Jazz88 celebrates the birthday of Sarah Vaughan, one of the most influential singers of her generation, born on this date in 1924 in Newark, NJ. Her quick wit and playful approach to a lyric earned her the nickname Sassy, and her once-in-a-generation voice earned her the moniker “The Divine one.”
Vaughan’s early career was spent in the big bands of Earl Hines and Billy Eckstine. Later in the forties, she worked with some of the most innovative musicians in modern jazz, including Dizzy Gillespie, Charlie Parker, Miles Davis, and George Shearing. In 1947, Vaughan introduced the standard “Tenderly,” and within a few short years she topped musical polls in Esquire, Downbeat and Metronome Magazines.
From 1953 to 1959, Vaughan recorded for EmArcy, a subsidiary of Mercury records and had a string of commercial and artistic successes including a sextet session that featured trumpeter Clifford Brown. Later in her career, Vaughan recorded for several labels, including Roulette, Mainstream, Atlantic and Pablo records. Among her late career highlights were a pair of albums that were nominated for Grammy awards: “How Long Has This Been Going on?” with Oscar Peterson and a recording made after touring South America called “I Love Brazil!” that featured Dorival Caymmi, Milton Nascimento, and Antonio Carlos Jobim.
Vaughan died from Lung Cancer on April 13, 1990. She was 66.
She won two Grammy Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, and was nominated for a total of nine Grammy Awards.[2] She was given an NEA Jazz Masters Award in 1989.
