Rosa King born 14 March 1939

Rosa King (March 14, 1939 – December 12, 2000) was an American jazz and blues saxophonist and singer who made her fame in Amsterdam.

Rose Irene King was born in Macon, Georgia, United States. One of Rosa's high school friends in Georgia was Richard Peniman, who we now know as the famous "Little Richard". She didn't stay at school for long though: from the age of 14 she was a dancer. At the age of 17 Rosa left her parent's place to work with Charles Taylor & The Bronze Mannikens, a show that travelled through the southern parts of the USA.

Later she ended up in New York. After quite some jobs, like waitress, cab driver and wardrobe girl, she got a job as a dancer again. From that day on there was no life without music anymore for Rosa. She bought a guitar, taught herself how to play it. Eddie Coombs noticed this and offered her some work in his band. She always wanted to make music and sing, so she took the offer. A few years later she left the band and went her own way. Next to guitar she had taught herself to play saxophone and some drums by then. From this moment on she started a career as front lady in her own bands. For short periods she also played for others, like Little Richard, Cab Calloway, Ben E. King and Lionel Hampton.

In the early 70's Rosa came to Amsterdam with a soul show. She liked Amsterdam, a town that had a cosmopolitan feel to it while being much smaller than New York. She met bass player Rainer Bleck who wanted to form a band with her and "Upside Down" was created. Rosa King & Upside Down. Rosa turned out to be a colourful black saxophone player and singer with a love for blues, soul & funk, always making a party everywhere and successful on Dutch and international festivals. Rosa King & Upside Down played mainly own material and some covers.

                                     

In 1978 her name was finally made when Rosa stole the show at the North Sea Jazz Festival while suddenly jumping on stage where a tenor sax battle was going on with legends like Stan Getz, Archie Shepp, Illinois Jacquet, Fathead Newman, Eddie "Lockjaw" Davis and David Murray. The organization thought that Rosa didn't belong there and didn't let her play. But she went and did it anyway. "I blew like mad," she said later because these big guys weren't giving their best at all, "they were the greatest tenor players in the world, but they weren't playin' nuttin' ". It upset Rosa a lot, feeling that only Archie and Stan were giving a little effort. Rosa got the crowd going. "Not because it was that artistic and great what I was doing, but just because I was really working and giving my best."

Rosa King & Upside Down played all over Europe and beyond. Nine times she played on that North Sea Jazz Festival, she went to Poland for the Pori Jazz Festival in Lublin, to Indonesia for the Bintang Jazz Festival, to Lithuania, Lebanon, France, Switzerland, Norway, etc. In 1981 she had a gig at at Joe's Pier 52 in New York. She and her band were so successful there that they stayed for 2 months, playing at Joe's every night. "We could have stayed for a whole year, 6 days a week", Rosa said, "but that's sooooo long and I don't want to even think about that." So, she hit the road again, playing all over Europe. In 1996 Rosa celebrated her 25th anniversary as a band leader and singer/saxophone player in Holland. There was a big party especially for that at Holland's premier music stage Paradiso in Amsterdam. Her last CD "Still Going Strong" was presented there. Rosa's band turned out to be a stepping stone for many young new musicians. Quite some started their careers under the guidance of Rosa. Candy Dulfer, Saskia Laroo and Alex Britti for instance.

Although King was popular in Europe, she had little exposure in America except for brief periods when she lived in New York City, maintaining an apartment there for many years even while living in Amsterdam. Rosa worked hard her whole life and was known to be the hardest working lady in the business. At times she played at least 20 times a month with her band "Upside Down". She was an animal on stage and wanted the crowd to feel that "the band is cooking". The thought of retiring never appealed to her. "Music is in my blood. Sometimes I think: when I get older I am gonna live in Georgia, where my mother and I own a house. But then I think later: I am old already! And probably I have been too bloody long in Amsterdam to be able to return to the USA." But in 1999 she did return to Georgia to perform with a band under the name Rosa King and the Looters. Band members included J. Lyon Layden on guitar, Eric Layden on bass, Kristina Train on vocals and violin, Jeff Evans on drums, and Dan Walker on keyboards.

Late summer 2000 Rosa was trying to cut down a little on the gigs with the bands, wanting to concentrate on writing and recording music for a new CD. However in the week of December 4th she had severe pains in her chest ending up at the emergency department of the hospital at Wednesday night. They gave her some pills to sleep. Even those pains couldn't stop her from doing a gig all the way in the south of Holland, going to bed late and then getting up early again to fly to Rome for a surprise TV appearance for famous Italian singer songwriter Alex Britti, who played in Upside Down years ago.

Rosa gave it all on that TV show and surely left a big impression in Italy. After this TV appearance Rosa died on the 12th of December in Rome of a heart attack, leaving a huge gap in the Dutch music scene that will be felt for very long. A Rosa King Foundation was established in the Netherlands to help young female artists, and a memorial concert was conducted at the Melkweg concert house in Amsterdam.

(Edited  tsklab @ Live Journal & Wikipedia)