Biography All Music Guide Wikipedia
All Music Guide:
Jeanie Bryson is a subtle and somewhat sensuous singer with a small and appealing voice. Dizzy Gillespie's daughter (a fact hidden from the general public during his lifetime), her mother is the songwriter Connie Bryson. She graduated from Livingston College in 1981, and freelanced for a decade, visiting Europe several times. Bryson recorded several fine albums for Telarc starting in 1992, including a Peggy Lee tribute; she also sang on Terence Blanchard's recorded set of Billie Holiday-associated songs.
Wikipedia:
Jeanie Bryson (born March 10, 1958, in New York City) is an American singer with a combination of jazz, pop and Latin music. The singer's repertoire is based on durable jazz and pop standards, firmly rooted in The Great American Songbook and the legacies of Peggy Lee and Dinah Washington.
Personal life
Bryson is the daughter of songwriter Connie Bryson and Dizzy Gillespie. Her husband was guitarist Coleman Mellett, who died in the February 2009 crash of Colgan Air Flight 3407. The couple had resided in East Brunswick Township, New Jersey.
Career
While at school with jazz pianist Kenny Barron, Rutgers University, Bryson began to be increasingly influenced by jazz. She has performed throughout North and South America, Europe, Israel and Japan and has received international critical acclaim. In addition to her own recordings on Telarc, Bryson has recorded with Etta Jones, Larry Coryell, Grover Washington, Jr., Terence Blanchard and Kenny Burrell, just to name a few.
In 1994, Terence Blanchard's recorded In My Solitude: The Billie Holiday Songbook, for Columbia, with vocalist Jeanie Bryson. Bryson sings "Nice Work If You Can Get It", "What A Little Moonlight Can Do", "Fine And Mellow", and "Strange Fruit", a smooth, relaxed CD unhurried at its best. Jeanie Bryson 2001 CD Deja Blue gently cradles you with her velvet voice. Bryson is sweet, laid-back, and melodic. Deja Blue is a sultry ballad with an excellent solo by Steve Nelson on vibes.
Lately, fans and critics alike eagerly await Jeanie's newest project, The Dizzy Gillespie Songbook, a loving and fitting tribute that celebrates her father's life, his music, and above all, his legacy.
