Ernestine Anderson - 4 Albums (1991-2009)

Ernestine Anderson (November 11, 1928 – March 10, 2016) was an American jazz and blues singer. In a career spanning more than six decades, she recorded over 30 albums. She was nominated four times for a Grammy Award. She sang at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, the Monterey Jazz Festival (six times over a 33-year span), as well as at jazz festivals all over the world. In the early 1990s she joined Qwest Records, the label of fellow Garfield High School grad Quincy Jones.

Ernestine Anderson (and her twin sister Josephine) were born in Houston, Texas, on November 11, 1928. Her mother, Erma, was a housewife, and her father, Joseph, a construction worker who sang bass in a gospel quartet. By the age of three, Anderson showed a talent for singing along with her parents' old blues 78 rpm records by the likes of Bessie "The Empress of the Blues" Smith. Anderson started singing at a local church, singing solos in its gospel choir.

Anderson tells of her early life in the 1998 book The Jazz Scene):

"My parents used to play blues records all the time," Ernestine Anderson told me. "John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, all the blues greats. In Houston, where I grew up, you turned on the radio and what you got was country and western and gospel. I don't even remember what my first experience with music was. I sort of grew into it. My father sang in a gospel quartet and I used to follow him around, and both my grandparents sang in the Baptist church choir. And they had big bands coming through Houston like Jimmie Lunceford, Billy Eckstine, Erskine Hawkins, and Count Basie." Ernestine's godmother entered her in a local talent contest when she was twelve years old. "I only knew two songs," she admitted, "'On the Sunny Side of the Street' and 'So Long'. The piano player asked me what key did I do these songs in and I just said 'C' for some reason and it was the wrong key. In order to save face I sang around the melody, improvised among the melody, and when I finished one of the musicians told me I was a jazz singer."

Her family moved to Seattle, Washington, in 1944, when she was 16. Anderson attended Garfield High School, graduating in 1946. While a teenager, she was discovered by bandleader "Bumps" Blackwell, who hired her as a singer for his Junior Band. Anderson's first show was at the Washington Social Club on East Madison Street. The band (which later included Quincy Jones on trumpet, and a young Ray Charles on keyboard) performed regularly in jazz clubs on Seattle's Jackson Street.

When she was 18, Anderson left Seattle, to tour for a year with the Johnny Otis band. In 1952, she went on tour with Lionel Hampton's orchestra. After a year with the legendary band, she settled in New York City, determined to make her way as a singer. Her appearance on Gigi Gryce's 1955 album Nica's Tempo (Savoy) led to a partnership with trumpeter Rolf Ericson for a three-month Scandinavian tour. Ernestine's first album in the United States was made after her debut album, recorded in Sweden and released here by Mercury Records under the title Hot Cargo (1958) the dean of America jazz critics, Ralph J. Gleason, began airing it on his hit-making radio show. In addition his nationally distributed San Francisco Chronicle jazz column, saying: "she is the best new jazz singer in a decade. She has good diction, time, an uncanny ability to phrase well, great warmth in her voice, a true tone and, on top of all that, she swings like mad", which created a huge sensation. In 1959 Anderson won the Down Beat "New Star" Award and recorded for Mercury to more acclaim, before dividing her time from the mid-'60s between America and Europe.

"I don't think jazz ever died. It suffered a setback during the sixties. I had to move to London in order to work because a jazz person couldn't work in the United States when rock 'n' roll became the music. I didn't think it would last this long, and I don't think the rock 'n' roll people thought it would last this long, but Quincy it had."

Her re-emergence in the mid-1970s (at which time Ray Brown was her manager) came as a result of a sensational appearance at the 1976 Concord Jazz Festival, a string of albums for Concord Records followed. The next 17 years sealed Anderson’s reputation as a top-tier jazz and blues singer. She performed headlining shows far and wide and recorded almost 20 albums for Concord, two of which—1981’s Never Make Your Move Too Soon and 1983’s Big City—earned GRAMMY Best Jazz Vocal Performance nominations. In the years that followed Anderson toured widely—a triumphant series of dates in Japan led to the release of a four-disc live set in 1988—and that same year she made her debut at the prestigious Carnegie Hall. In addition, Anderson has performed at the Hollywood Bowl, at the Women In Jazz event at the Kennedy Center in 1999, at Monterey (1959, 1982, 1984, 1987, 1990, 2007), and at numerous other jazz festivals from New Orleans to Brazil, Berlin, Austria, and all around the globe.

After leaving Concord Records in 1993, Anderson signed on with her old Seattle jazz scene pal, Quincy Jones, and his happening new label, Qwest, which issued two albums—1993’s Now and Then, and 1996’s Blues, Dues & Love News—that also both received GRAMMY nominations. By the late 1990s she was signed to the Koch International label which issued her Isn’t It Romantic album, in 2003 her High Note label CD, Love Makes the Changes was a breakout hit, and her 2004 JVC CD, Hello Like Before, brought further accolades.

Anderson was represented by Addeo Music International (AMI).

She died peacefully, surrounded by her family in Shoreline, Washington, on March 10, 2016, at the age of 87.



Although there is no official leader on the CD, this is really an Ernestine Anderson date. Pianist Gene Harris and his quartet (with guitarist Ed Bickert, bassist Lynn Seaton and drummer Harold Jones) romp through Oscar Pettiford's "Blues in the Closet" and then the singer takes over for the final six numbers; Frank Wess guests on tenor during "I Should Care" and altoist Marshall Royal is heard from on "Skylark." Ernestine Anderson is in top form during her well-rounded set with highlights including the lengthy "I Should Care," a swinging "There Is No Greater Love," "On My Own" and a definitive 15-minute version of "Never Make Your Move Too Soon." ~ AllMusic Review by Scott Yanow

Ernestine Anderson - vocals
Gene Harris - piano
Ed Bickert - guitar
Lynn Seaton - bass
Harold Jones - drums
Frank Wess - tenor saxophone (#3)
Marshall Royal - alto saxophone (#5)

Recorded live at the Concord Pavillon, Concord, CA on August 18, 1990.

Track List:
01. Blues in the Closet (Pettiford) - 7:32
02. I Let a Song Go Out of My Heart (Ellington-Mills-Nemo-Redmond) - 4:42
03. I Should Care (Cahn-Stordahl-Weston) - 10:22
04. There Is No Greater Love (Jones-Symes) - 5:23
05. Skylark (Mercer-Carmichael) - 7:14
06. On My Own (Sager-Bacharach) - 4:58
07. Never Make Your Move Too Soon (Hooper-Jennings) - 15:15





On this cd Ernestine offers up an ear feast of jazz, blues, and popular music. Some jazz purists may be put off by the choice of material and background vocals. You can definitely feel the hand of Ouincy Jones in this production (although he is not the producer, but it is on his Qwest label). Some standouts are Night in Tunisia (This is one of the best sung versions of this song), the bluesy, Wrong number, the gospel feel of, One Child and the finger snapping, This Can't be Love. Ms. Anderson has a strong, clear, soulful voice with a blues sensibility. The production is top notch. Highly recommended. – An Amazon customer

Ernestine Anderson - vocals
Arnold McCutler - vocals
Ernie Watts - saxophone
Lanny Morgan - alto saxophone
Oscar Brashear - trumpet
Phil Upchurch, Ron Eschete, Paul Viapiano - guitar
Geoff Stradling - keyboards, programming, piano
Joe Sample, Larry Fuller - keyboards
Andy Simpkins, Eddie Watkins - bass
Stix Hooper, Jim Keltner, Leon "Ndugu" Chancler - drums
Paulinho Da Costa - percussion
Jimmy Z. - harmonica
Petsye Powell, Terry Brooks, Cile Borman, Willard Pugh, Garrett Morris, Freda Morris, Pattie Brooks, Terry Wood - background vocals

Recorded at Studio Ultimo, Los Angeles, CA on September 24, 1992 - February 12, 1993.

Track List:
01. Jazz Street (4:37)
02. A Night in Tunisia (5:20)
03. One Child (5:49)
04. This Could Be Dangerous (5:09)
05. This Can't Be Love (2:21)
06. Wrong Number (5:12)
07. Ain't No Easy Way (4:29)
08. My Funny Valentine (4:51)
09. Monte Carlo Nights (4:59)
10. When It All Comes Down (6:41)
11. I'll Be Seeing You (4:46)





Ernestine Anderson's Blues Dues & Love News was recorded live at B.B. King's Blues Club, where she was supported by a cast of highly accomplished session musicians. At times the sound of the album is too slick, but Andersons's powerful vocals have enough grit to make the record a worthwhile listen. ~ AllMusic Review by Stephen Thomas Erlewine

Ernestine Anderson - vocals
Bob Sheppard - saxophone, flute
Oscar Brashear, Frank Szabo - trumpet
Andy Martin - trombone
Eugene Maslov, Geoff Stradling - keyboards
Paul Viapiano - guitar
Del Atkins - bass
Ndugu Chancler - drums
Eric McKain, Stix Hooper - percussion
Josie Aiello - background vocals

Recorded live at B.B. King's Blues Club, Universal City, CA on November 27-28, 1995.

Track List:
01. Show Me (4:30)
02. All Blues (7:34)
03. How Can I Sing a Love Song (4:26)
04. You Were Always on My Mind (4:46)
05. Only Trust Your Heart (4:45)
06. Sister Moon (4:52)
07. Don't Touch Me (5:06)
08. Reach Out (4:35)
09. Simply Love (5:04)
10. The Thrill Is Gone (6:13)
11. It Hurts to Be in Love (6:53)





It is hard to believe that Ernestine Anderson was within a few months of her eightieth birthday at the time of this 2008 session, but she shows the wisdom of a veteran vocalist in her interpretations of this collection of standards, ballads, and pop songs, often proving that less is indeed more. Well complemented by tenor saxophonist Houston Person (who was an important presence on so many of the late vocalist Etta Jones' albums), pianist LaFayette Harris, bassist Chip Jackson, and drummer Willie Jones, Anderson sings with a confidence that makes each song sound like a first take. She masters the catchy midtempo setting of "Make Someone Happy," a piece often played painfully slow in order to get a sense of drama, but her upbeat treatment is a fine alternative. She knows how to sing a ballad, demonstrated in her richly textured and soulful rendition of the timeless "Skylark." She is equally at home with pop material like Leon Russell's "A Song for You" and her superb, very deliberate take of "Candy," with soulful fills inserted by Person. This is a potent effort by a singer who remains very much in her prime. ~ AllMusic Review by Ken Dryden

Ernestine Anderson - vocals
Houston Person - tenor saxophone
Lafayette Harris Jr. - piano
Chip Jackson - bass
Willie Jones III - drums

Recorded at Bennett Studios, Engelwood, NJ and Studio X, Seattle, WA on April 9, 2008.

Track List:
01. This Can't Be Love (3:53)
02. A Song for You (5:51)
03. Make Someone Happy (4:35)
04. Skylark (7:10)
05. A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening (3:26)
06. Candy (6:10)
07. Day by Day (6:42)
08. For All We Know (7:15)



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