Vi Redd Explained

Vi Redd
Background:solo_singer
Birth Name:Elvira Redd
Birth Date:20 September 1928
Birth Place:Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Instrument:Alto saxophone, vocals
Genre:Jazz, bebop, hard bop, post bop
Occupation:Musician, vocalist, teacher
Years Active:1950–2010
Label:Atlantic, Atco, United Artists
Associated Acts:Count Basie orchestra

Elvira Louise Redd (September 20, 1928 – February 6, 2022) was an American jazz alto saxophone player, vocalist and educator. She was active from the early 1950s and was known primarily for playing in the blues style. She was highly regarded as an accomplished veteran, and performed with Count Basie, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Linda Hopkins, Marian McPartland and Dizzy Gillespie.[1] [2]

Life and career

Redd was born on September 20, 1928, in Los Angeles, California, the daughter of New Orleans jazz drummer and Clef Club co-founder Alton Redd and Mattie Redd (née Thomas).[3] Her mother played saxophone, although not professionally, and her brother was a percussionist. She was deeply influenced during her formative years by her father, who was one of the leading figures on the Central Avenue jazz scene. Another important musical mentor was her paternal great aunt Alma Hightower,[4] who convinced the 10-year-old Redd to switch from piano to saxophone. During junior high school, Redd played alto saxophone in a band with Melba Liston and Dexter Gordon.[5]

Redd graduated from Los Angeles State College in 1954,[6] and earned a teaching certificate from University of Southern California. After working for the Board of Education from 1957 to 1960, Redd returned to jazz. She played in Las Vegas in 1962, toured with Earl Hines in 1964 and led a group in San Francisco in the mid-1960s with her husband, drummer Richie Goldberg. During this time, Redd also worked with Max Roach. While active, she toured as far as Japan, London (including an unprecedented 10 weeks at Ronnie Scott's), Sweden, Spain and Paris. In 1969, she settled in Los Angeles where she played locally while also working as an educator.[7] She led albums for United Artists (1962) and Atco (1962–63). Her 1963 album Lady Soul features many prominent jazz figures of the day, including Bill Perkins, Jennell Hawkins, Barney Kessel, Leroy Vinnegar, Leroy Harrison, Dick Hyman, Paul Griffin, Bucky Pizzarelli, Ben Tucker and Dave Bailey. The liner notes are by Leonard Feather.[8] [9]

Redd taught and lectured for many years from the 1970s onward upon returning to Los Angeles. She served on the music advisory panel of the National Endowment for the Arts in the late 1970s.[10] [11] In 1989, she received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Los Angeles Jazz Society.[12] In 2001, she received the Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Award from the Kennedy Center.[13]

Redd died on February 6, 2022, at the age of 93.[14] [15]

Discography

Further reading

Interviews
Publications

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Allmusic: Vi Redd – Biography . Scott Yanow . Allmusic.com . April 9, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150411021515/http://www.allmusic.com/artist/vi-redd-mn0001175117/biography . April 11, 2015 . live . mdy-all.
  2. Web site: All About Jazz: Vi Redd – Biography . James Nadal . All About Jazz . April 8, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140716064822/http://musicians.allaboutjazz.com/viredd . July 16, 2014 . live.
  3. Web site: Isoardi . Steven L. . Central Avenue Sounds: Vi Redd . . 31 May 2015 . Oral History and Archives Project of the Pew Scholars in the Biomedical Sciences . 2005 . Interviews from 1997 thru 1999..
  4. West Coast Women: A Jazz Genealogy . . Pacific Review of Ethnomusicology . Winter 1996–97 . 8 . 1 . 10 . 1096-1291 . April 8, 2015.
  5. Book: Dahl, Linda . 1984 . Stormy Weather: The Music and Lives of a Century of Jazz Women . First . New York . Pantheon Books . 250 . 9780039453558 . 10020976.
  6. Book: Placksin, Sally . 1982 . American Women in Jazz: 1900 to the Present . https://archive.org/details/americanwomeninj0000plac/page/259/mode/1up?view=theater . registration . Vi Redd . New York . First . Wideview Books . 259–260 . 9780872237605 . 8280710.
  7. Invisible Woman: Vi Redd's Contributions as a Jazz Saxophonist . Yoko Suzuki . American Music Review . Spring 2013 . XLII . 2 . April 10, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150411020331/http://www.brooklyn.cuny.edu/web/academics/centers/hitchcock/publications/amr/v42-2/suzuki.php . April 11, 2015 . live.
  8. Web site: Allmusic: Vi Redd – Bird Call . Allmusic.com . April 9, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130524211256/http://www.allmusic.com/album/bird-call-mw0000858122 . May 24, 2013 . live . mdy-all.
  9. Web site: Allmusic: Vi Redd – Lady Soul . Allmusic.com . April 9, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170611224402/http://www.allmusic.com/album/lady-soul-mw0000870768 . June 11, 2017 . live . mdy-all.
  10. Web site: National Endowment for the Arts, Annual Report 1978 . 31 . arts.gov . September 1979 . April 13, 2015.
  11. Web site: National Endowment for the Arts, Annual Report 1980 . 205 . arts.gov . February 1981 . April 13, 2015.
  12. Web site: Los Angeles Jazz Society – Lifetime Achievement Award . lajazz.org . April 13, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150414024701/http://lajazz.org/past-tribute-awardees/ . April 14, 2015 . live.
  13. Web site: Mary Lou Williams Festival Features Females . JazzTimes . March 18, 2001 . April 13, 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20150414024434/http://jazztimes.com/articles/21524-mary-lou-williams-festival-features-females . April 14, 2015 . live.
  14. Web site: Elvira Louise Goldberg . Forever Missed . 12 August 2023.
  15. Web site: Thank you Nana for all that you did for me and our family. . producedbyreality on Instagram . 12 August 2023 . 7 February 2022.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Vi Redd".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.