Lucy Ann Polk (May 16, 1927 – October 10, 2011) was an American jazz singer who performed with Les Brown's orchestra in the 1950s. She also sang and recorded with

Bob Crosby George Robert Crosby (August 23, 1913 – March 9, 1993) was an American jazz singer and bandleader, best known for his group the Bob-Cats, which formed around 1935. The Bob-Cats were a New Orleans Dixieland-style jazz octet. He was the younge ...

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Dave Pell David Pell (February 26, 1925 – May 7, 2017) was an American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and record producer. He was best known for leading a cool jazz octet in the 1950s. Biography Pell played in his teens with the big bands of Tony Pastor, B ...

Career

Polk began her music career with her sister and brothers in a quartet named the Four Polks, which was eventually changed to the Town Criers. They performed with big bands led by Les Brown,

Lionel Hampton Lionel Leo Hampton (April 20, 1908 – August 31, 2002) was an American jazz vibraphonist, pianist, percussionist, and bandleader. Hampton worked with jazz musicians from Teddy Wilson, Benny Goodman, and Buddy Rich, to Charlie Parker, Charles M ...

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until they disbanded in 1948. Polk became the lead vocalist with the Les Brown Orchestra. From 1952–1954, she was named Best Girl Singer with Band by ''

Down Beat ' (styled in all caps) is an American music magazine devoted to "jazz, blues and beyond", the last word indicating its expansion beyond the jazz realm which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Chi ...

'' magazine. She began her solo career with the album ''Lucy Ann Polk with the Dave Pell Octet'' (

Trend A fad or trend is any form of collective behavior that develops within a culture, a generation or social group in which a group of people enthusiastically follow an impulse (psychology), impulse for a short period. Fads are objects or behavior ...

, 1954), followed by ''Lucky Lucy Ann'' (Mode, 1957; reissued by Interlude under the name ''Easy Livin'' in 1959). The latter album featured arrangements by

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. On both albums, she sang jazz and traditional pop songs by

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Hoagy Carmichael Hoagland Howard Carmichael (November 22, 1899 – December 27, 1981) was an American musician, composer, songwriter, actor and lawyer. Carmichael was one of the most successful Tin Pan Alley songwriters of the 1930s, and was among the first ...

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Jimmy Van Heusen James Van Heusen (born Edward Chester Babcock; January 26, 1913 – February 6, 1990) was an American composer. He wrote songs for films, television and theater, and won an Emmy and four Academy Awards for Best Original Song. Life and care ...

. She released no more albums and ended her career in 1960.

Personal life

In 1946, Polk married Dick Noel, who played trombone with Les Brown's orchestra.

Discography

* ''With the Dave Pell Octet'' (Trend, 1954) * ''The Dave Pell Octet Plays Burke & Van Heusen'' (Kapp, 1956) * ''Lucky Lucy Ann'' (Mode, 1957) * ''With the Les Brown Orchestra 1950–1953'' (Olfert Dappers, 1997) * ''Imagination'' (SSJ, 2013)

Notes

External links

Audio of Lucy Ann Polk on ''The Les Brown Show''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Polk, Lucy Ann 1927 births 2011 deaths American jazz singers American women jazz singers Big band singers People from Sandpoint, Idaho Singers from Idaho 21st-century American women