Barbara Carroll (born Barbara Carole Coppersmith; January 25, 1925 – February 12, 2017) was an American

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...

pianist and vocalist.

Early life and career

Carroll was born in

Worcester, Massachusetts Worcester ( , ) is a city and county seat of Worcester County, Massachusetts, United States. Named after Worcester, England, the city's population was 206,518 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the second-List of cities i ...

. She began her classical training in piano at age eight, but by high school decided to become a

pianist. She attended the

New England Conservatory of Music The New England Conservatory of Music (NEC) is a private music school in Boston, Massachusetts. It is the oldest independent music conservatory in the United States and among the most prestigious in the world. The conservatory is located on H ...

for a year, but left it as it conflicted with working for bands. In 1947

Leonard Feather Leonard Geoffrey Feather (13 September 1914 – 22 September 1994) was a British-born jazz pianist, composer, and producer, who was best known for his music journalism and other writing. Biography Feather was born in London, England, into an u ...

dubbed her "the first girl ever to play

bebop Bebop or bop is a style of jazz developed in the early-to-mid-1940s in the United States. The style features compositions characterized by a fast tempo, complex chord progressions with rapid chord changes and numerous changes of key, instrumen ...

piano." In the following year her trio, which featured

Chuck Wayne Chuck Wayne (February 27, 1923 – July 29, 1997) was an American jazz guitarist. He came to prominence in the 1940s, and was among the earliest jazz guitarists to play in the bebop style. Wayne was a member of Woody Herman's First Herd, the f ...

on guitar and

Clyde Lombardi Claudio "Clyde" Lombardi (February 18, 1922 – after 1975) was an American jazz double bassist. After receiving classical training, Lombardi first performed and recorded with Red Norvo (1942–5) in a band which also included with Aaron Sa ...

on bass, worked briefly with Benny Goodman. Later Charlie Byrd replaced Wayne and Joe Shulman replaced Lombardi. After Byrd's departure, Carroll decided to have it be a drums, bass, and piano trio. In the 1950s Carroll and her trio worked on ''

Me and Juliet ''Me and Juliet'' is a musical with music by Richard Rodgers, and lyrics and book by Oscar Hammerstein II. The sixth stage collaboration by Rodgers & Hammerstein, it tells a story of romance backstage at a long-running musical: assistant stage ...

'' by

Rodgers and Hammerstein Rodgers and Hammerstein was a theater-writing team of composer Richard Rodgers (1902–1979) and lyricist-dramatist Oscar Hammerstein II (1895–1960), who together created a series of innovative and influential American musicals. Their popular ...

. The decade saw her career ebb due to changing musical tastes and personal concerns.

Later career

In 1972 she revived her career due to a renewed interest in her work. In 1975 she was asked by

Rita Coolidge Rita Coolidge (born May 1, 1945) is an American recording artist. During the 1970s and 1980s, her songs were on ''Billboard'' magazine's pop, country, adult contemporary, and jazz charts, and she won two Grammy Awards with fellow musician and the ...

to work on a session for A&M. In 1978 she toured with Coolidge and

Kris Kristofferson Kristoffer Kristofferson (born June 22, 1936) is a retired American singer, songwriter and actor. Among his songwriting credits are " Me and Bobby McGee", " For the Good Times", " Sunday Mornin' Comin' Down", and " Help Me Make It Through the ...

. In the following two decades she became known as a

cabaret Cabaret is a form of theatrical entertainment featuring music, song, dance, recitation, or drama. The performance venue might be a pub, a casino, a hotel, a restaurant, or a nightclub with a stage for performances. The audience, often dining o ...

performer.

Personal life

In September 1954, Carroll married jazz bassist Joe Shulman, a member of the trio. He died from a heart attack in 1957 at age 33. She subsequently married agent and photographer Bert Block, with whom she had a daughter, Suzanne Block Glatt. Block died of emphysema in 1986. In 2011, Carroll married advertising executive Mark Stroock, a union that lasted until her death at 92.

Awards and honors

In 2003, Carroll was awarded the Kennedy Center's

Mary Lou Williams Mary Lou Williams (born Mary Elfrieda Scruggs; May 8, 1910 – May 28, 1981) was an American jazz pianist, arranger, and composer. She wrote hundreds of compositions and arrangements and recorded more than one hundred records (in 78, 45, an ...

Women in Jazz Lifetime Achievement Award. Carroll was honored as The New Jewish Home's Eight Over Eighty Gala 2015 honoree. Barbara Carroll detail

Discography

References

External links

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Barbara Carroll
at the New England Jazz History Database {{DEFAULTSORT:Carroll, Barbara 1925 births 2017 deaths Cabaret singers American jazz singers American jazz pianists American women pianists Cabaret Caroll, Barbara Savoy Records artists Verve Records artists Warner Records artists 21st-century American women