Jeanne Lee (January 29, 1939 – October 25, 2000) 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 major ...

singer, poet and composer. Best known for a wide range of vocal styles she mastered, Lee collaborated with numerous distinguished composers and performers who included

Gunter Hampel Gunter Hampel (born 31 August 1937) is a German jazz vibraphonist, clarinettist, saxophonist, flautist, pianist, and composer. He became dedicated to free jazz in the 1960s, developing a record label (Birth Records) and working with Jeanne Lee, ...

Andrew Cyrille Andrew Charles Cyrille (born November 10, 1939) is an American avant-garde jazz drummer. Throughout his career, he has performed both as a leader and a sideman in the bands of Walt Dickerson and Cecil Taylor, among others. AllMusic biographe ...

Ran Blake Ran Blake (born April 20, 1935) is an American pianist, composer, and educator. He is known for his unique style that combines blues, gospel, classical, and film noir influences into an innovative and dark jazz sound. His career spans over 40 rec ...

Carla Bley Carla Bley (born Lovella May Borg; May 11, 1936) is an American jazz composer, pianist, organist and bandleader. An important figure in the free jazz movement of the 1960s, she is perhaps best known for her jazz opera '' Escalator over the Hill'' ...

Anthony Braxton Anthony Braxton (born June 4, 1945) is an American experimental composer, educator, music theorist, improviser and multi-instrumentalist who is best known for playing saxophones, particularly the alto. Braxton grew up on the South Side of Chica ...

Marion Brown Marion Brown (September 8, 1931 – October 18, 2010) was an American jazz alto saxophonist, composer, writer, visual artist, and ethnomusicologist. He was a member of the avant-garde jazz scene in New York City during the 1960s, playing alongs ...

Archie Shepp Archie Shepp (born May 24, 1937) is an American jazz saxophonist, educator and playwright who since the 1960s has played a central part in the development of avant-garde jazz. Biography Early life Shepp was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but ...

Mal Waldron Malcolm Earl "Mal" Waldron (August 16, 1925 – December 2, 2002) was an American jazz pianist, composer, and arranger. He started playing professionally in New York in 1950, after graduating from college. In the following dozen years or so Wa ...

, and many others.

Biography

Jeanne Lee was born in

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

, United States. Her father, S. Alonzo Lee, was a concert and church singer whose work influenced her at an early age. She was educated at the Walden School (a private school), and subsequently at

Bard College Bard College is a private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York. The campus overlooks the Hudson River and Catskill Mountains, and is within the Hudson River Historic ...

, where she studied child psychology,Ben Ratliff, "Jeanne Lee, 61, Jazz Singer Who Embraced Avant-Garde" (obituary)
''

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 ...

'', October 31, 2000. literature and dance. During her time at Bard she created choreography for pieces by various classical and jazz composers, ranging from

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

Arnold Schoenberg Arnold Schoenberg or Schönberg (, ; ; 13 September 187413 July 1951) was an Austrian-American composer, music theorist, teacher, writer, and painter. He is widely considered one of the most influential composers of the 20th century. He was as ...

. In 1961 she graduated from Bard College with a

B.A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four yea ...

degree. That year she performed as a duo at the Apollo Theater's Amateur Night contest with pianist

, a fellow Bard alumnus, and after winning made her first record, ''

The Newest Sound Around ''The Newest Sound Around'' is an album by singer Jeanne Lee and pianist Ran Blake. It was recorded in November and December, 1961, at RCA Victor Studio in New York City, and was released by RCA Victor in 1962. The album, which was the debut record ...

''. The album gained considerable popularity in Europe, where Lee and Blake toured in 1963, but went unnoticed in the US. At this point, Lee's major influence was

Abbey Lincoln Anna Marie Wooldridge (August 6, 1930 – August 14, 2010), known professionally as Abbey Lincoln, was an American jazz vocalist, songwriter, and actress. She was a civil rights activist beginning in the 1960s. Lincoln made a career out of deli ...

. During the mid-1960s, Lee was exploring

sound poetry Sound poetry is an artistic form bridging literacy and musical composition, in which the phonetic aspects of human speech are foregrounded instead of more conventional semantic and syntactic values; "verse without words". By definition, sound poetr ...

happening A happening is a performance, event, or situation art, usually as performance art. The term was first used by Allan Kaprow during the 1950s to describe a range of art-related events. History Origins Allan Kaprow first coined the term "happen ...

Fluxus Fluxus was an international, interdisciplinary community of artists, composers, designers and poets during the 1960s and 1970s who engaged in experimental art performances which emphasized the artistic process over the finished product. Fluxus ...

-influenced art, and other multidisciplinary approaches to art. She was briefly married to sound poet David Hazelton, and composed music for the sound poetry by poets such as

Dick Higgins Dick Higgins (15 March 1938 – 25 October 1998) was an American artist, composer, art theorist, poet, publisher, printmaker, and a co-founder of the Fluxus international artistic movement (and community). Inspired by John Cage, Higgins was a ...

and

Alison Knowles Alison Knowles (born 1933) is an American visual artist known for her installations, performances, soundworks, and publications. Knowles was a founding member of the Fluxus movement, an international network of artists who aspired to merge diff ...

, becoming active in the California art scene of the time. In the late 1960s, she returned to the jazz scene and started performing and recording, quickly establishing herself as one of the most distinctively independent and creative artists in the field. Already a few years after her return she had a major role in

's magnum opus, '' Escalator over the Hill'' (1971), and recorded albums with eminent musicians including

and

. In 1967, while in Europe, Lee began a long association with

vibraphonist The vibraphone is a percussion instrument in the metallophone family. It consists of tuned metal bars and is typically played by using mallets to strike the bars. A person who plays the vibraphone is called a ''vibraphonist,'' ''vibraharpist,' ...

and composer

, whom she eventually married. They had a son, Ruomi Lee-Hampel, and a daughter, Cavana Lee-Hampel. In 1976, she represented the

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

spiritual musical tradition in

John Cage John Milton Cage Jr. (September 5, 1912 – August 12, 1992) was an American composer and music theorist. A pioneer of indeterminacy in music, electroacoustic music, and non-standard use of musical instruments, Cage was one of the leading fi ...

's ''

Apartment House 1776 ''Apartment House 1776'' is a 1976 composition by the American composer John Cage, composed for the United States Bicentennial and premiered by six orchestras across the country in 1976. The work was commissioned jointly by the orchestras of Bost ...

'', which was composed for the

U.S. Bicentennial The United States Bicentennial was a series of celebrations and observances during the mid-1970s that paid tribute to historical events leading up to the creation of the United States of America as an independent republic. It was a central event ...

. The experience inspired Lee to devote more attention to her composing, and create extended works. The immediate result was ''Prayer for Our Time'', a jazz oratorio. Lee continued to perform and make recordings until her death in 2000, recording for labels such as Birth, BYG Actuel, JCOA, ECM,

Black Saint/Soul Note Black Saint and Soul Note are two affiliated Italian independent record labels. Since their conception in the 1970s, they have released albums from a variety of influential jazz musicians, particularly in the genre of free jazz. History Black S ...

, OWL and Horo. She sang on a large number of albums by Gunter Hampel. In her late years, she ran the Jeanne Lee Ensemble, which performed a fusion of poetry, music and dance, and collaborated and toured with pianist

. Lee was also active as educator. She received a MA in Education from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then-Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, the ...

in 1972 and taught at various institutions both in the US and in Europe. She published a number of short features on music for ''

Amsterdam News The ''Amsterdam News'' (also known as ''New York Amsterdam News'') is a weekly Black-owned newspaper serving New York City. It is one of the oldest newspapers geared toward African Americans in the United States and has published columns by s ...

'' and various educational writings, including a textbook on the history of jazz music for grades four through seven. Lee died of cancer in 2000 in

Tijuana Tijuana ( ,"Tijuana"
(US) and < ...

, Mexico, aged 61. She was survived by her husband and children.

Discography

* ''

'' with

(RCA Victor, 1962) – recorded in 1961 * ''Conspiracy'' (Earthforms, 1975) – recorded in 1974 * ''Don't Freeze Yourself to Death Over There in Those Mountains'' (1984) * ''African Moods'' with

(Circle, 1984) * ''You Stepped Out of a Cloud'' (Owl, 1989) * ''Natural Affinities'' (Owl, 1992) * ''Here and Now'' with David Eyges (Word of Mouth, 1994) * ''The Newest Sound You Never Heard'' with Ran Blake (A-Side, 2019) – recorded in 1966-67 With

* '' Celebration'' (IPS, 1975) * ''

Nuba The Nuba people are indigenous inhabitants of central Sudan. Nuba are various indigenous ethnic groups who inhabit the Nuba Mountains of South Kordofan state in Sudan, encompassing multiple distinct people that speak different languages which b ...

'' (Black Saint, 1979) With

* ''Gunter Hampel Group + Jeanne Lee'' (Wergo, 1969) * ''Spirits'' (Birth, 1971) * ''Waltz for 3 Universes in a Corridor'' (Birth, 1972) * ''Familie'' (Birth, 1972) * ''Angel'' (Birth, 1972) * ''Enfant Terrible'' (Birth, 1975) * ''Freedom of the Universe'' (Birth, 1979) * ''Oasis'' (Horo, 1979) * ''Companion'' (Birth, 1982) With

* '' After Hours'' (Owl, 1994) * ''White Road Black Rain'' (Tokuma, 1995) * ''Travelin' in Soul Time'' (BV Haast, 1997) With others *

Sunny Murray James Marcellus Arthur "Sunny" Murray (September 21, 1936 – December 7, 2017) was an American musician, and was one of the pioneers of the free jazz style of drumming. Biography Murray was born in Idabel, Oklahoma, where he was raised by an ...

, ''

Homage to Africa ''Homage to Africa'' (also released as ''Hommage to Africa'') is an album by American free jazz drummer Sunny Murray. It was recorded in Paris in August 1969, and released on the BYG Records, BYG Actuel label in 1970. On the album, Murray is joined ...

'' (BYG Actuel, 1970) – recorded in 1969 *

, '' Escalator over the Hill'' (JCOA, 1971) – recorded in 1968-71 *

, ''

Town Hall 1972 ''Town Hall 1972'' is a live album by American jazz saxophonist Anthony Braxton recorded in 1972 at The Town Hall in New York City and originally released on the Japanese Trio label and rereleased on the hatART label as ''Town Hall (Trio & Quin ...

'' (Trio, 1972) – live *

, ''

Afternoon of a Georgia Faun ''Afternoon of a Georgia Faun'' is an album by American jazz saxophonist Marion Brown recorded in 1970 and released on the ECM label.

'' (ECM, 1970) *

Bob Moses Robert Moses (1888–1981) was an American city planner. Robert Moses may also refer to: * Bob Moses (activist) (1935–2021), American educator and civil rights activist * Bob Moses, American football player in the 1962 Cotton Bowl Classic * Bob M ...

, ''When Elephants Dream of Music'' (Gramavision, 1983) – recorded in 1982 *

Reggie Workman Reginald "Reggie" Workman (born June 26, 1937 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) is an American avant-garde jazz and hard bop double bassist, recognized for his work with both John Coltrane and Art Blakey. Career Early in his career, Workman wo ...

, ''

Images An image is a visual representation of something. It can be two-dimensional, three-dimensional, or somehow otherwise feed into the visual system to convey information. An image can be an artifact, such as a photograph or other two-dimensiona ...

'' (Music & Arts, 1990) – live recorded in 1989 * Reggie Workman, ''

Altered Spaces ''Altered Spaces'' is a live album by bassist/composer Reggie Workman. It was recorded in February 1992 at Swarthmore College in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania, and was released by Leo Records in 1993. On the album, Workman is joined by vocalist Jeanne L ...

'' (Leo, 1993) – live recorded in 1992

Selected compositions

* ''In These Last Days'', poem/composition (1973) * ''Prayer for Our Time'', jazz oratorio (1976) * ''La Conference des oiseaux'', jazz opera * ''Emergence'', five-part suite

References

External links

Jeanne Lee Jeanne Lee (January 29, 1939 – October 25, 2000) was an American jazz singer, poet and composer. Best known for a wide range of vocal styles she mastered, Lee collaborated with numerous distinguished composers and performers who included Gunte ...

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databas ...

*
Jeanne Lee
discography at Mindspring

informal biography (with a photo)
Jeanne Lee
obituary (with a photo)
"Jeanne Lee - Leading Vocal Improviser on the Free Jazz Scene"
''The Scotsman'', December 9, 2000. Reprinted in The Last Post, JazzHouse

at

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

* biography and album reviews
"Jeanne Lee's Voice"
biography and critical study
"Jeanne Lee, art on the move"
biography and appreciation {{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, Jeanne 1939 births 2000 deaths American women jazz singers American jazz singers Bard College alumni African-American women writers 20th-century American women writers 20th-century American historians African-American writers Compost (band) members 20th-century African-American women singers

Biography

Discography

Selected compositions

Further reading

References

External links