Odia Coates born 13 November 1941

Odia Coates (November 13, 1941 – May 19, 1991) was an African-American singer, best known for her high-profile hits with Canadian singer-songwriter Paul Anka. 

The daughter of an evangelical minister, Odia Coates was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi. As a young child her family moved to Watts, California, where her father served as pastor in the Beautiful Gates Church Of God In Christ, where she sang in the church choir. She eventually became a member of the Northern California State Youth Choir, co-founded by Edwin Hawkins. 

She turned secular in 1968, singing at a club in Sunnydale, California, while working during the day as a secretary at an aircraft company. Her first professional job was in Batman's Cave at the "Wayne Manor Club" working with a yet to be famous Sly and The Family Stone. She then joined a local band, Brotherly Love, before teaming up with Merry Clayton to form Sisters Love. She supplemented her income by doing session work during the late 1960's and early 1970's. 

Sisters Love

One day she called old family friend Edwin Hawkins for some professional advice. "I had called Edwin to ask his advice about a local deal offered to me," Odia explained in a BillBoard interview, "and he said to forget about it, he'd talk to Paul (Anka) about me." Anka had produced Hawkins "Oh Happy Day" album in 1969. "Later I got a call and he had set up an audition for me in Las Vegas, where Paul lives. I did "Do You Wanna Dance" and Stevie Wonder's "If You Really Love Me." Paul was taken away by the songs but I didn't know that because he was very calm at the time. So I went on and continued my vacation and a week later gave Paul a call. And he said "Where have you been, I've been trying to reach you." 

                                   

This began a lifelong friendship with Anka that lasted till her death. Odia signed with producer Rick Hall, who leased her recordings to Anka's label at the time, United Artists. She was in the studio with Anka when he was recording "(You're) Having My Baby" as a solo effort. U.A. executive Bob Skaff was also there and he suggested that Odia duet with Paul on the song. The duet hit #-1 the week of August 24, 1974 and held that spot for three weeks. 

The pair recorded several more tracks together resulting in the hits "One Man Woman/One Woman Man" (#-7 1974), "I Don't Like To Sleep Alone" (#-8 1975). She also had minor success as a solo artist with the Anka-penned track "You Come And You Go. She charted with "(I Believe) There's Nothing Stronger Than Our Love" (#-15 1975) and also a solo single, a cover of E.L.O.'s "Showdown" (#71 1976) also for United Artists. Both songs come from her only self-titled solo album released in 1975 by United Artists Records with producer Rick Hall.  

Both Anka and Odia had left the label by 1977. Anka had moved to RCA and Odia had moved to Epic. Paul returned the favor for Coates by writing and producing the 1977 12" classic "Make It Up To Me In Love." He also returned the favor by duetting with her on the track. The flip was an Odia solo track "You." The 12" featured a stunning Tom Moulton mix but failed to garner enough success to merit another release. 

(Wikipedia states that she was working on a solo album in Las Vegas at L.A.W. Recording Studios in 1984-5, with producer Lee Waters. Tracks were supposedly cut at LAW and Paramount and Sunset studios in LA. This is yet to be confirmed.) 

Odia went back to session work and her beloved church, quickly disappearing from the pop spotlight. Her beautiful voice was stilled on May 19, 1991, when she succumbed to breast cancer at the Kaiser Hospital in Oakland, California, following a four-year battle with the disease. She was 49 years old. An underrated singer that deserved far  more recognition. 

(Edited from a ryono.net article and Wikipedia)

Here's the only clip I can find of Odia on YouTube. It's mainly Paul Anka but at least she has a small part in the proceedings!

 

Sam Jones born 12 November 1924

Sam Jones (November 12, 1924 – December 15, 1981) was an American jazz composer, cellist and double bassist, with an impeccable technique, who could also swing and groove with the best of them. Most associated with his tenures with Cannonball Adderley, and then Oscar Peterson, he also went on to front his own bands and left a reputable recorded legacy as a leader. 

Samuel Jones was born in Jacksonville, Florida, United States, to a musical family. His father played piano and drums and his aunt played organ in church. Sam studied drums and guitar during his school years. He played and recorded on double bass in Cincinnati with Tiny Bradshaw (1953-5), then moved to New York, where he soon became sought after by the leaders of several bop groups, including Kenny Dorham (1956), Cannonball Adderley (1957), Dizzy Gillespie (1958-9), and Thelonius Monk (1959). Others of note were Bill Evans, Les Jazz Modes, Illinois Jacquet, and  Freddie Hubbard. 

                 Here's "There Is No Greater Love" from above LP.

                                   

By 1960 his reputation had grown considerably, and he began recording under his own name on both double bass and cello. He was a member of Adderly’s group from 1959 to 1965, and contributed many original compositions, including Del Sasser and Unit7, to its repertory. Jones recorded extensively for Riverside Records as both leader and as sideman. 

Oscar Peterson Trio

When Ray Brown left Oscar Peterson in 1966 Jones joined the pianist’s trio, remaining until 1970. Thereafter he worked with Bobby Timmons, Wynton Kelly, Cedar Walton (1972 -7), Clifford Jordan, Duke Jordan, Lucky Thompson, Johnny Hodges and Jimmy Heath. In the 1970s, Jones recorded several albums as a bandleader for the Xanadu and Steeple Chase labels. His recording with a twelve piece big band in 1979 “Something New,” has been reissued and being appreciated again. This is also the case with fine session for Muse in 1977 "Something in Common." 

As a jazz cellist Jones must be ranked with Oscar Pettiford and Ray Brown, though his approach to improvisation is more blues-oriented. His soulful perambulations on double bass, even when restricted to basic chord changes, were intrinsically musical, and he sometimes constructed an entire solo from walking-bass patterns. 

During the summer of 1981, Sam Jones grew seriously ill, suffering from lung cancer. The illness was so advanced that he could no longer play. He died from the disease in New York City on 15 December 1981 at the age of 57. 

(Sparce information edited from New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, All about Jazz  & Wikipedia)

Buddy Ace born 11 November 1936

Buddy Ace  (November 11, 1936 – December 25, 1994), was an American Texas blues singer, billed as the "Silver Fox of the Blues". 

Born James Lee Land in Jasper, Texas, he grew up in Baytown, Texas, and moved to Houston when he was a teenager. He showed musical talent and played with his family at an early age and performed in a gospel quartet in high school with Texas soul singer Joe Tex. His early influences included Ivory Joe Hunter and Big Joe Turner. Jimmy shifted his focus from gospel to blues and R&B during the early '50s. During this time, he toured with the Bobby Bland and Junior Parker bands. 

Jimmy’s career took an important turn in 1955 when he signed with Houston-based Duke Records.  It was a year earlier, on Christmas Day 1954, that singer, pianist, and Duke recording star Johnny Ace killed himself while playing Russian roulette backstage between performances at Houston’s City Auditorium. In an effort to capitalize on the late singer’s popularity, the Duke label first recruited Johnny Ace’s brother, St. Clair Alexander, to perform as “Buddy Ace.” When that failed, Duke Records owner, Don Robey, turned to Johnny Lee Land, who agreed to perform under the name Buddy Ace. 

                                   

Buddy Ace recorded a string of singles for the Duke label between 1956 and 1969,, including the popular “Angel boy,” but his biggest hits came in the 1960s, which included "Nothing in the World Can Hurt Me (Except You)", which reached number 25 on the Billboard R&B chart in 1966. His second and last hit in the R&B chart was in the following year, "Hold On (To This Old Fool)", which made number 33. His other well-known tracks included "Root Doctor" and "Pouring Water on a Drowning Man". 

In the 1970s Ace moved to California where he lived in Los Angeles, Oakland, and Sacramento. As entered his forties  his hair and beard turned white, earning him the nickname “The Silver Fox of the Blues.” Buddy was not very productive in the 70's and 80's even if he remained active in the club circuit. However, he cut a handful of singles in the 80's for different small labels (Teardrop, Sunny) without success. 

But it was his meeting with producer Leon Haywood that allowed him to re-launch his career by recording albums on the Evejim record label which included Don’t Hurt No More (1994) Silver Fox (1994) and From Me To You Bobby Bland (1995), but he never again had the level of success he had enjoyed during the 1960s. He died of a heart attack on December 26, 1994, while singing "Time To Move On" at a club in Waco, Texas, and is buried at Magnolia Springs Cemetery in Magnolia Springs, Texas. Evejim Records released Ace’s most recent work as From Me to You in 1995.  

(Edited from Texas State Historical Association & Wikipedia)

  

Brother Joe May born 9 November 1912

Brother Joe May (November 9, 1912 – July 14, 1972) was an American gospel singer dubbed "The Thunderbolt of the Middle West" by his mentor, the legendary Willie Mae Ford Smith, Brother Joe May was arguably the greatest male soloist in the history of gospel music; a tenor whose dramatic sense of showmanship was surpassed only by his unparalleled command of vocal dynamics and projection, he possessed a voice of unimaginable range and power, moving from a whisper to a scream without the slightest suggestion of effort. 

May was born in Macon, Mississippi and raised in the Church of God denomination -- where all men are called "Brother," hence his stage name -- he began singing at the age of nine, later joining the Little Church Out on the Hills' senior choir. His subsequent tenure as a soloist with the Church of God Quartet solidified his strong reputation throughout the Southern gospel circuit. 

Willie Mae Ford Smith

After graduating high school, May worked as a day laborer in Macon before he and his family relocated to East St. Louis, Iiiinois in 1941, at which time he was employed in a chemical plant. In the St. Louis area he became a protégé of the pioneering Smith, and with her aid honed his sense of phrasing, modeling his own vocal acrobatics on hers; their connection was so strong that May even copied her theatrical performing style. Smith was also the director of the Soloists' Bureau of songwriter Thomas A. Dorsey's National Convention of Gospel Choirs and Choruses, at whose conventions May began to build a name for himself throughout the country. 

During one such convention in Los Angeles in 1949, he came to the attention of Specialty Records talent scout J.W. Alexander, and upon signing to the label, cut his first session later that same year, scoring a major hit with his debut release "Search Me Lord." May's initial success allowed him to quit his day job by 1950, and he began touring the nation, often performing alongside the likes of the Soul Stirrers and the Pilgrim Travelers. He also sang duets with Willie Mae Ford Smith, and usually performed in a distinctive long white robe with a rope cross. 

                                   

With his titanic voice and commanding stage presence, he was often called "the male Mahalia Jackson," a comparison suggested even by Jackson herself. However, despite his popularity -- both "Search Me Lord" and 1950's "Do You Know Him?" were estimated to have sold over one million copies each, making him Specialty's best-selling artist of the period . 

May with Mahalia Jackson

May never crossed over to white audiences, the ultimate measure of commercial success at that time. Despite acknowledging Bessie Smith as a major early influence, May also refused to pursue a career as a secular blues singer, and his adamant rejection of all musical traditions but gospel likely played a role in his exit from Specialty in 1958. As one of the Specialty label's most successful artists, the company tried to persuade him to record more secular material, but May refused, although he acknowledged blues singer Bessie Smith as a major influence. His records often used an organ-dominated rhythm section as well as a full choir, and he was sometimes described as a male equivalent of Mahalia Jackson, with whom he sometimes performed. He was cited as a musical inspiration by Little Richard. 

Now a free agent, May quickly signed with the Nashboro label, where he also began recording many of his own original compositions. He also performed and made recordings with his daughter, Annette, and with singer Jackie Verdell .As a result of the Nashville-based company's regional focus, the majority of his subsequent live appearances were scheduled across the Deep South, where his fame continued to grow enormously in the years to follow. 

An extended stretch of the early '60s also found May starring in the musical Black Nativity in the company of Marion Williams, and after playing Broadway, the production toured the U.S. and Europe. After its run was completed, May returned to the South, where his health began to slowly fail; regardless, he maintained his strenuous touring pace, keeping his declining condition a secret even from family members. Finally, while en route to a performance in Thomasville, Georgia, May suffered a massive stroke and died on July 14, 1972 at the age of 59. He was buried in the Sunset Gardens of Memory, Millstadt, St. Clair County, Illinois. 

In 2000, he was posthumously inducted into the International Gospel Music Hall of Fame in Detroit. 

(Edited from AllMusic & Wikipedia) 

 

Russell Malone born 8 November 1963

Russell Lamar Malone (November 8, 1963 – August 23, 2024) was an American jazz guitarist. He began working with Jimmy Smith in 1988 and went on to work with Harry Connick Jr. and Diana Krall throughout the 1990s. 

Malone was born in Albany, Georgia, United States on November 8, 1963. He began playing at the age of four with a toy guitar that his mother bought him and was playing in church two years later. He was influenced by B. B. King and The Dixie Hummingbirds. A significant experience for Malone was when he was 12 years old seeing George Benson perform on television with Benny Goodman. Largely self-taught, he moved to Houston after graduating from high school and played with organist Al Rylander. He moved to Atlanta in 1985 before relocating to New York, where he played with organ legend Jimmy Smith from 1988 to 1990. 

Malone’s profile increased when he joined Harry Connick Jr.’s band in 1990. He played with the then-rapidly rising star until 1994 and made a deep impact on the pianist/vocalist/actor. While playing with Connick, Malone recorded his self-titled debut for Columbia and led his own trio and quartet which featured bass great Milt Hinton, who praised Malone in the liner notes. “I’ve had the opportunity to record with many of the guitar greats from the jazz world, such as Charlie Christian, George Barnes, Kenny Burrell, Herb Ellis, Barry Galbraith, Barney Kessel, Mundell Lowe, Bucky Pizzarelli and Wes Montgomery, to name just a few. Russell Malone extends the musical traditions begun by these and many other guitarists,” Hinton wrote. “His amazing dexterity is evident throughout the album. His decisions to use an electric or acoustic instrument on a particular piece are impeccable. They show me that he truly appreciates the beauty of his instrument at the same time he is aware of its limitations.” 

                                   

Malone toured with Ron Carter, Roy Hargrove, and Dianne Reeves and did session work with Kenny Barron, Branford Marsalis, Wynton Marsalis, Jack McDuff, Mulgrew Miller, and Eddie "Cleanhead" Vinson. He then teamed up with another high-profile vocalist/pianist, Diana Krall, playing in her trio and quartet from 1994 to 1998, participating in three Grammy-nominated albums, including When I Look in Your Eyes, which won the award for Best Vocal Jazz Performance. Malone was part of pianist Benny Green's recordings in the late 1990s and 2000: Kaleidoscope (1997), These Are Soulful Days (1999), and Naturally (2000). The two formed a duo and released the live album Jazz at The Bistro in 2003 and the studio album Bluebird in 2004. They toured until 2007. 

Diane Reeves first brought Malone aboard to record her 2001 album The Calling: Celebrating Sarah Vaughan and then 2008’s When You Know, which were both released on Blue Note Records. She later formed her instrument Strings Attached trio with Malone and Romero Lubambo, her regular guitarist. Malone also appeared as a special guest with vibraphonist Bobby Hutcherson, organist Dr. Lonnie Smith, and pianist Hank Jones in celebration of his 90th birthday. In October 2008, Malone performed in a duo with guitarist Bill Frisell at Yoshi's in Oakland, California. During the next year, Malone became a member of the band for saxophonist Sonny Rollins, celebrating his 80th birthday in New York City. 

Malone recorded live on September 9–11, 2005, at Jazz Standard, New York City, and Maxjazz documented the performances on the albums Live at Jazz Standard, Volume One (2006) and Live at Jazz Standard, Volume Two (2007). Appearing on these two volumes, and touring as The Russell Malone Quartet, were Martin Bejerano on piano, Tassili Bond on bass, and Johnathan Blake on drums. Malone's 2010 recording Triple Play (also on Maxjazz) featured David Wong on bass and Montez Coleman on drums. His album, All About Melody featured pianist Rick Germanson, bassist Luke Sellick, and drummer Willie Jones III. 

Throughout his three decade-plus recording career, Malone released albums on labels such as Verve, Telarc, MAXJAZZ and HighNote Records. He contributed to projects by the likes of Natalie Cole, Rickie Lee Jones and Joss Stone as well as ones by B.B. King, Ray Brown and Marian McPartland and many others. A blossoming educator, Malone had served on the jazz faculty of William Paterson University since the 2021–’22 academic year. It was the only teaching position the guitarist ever held.

Malone died from a heart attack in Tokyo on August 23, 2024, after battling end-stage kidney failure. He was 60 years old and had been on tour in Japan as part of a trio with Carter and Donald Vega.

(Edited from Wikipedia & Downbeat)

Shirley Eikhard born 7 November 1955

Shirley Rose Eikhard (7 November 1955 – 15 December 2022) was a Canadian singer-songwriter. Although moderately successful in Canada as a performer in her own right, she had her greatest Canadian and international success as a songwriter for other artists, most notably as the writer of Bonnie Raitt's 1991 hit "Something to Talk About". 

Eikhard was born in Sackville, New Brunswick. Her mother, June Eikhard (born Marguerite Cameron in Moncton) began her musical career with her husband, Eikhard's late father, bassist Cecil Eikhard, in the 1950s when both parents were members of a small local band, the Tantramar Ramblers. Her mother, June, released her debut album, Canada's First Lady of the Fiddle, in 1959, and was the first woman to participate in the Canadian Open Old Time Fiddlers' Contest. 

The family relocated to Oshawa, Ontario, when Eikhard was in her early teens. She was given her first guitar at age 11, and at age 12 she first performed on stage at a fiddling festival in Cobourg, Ontario. At age 13, following her debut performance in Cobourg, Eikhard successfully auditioned for the Songwriter's Workshop at the 1969 Mariposa Folk Festival where she played alongside Joni Mitchell, Ian & Sylvia, and Bruce Cockburn. Two years later, when she was 15, her song "It Takes Time" was recorded by Anne Murray and became a hit in Canada. The song was also recorded by Kim Carnes for her 1971 album Rest on Me. 

In 1972, Earl Ball of Capitol Records was alerted to her growing reputation and signed her to the label. She released her first album, Shirley Eikhard, which was moderately successful and won Eikhard two Juno Awards for Country Female Artist of the Year at both the Juno Awards of 1973 and the Juno Awards of 1974. After a three-year career break, she returned to recording and released three albums for Attic Records, Child of the Present, Let Me Down Easy, and Horizons. Though again none were big sellers, they included her cover versions of Lindsey Buckingham’s "Don’t Let Me Down" and Christine McVie’s "Say You Love Me". "Say You Love Me" was released as a single several weeks in advance of Fleetwood Mac in early June 1976. Eikhard took the song into the Canadian top 40, peaking at No. 34; Fleetwood Mac's version, released only a few weeks later, peaked at No. 29 in September. 

                                   

Through the 1980s, she battled both stage fright and throat problems, and was advised by her doctor that she should stop performing in clubs due to an allergy to cigarette smoke. Following her 1987 album Taking Charge for WEA Records, a period which she would later describe as the nadir of her life, her prominence in the music industry had significantly declined, and she had started to pursue background extra work in film and television to support herself. By 1989, however, the tide began to turn for her as a songwriter again, with singers such as Rita Coolidge, Mary Lu Zahalan and Alannah Myles recording Eikhard songs. 

Anne Murray had wanted to record Eikhard's "Something to Talk About" in 1985, but the song was rejected by her producers;[5] despite the song not being on Murray's album, it was still titled Something to Talk About. In 1991, Bonnie Raitt recorded the song and released it as the lead-off single for her album Luck of the Draw. The biggest chart hit for both Eikhard and Raitt, the song had significant airplay throughout the 1990s. The song earned Raitt a Grammy Award for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance in 1991, with the album earning Raitt a second Grammy that year. In Canada, "Something to Talk About" earned Eikhard a Juno nomination as Songwriter of the Year at the Juno Awards of 1992, and later a SOCAN Classics award. 

Although she toured earlier in her career, Eikhard later refrained from exhaustive touring. She performed at selected events and occasional club dates, often with her brother, the late Brent Eikhard. In the early 1990s, she performed with Gwen Swick and Cherie Camp in the trio The Three Marias.  In 1995, she recorded a new album, If I Had My Way, co-produced with her long-standing keyboard player Evelyne Datl. She also contributed the theme song to a new Warner Brothers film, Something to Talk About. 

In the late 1990s she started to record and perform jazz, releasing the albums The Jazz Sessions (1996) and Going Home (1998), headlining her own concert special in 1998 as an episode of Bravo!'s Live at the Rehearsal Hall. In 2020, Eikhard was inducted into the Canadian Songwriters Hall of Fame for "Something to Talk About". She released her final album, On My Way to You in October 2021. It featured the song "Anything Is Possible", about her recent diagnosis with cancer.

Sadly, the disease took its toll when she died on 15 December 2022 at the Headwaters Health Care Centre in Orangeville, at the age of 67.  (Edited from Wikipedia)

George Avak born 6 November 1932

George Avak, (November 6, 1932 - January 24, 2021) was an American traditional and contemporary country singer. Born George Nazor Avak in Hartford, he was the son of George Avak and Virginia (Mollis) Avak. He  rew up in West Hartford, and resided in Burlington and Wolcott. 

George was a graduate of Hall High School and Bryant College. He joined the Marines after school. Upon his return, he resumed with his band called the CT Valley Boys where he entertained people with his beautiful voice and guitar. In the late 50’s, he became the sheriff at Cowboy Valley, a western -themed tourist town in Killingworth. Executives from Colt Manufacturing Co. saw his gun act and asked him to become the company’s gun demonstrator.  George trained at a Colt gun range and earned the title, “Fastest Gun Alive” and “King of the Colt 45,” after the company clocked his draw at .3 seconds.  An entertainer at heart, he took his gun show all over the country and helped train Hollywood gunslingers including Hugh O’Brien at Warner Brothers studio for many years. He ultimately dropped the act after President John F. Kennedy was gunned down on Nov. 22, 1963. 

                                      

George was a volunteer with the Tunxis Hose Company No. 1 in Unionville, played the guitar and sang at several establishments in Connecticut including the Hotel Worthy in Unionville and other places with juke boxes where people could listen to his records. George continued singing and playing the guitar and made his way to Tennessee and became famous in the country music circle in the mid 70’s with his hit, “I’ve Loved You All Over the World.”  He performed at the Grand Ole Opry alongside Dolly Parton and Tex Ritter and signed with a recording studio in Oakville Tennessee where he produced 2 albums (LPs) and several 45’s. 

Living in Burlington, George had a small farm that included a beautiful Tennessee Walker horse that he fondly called King George. He raised pheasants, goats, rabbits, chickens, and hens. He also planted several grape vines on the property.  He entertained the kids on Savarese Lane by making a chariot out of the front end of a model T Ford which was hitched up to his horse. He also gave rides to kids at the Shell station on Rt. 44 in Avon.  George owned a restaurant called The Baghdad (renamed Avak’s) in Bristol where he performed with his band called “The Secrets” every Friday and Saturday night and a second restaurant called Cozy Corner in Wolcott.  He bought a cottage on Cedar Lake in Wolcott where he lived for several years with his kids. They were able to enjoy snowmobiling, boating, fireworks, ice skating and bon fires. 

George had an incredible green thumb.  He always had a large vegetable garden with several varieties of tomatoes and a keen knack to grow any flower you can imagine.  For 16 years he traveled the state with his exotic butterfly collection which turned into a business which his son John helped him run. George displayed exhibits from his collections at museums and gave lectures at libraries. Later in life, he started a landscaping and lawn cutting business until his retirement. George was once quoted as saying, “Everything I do I love. And if I love it, I can’t leave it alone. “George continued to play the piano, guitar, and sing every single day to the delight of his friends and family. His beautiful voice never faded.  

He died at his home on January 24, 2021 at the age of 88 years and was laid to rest with his parents in Cedar Hill Cemetery in Hartford. 

(Edited from his official obit)

Fionna Duncan born 5 November 1939

Fionna Duncan (November 5, 1939 - December 6, 2022) was a much-loved figure on the Scottish jazz scene whose circle of admirers and musical associates extended into Europe and the U.S. She was widely regarded as the first lady of Scottish jazz. 

Fionna in 1955

The daughter of marine engineer Andrew Duncan and his wife Agnes, Duncan was born into a musical family. Her older brother and sister both played piano; Fionna didn’t, so took up singing. Three years after her birth the family moved from their house at Portincaple on Loch Long to Glasgow’s King’s Park and thence to Rutherglen, while retaining the Portincaple house which would later become her home. She went on to attend Rutherglen Academy, a hotbed of the folk revival thanks to its Ballad and Blues Club established by Norman Buchan. A jazz-loving history teacher, sensing her interest, asked her parents’ permission to take her and her brother to see the formidable Scottish clarinettist Sandy Brown. 

Fionna, Glasgow 1958

By sixteen, while still at school, she was singing in talent competitions and with local jazz bands. One competition win resulted in her taking home an iron and an electric kettle. An audition for television and the chance to make a recording were also part of the prize. This was overshadowed shortly afterwards when, during a family trip to the U.S., where she sang on radio and TV, the prestigious Riverside Records offered Fionna a recording contract. Not wishing to take up residence in the States, a stipulation of the deal, she turned it down and, with it, the chance to become label-mates with the celebrated pianists Thelonious Monk and Bill Evans, and saxophonists Cannonball Adderley and John Coltrane. 

Fionna didn’t have too long to wait before she made her recording debut, however. Back in Glasgow, having appeared on the weekly TV show, Skiffle Club, with the Joe Gordon Folk Four, and having sung with the Steadfast Jazz Band, Fionna entered another talent competition, Stars In Your Eyes, this time on TV. Not only did she win the competition but at the auditions she met clarinettist Forrie Cairns, with whom she would go on to work into the 2000s. Cairns asked Fionna to join his band and he was taken aback when she said she’d have to ask her mother. 

                                   

With her mother’s blessing Fionna joined Cairns’ All-Stars and then, in 1959, Fionna and Forrie were invited to join the Clyde Valley Stompers, a traditional jazz band from Glasgow that became known around the world in the 1950s and early 1960s, and were once described as "the Scottish sultans of trad jazz swing". They recorded the album, Have Tartan Will Trad, that same year and began a hectic schedule of live performances and television and radio appearances.

In between travelling as far afield as Germany and Switzerland, Fionna won the JazzBeat Award for Top Singer in 1960. In 1962, she landed a bigger prize – meeting, at the jazz legend’s own insistence, Louis Armstrong, when they shared a bill in Bridlington. In these heady times Fionna also met Lena Horne and the Beatles, who used to play interval spots in clubs where she was headlining and sang live on an early edition of Top of the Pops. 

She continued touring until 1964. She took up residence in London, where she hosted the Georgian Nightclub in the West End, singing with Kenny Ball and Humphrey Lyttelton, among other prominent musicians of the time. Then, in 1971, she was back on the road, although not for long, as an accident abroad resulted in her suffering five slipped discs and being hospitalised for a year. At this point Fionna decided to change careers. She trained as a hairdresser and although this freed her from the uncertainty of the music business, the lure of the microphone and telling stories in song pulled her back to performing. Back in Scotland again, she sang with George Penman’s Jazzmen and 1981, she and Cairns took part in the Clyde Valley Stompers reunion, which included tours of the UK and Canada. 

In 1985, having appeared at events such as Sacramento Jazz Festival with Edinburgh Jazz Festival founder Mike Hart’s band, Fionna put together her own group with her partner, bassist Ronnie Rae, Ronnie’s son John on drums and Brian Kellock on piano. Until John Rae moved to New Zealand in 2008, this would remain her first call band. The Raes and Kellock also became the house trio for Fionna’s Vocal Jazz Workshops, an idea she picked up in California when her friend and fellow singer Madeline Eastman gave Fionna a frank assessment of her singing. 

Fionna continued to sing and teach into her seventies and was rewarded with a nomination at the Parliamentary Jazz Awards for her services to education in 2008. The following year she was voted Best Jazz Vocalist at the Scottish Jazz Awards and in 2019 her contribution to the music was recognised with the Lifetime Achievement accolade, again at the Scottish Jazz Awards. Living latterly in Pathhead, Midlothian, she finally succumbed at the age of 83 years, to an aortic aneurysm on 6 December 2022. 

(Edited from obits  @ The Scotsman & The Herald)