Mary Jean Loutsenhizer, known professionally as Chris Connor (November 8, 1927 – August 29, 2009) 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 majo ...
singer.
Biography
Chris Connor was born Mary Loutsenhizer in Kansas City, Missouri, to Clyde Loutsenhizer and Mabel Shirley. She became proficient on the clarinet, having studied for eight years during middle school and high school. She sang with the college band at the
University of Missouri
The University of Missouri (Mizzou, MU, or Missouri) is a public land-grant research university in Columbia, Missouri. It is Missouri's largest university and the flagship of the four-campus University of Missouri System. MU was founded ...
, playing at functions in Columbia, Missouri.
In 1949 Connor recorded two songs with Claude Thornhill's band: "There's a Small Hotel" and "I Don't Know Why". With Jerry Wald's big band she recorded "You're the Cream in My Coffee", "
Cherokee
The Cherokee (; chr, ᎠᏂᏴᏫᏯᎢ, translit=Aniyvwiyaʔi or Anigiduwagi, or chr, ᏣᎳᎩ, links=no, translit=Tsalagi) are one of the indigenous peoples of the Southeastern Woodlands of the United States. Prior to the 18th century, th ...
", " Pennies from Heaven", "Raisins and Almonds", and "Terremoto". Connor and Thornhill reunited in 1952 for a radio broadcast from the Statler Hotel in New York City for which she sang " Wish You Were Here", Come Rain or Come Shine", "Sorta Kinda", and "Who Are We to Say".
She made her final recordings for
HighNote
HighNote Records is a jazz record company and label founded by Joe Fields with his son, Barney Fields, in 1997.
Joe Fields worked for Prestige Records in the 1960s, and in the 1970s founded Muse Records. After he sold Muse, he started the Hi ...
: ''Haunted Heart'' in 2001 and ''Everything I Love'' in 2003.
''Billboard'' reported in 1955 that Connor's first two solo albums for
Bethlehem
Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital ...
, ''Sings Lullabys of Birdland'' and ''Sings Lullabys for Lovers'' ranked No. 1 and No. 2 on the jazz chart for the week ending April 23, 1955. In 1957, she ranked No. 10 in the Favorite Female Vocalist disk jockey popularity poll behind Lena Horne and June Christy.
The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
'', September 1, 2009. Accessed September 17, 2019. "Chris Connor, the great jazz singer whose lush, foggy voice and compressed emotional intensity distilled a 1950s jazz reverie of faraway longing in a sad cafe, died on Saturday in Toms River, N.J. She was 81 and lived in Toms River. ..Ms. Connor is survived by her longtime partner and manager, Lori Muscarelle."
Discography
* ''Sings Lullabys of Birdland'' (
Bethlehem
Bethlehem (; ar, بيت لحم ; he, בֵּית לֶחֶם '' '') is a city in the central West Bank, Palestine, about south of Jerusalem. Its population is approximately 25,000,Amara, 1999p. 18.Brynen, 2000p. 202. and it is the capital ...
, 1954)
* ''Sings Lullabys for Lovers'' (Bethlehem, 1954)
* ''This Is Chris'' (Bethlehem, 1955)
* ''Chris'' (Bethlehem, 1956)
* '' Chris Connor'' (
Atlantic
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the "Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...
, 1956)
* ''He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not'' (Atlantic, 1956)
* ''I Miss You So'' (Atlantic, 1957)
* ''Chris Connor Sings the George Gershwin Almanac of Song'' (Atlantic, 1957)
* ''Chris Craft'' (Atlantic, 1958)
* ''A Jazz Date with Chris Connor'' (Atlantic, 1958)
* ''Sings Ballads of the Sad Cafe'' (Atlantic, 1959)
* ''Witchcraft'' (Atlantic, 1959)
* ''Chris in Person'' (Atlantic, 1959)
* ''A Portrait of Chris'' (Atlantic, 1960)
* '' Two's Company'' with
Maynard Ferguson
Walter Maynard Ferguson CM (May 4, 1928 – August 23, 2006) was a Canadian jazz trumpeter and bandleader. He came to prominence in Stan Kenton's orchestra before forming his own big band in 1957. He was noted for his bands, which often serv ...
(
Roulette
Roulette is a casino game named after the French word meaning ''little wheel'' which was likely developed from the Italian game Biribi''.'' In the game, a player may choose to place a bet on a single number, various groupings of numbers, the ...
, 1961)
* ''
Double Exposure
In photography and cinematography, a multiple exposure is the superimposition of two or more exposures to create a single image, and double exposure has a corresponding meaning in respect of two images. The exposure values may or may not be id ...
'' with Maynard Ferguson (Atlantic, 1961)
* ''Free Spirits'' (Atlantic, 1962)
* ''At the Village Gate: Early Show/Late Show'' (FM, 1963)
* ''A Weekend in Paris'' (FM, 1964)
* ''Sings Gentle Bossa Nova'' (
ABC-Paramount
ABC Records was an American record label founded in New York City in 1955. It originated as the main popular music label operated by the Am-Par Record Corporation. Am-Par also created the Impulse! Records, Impulse! jazz label in 1960. It acquire ...
Progressive
Progressive may refer to:
Politics
* Progressivism, a political philosophy in support of social reform
** Progressivism in the United States, the political philosophy in the American context
* Progressive realism, an American foreign policy par ...
, 1978)
* ''Live'' (Applause, 1983)
* ''Three Pearls'' with
Ernestine Anderson
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 ...
,
Carol Sloane
Carol Sloane (born March 5, 1937) is an American jazz singer born in Providence, Rhode Island, who has been singing professionally since she was 14, although for a time in the 1970s she worked as a legal secretary in Raleigh, North Carolina. In ...
(Eastworld, 1984)
* ''Love Being Here with You'' ( Stash, 1984)
* ''Classic'' ( Contemporary, 1987)
* ''New Again'' (Contemporary, 1988)
* ''As Time Goes by'' (
Enja
Enja Records is a German jazz record company and label based in Munich which was founded by jazz enthusiasts Matthias Winckelmann and Horst Weber in 1971.
The label's first release was by Mal Waldron, and early releases included European and ...
, 1991)
* ''Angel Eyes'' (Alfa, 1991)
* ''The London Connection'' (Audiophile, 1993)
* ''Haunted Heart'' (HighNote, 2001)
* ''I Walk with Music'' (HighNote, 2002)
* ''Everything I Love'' (HighNote, 2003)