According to most sources, she was born Joan Elizabeth Shaw in Newport News, Virginia, though some sources give the name Joan DeCarlo. Her uncle was a vaudeville comedian, dancer and singer, Bootsie Swan. After first singing in her church and school, she started performing in clubs by the age of fifteen. She won a talent contest in New York's Apollo Theater, singing "September Song", and after making demonstration records for Peggy Lee and Lena Horne, acquired her own contract as Joan Shaw. Her first disc was 1949's "He Knows How to Hucklebuck", with the Paul "Hucklebuck" Williams Orchestra, for the Savoy label. On October 9th 1949, Joan Shaw, accompanied by The Rubin Mitchell Trio, headlined the Rockland Palace, in Harlem, New York. [1]

In the early 1950s, she recorded for various labels including MGM (1950), Regal, Abbey (both 1951), and Coral (1952), often working with vocal group The Five Keys and the Billy Ford Orchestra. After some time performing in clubs in Florida and elsewhere as a nightclub singer, she began touring with an R&B band, the Blues Express, appearing with Johnnie Ray, Arthur Prysock, Varetta Dillard, Peppermint Harris, and others. She recorded in various styles, including R&B on recordings such as "You Drive Me Crazy" on the Gem label in 1953.[2]

In 1954, she had a club residency in Bermuda, where she performed with saxophonist "King" Curtis Ousley, before returning to New York and recording for the Jaguar label. She continued to tour, and sang on bills with Louis Armstrong, Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, Big Maybelle, LaVern Baker and others. She recorded later in the decade for ABC-Paramount and the small U-C label, but mainstream success eluded her and she was bypassed by the growth of rock and roll.[2] In 1960, she began recording for Epic Records, releasing several singles and, in 1961, the LP Joan Shaw Sings For Swingers, recorded with the Bellino Ramaglia Orchestra and with liner notes by Leonard Feather. Her second LP, Joan Shaw In Person, was released by Sue Records in 1963.[3] [4]

As Salena Jones

Faced with diminishing success and racism in the US, Joan Shaw reinvented herself in the mid-1960s as Salena Jones. She said, "I loved Sarah Vaughan so much and adored Lena Horne's elegance; I put them together as 'Salena.' It looked good. And I kept Joan in 'Jones.'" And that's how Salena Jones was born."[5]

She toured in Spain (1965) and Britain (1966), where she appeared for an extended season at Ronnie Scott's Jazz Club. Since then she has appeared at most leading concert halls and clubs in Europe, Africa, South America and Asia, and appeared regularly on radio and TV, with her own series in the United Kingdom. Since visiting Japan for the first time (1978) she appeared there annually, memorably in the Unesco Save The Children Telethon (1988),[6] and on a concert tour with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra (1992). In 1964, Down Beat jazz critic Leonard Feather chose Salena Jones as one of the female vocalists of the year, alongside Peggy Lee, Ella Fitzgerald (also from Newport News) and Nancy Wilson.[7]

Salena has also appeared throughout Britain, touring with the Million Airs Orchestra, France, Germany, Switzerland, Spain, the Netherlands, Italy, Denmark, Sweden, Belgium, Turkey, Austria and Bulgaria. She has also made numerous television and radio broadcasts in Britain, and throughout Europe, often supported by the BBC Big Band. Also performed in Australia, Africa, South America, China, Canada, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Thailand and Japan. Since her first visit to Japan in 1978 she has returned at least annually, appearing in concert halls, on television, radio and regularly at the Blue Note Jazz Clubs in Tokyo, Osaka and Fukuoka.

In her career to date Salena has recorded over forty albums, covering nearly five hundred songs, and sold over 500,000 albums worldwide and her album entitled My Love recorded in Tokyo won her an award in Japan for outstanding sales. Salena's musical biography includes many distinguished musicians, band leaders and other artists with whom she has performed or recorded. These include such performers as her long-time producer and husband Keith Mansfield, Herman Foster, Tom Jones, The Coasters, Count Basie Orchestra, Adelaide Hall, Art Farmer, Brook Benton, Barney Kessel, Art Themen, Sarah Vaughan, Hank Jones, Maynard Ferguson, and Dudley Moore.

In Rio de Janeiro not long before Antonio Carlos Jobim's death she recorded Salena Sings Jobim With The Jobims (1994) (licensed from Japanese Victor by Vine Gate Music UK), Jobim's hits sung in English, with Paulo Jobim on vocals, flute and guitar, grandson Daniel Cannetti Jobim on piano and the composer himself on two duets, Kenny Burrell on one track: 14 Jobim songs plus Michael Franks's tributes "Antonio's Song (The Rain- bow)" and "Abandoned Garden", and including two duos with Antonio Carlos "Tom" Jobim himself. In the 1990s, Salena made a sequence of six albums all consisting of standards and completed in six weeks, including mixing. Some of these albums, including Dream with Salena, Journey with Salena, Broadway and Hollywood are themed with songs appropriate to the titles.

Early 2000 saw Salena starring at the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival in Idaho, backed by the Hank Jones Quartet including such as Russell Malone, Lewis Nash, and also featuring trumpeter Roy Hargrove, singer Dianne Reeves and Freddie Cole. January 2001 saw Salena return to Israel for eight sell-out shows, and she took her trio to Japan in May for two weeks appearing for Cartier, the jewellers, at their trade fairs throughout the country. In May 2006, Salena sang again in China opening the Shanghai International Jazz Festival (opened in 2005 by Diana Krall). Salena opened with Lee Ritenour, and Tower of Power.

She is now based in Ascot, Berkshire, England.

In Monty Python's The Meaning of Life, two American tourists discuss whether Salena's lyrics were written by Schopenhauer. This is because they are aware she sings about the meaning of life.

Discography

Albums

Joan Shaw

YearTitleLabel
1961Joan Shaw Sings For SwingersEpic
1963Joan Shaw In PersonSue

Salena Jones

YearTitleLabel
1969The Moment of TruthCBS
1970Everybody's Talkin' About Salena JonesCBS
1971PlatinumCBS
1973Alone and TogetherRCA
1974This 'n' ThatRCA
1976Where Peaceful Waters FlowDJM
1978Stairway to the StarsEastworld
1979Stormy With LuvJVC
1980Ballad With LuvJVC
1980Love Is In The AirJVC
1980Melodies of LoveJVC
1981My LoveJVC
1982Salena FascinatesJVC
1983Shifting Sands of TimeJVC
1984Feelings ChangeJVC
1986I Want To Know About YouJVC
1987The Song of LifeJVC
1988Let It BeJVC
1991Night MoodJVC
1992I Love ParisJVC
1994Salena Sings Jobim with the JobimsVine Gate
1994Only Love
1994In HollywoodJVC Victor
1994Journey With Salena JonesJVC Victor
1995It Amazes MeVine Gate
1995Dream With Salena JonesJVC Victor
1995By RequestJVC Victor
1996Singin' In The RainJVC Victor
1996By Request Vol. IIJVC Victor
1996Love With Salena JonesJVC Victor
1997Night MoodJVC Victor
1998Salena Jones Meets Kenny BurrellJVC Victor
1999You Never Done It Like That JVC Victor
1999Classic Salena JVC Victor
2001Those EyesJVC Victor
2002Salena SwingsJVC Victor
2003Let's Fall in Love
2008Love & Inspiration
2010Salena Sings J-Ballads
2012Salena – The First Live
[4] [8]

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: THE MIAMI TIMES OCTOBER 8th, 1949 . TheMiamiTimes. 8 July 2024.
  2. http://home.earthlink.net/~jaymar41/jshaw.html J C Marion, "Joan Shaw : The Lady Sings", JammUpp #14, 2000
  3. http://www.discogs.com/artist/2066391-Joan-Shaw Joan Shaw, Discogs.com
  4. http://salenajones.com/discography/ Salena Jones Discography
  5. http://www.salenajones.com/virginia.pdf Salena Jones Newport archive
  6. http://salenajones.com/sample-page/ Salena Jones biography
  7. http://www.allaboutjazz.com/php/article.php?id=24177 All About Jazz: January 1, 2007
  8. http://www.discogs.com/artist/622704-Salena-Jones Salena Jones:Discography, Allmusic.com