Ruth Price (born April 27, 1938) is 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 and Artistic Director of the

Jazz Bakery The Jazz Bakery is a not-for-profit arts presenter in Los Angeles that has showcased many of the world's most acclaimed jazz artists since it was founded by jazz vocalist Ruth Price in 1992. History Price, President & Artistic Director of the ...

in Los Angeles, California. Price attended ballet school in 1952. In 1954, she sang with

Charlie Ventura Charlie Ventura (born Charles Venturo; December 2, 1916 – January 17, 1992) was an American tenor saxophonist and bandleader from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Career During the 1940s, Ventura played saxophone for the bands o ...

and later worked as a singer and dancer in Philadelphia and New York City. She moved to Hollywood in 1957 and toured with

Harry James Harry Haag James (March 15, 1916 – July 5, 1983) was an American musician who is best known as a trumpet-playing band leader who led a big band from 1939 to 1946. He broke up his band for a short period in 1947 but shortly after he reorganized ...

from 1964 to 1965. In the 1960s and 1970s she had severa
TV appearances
both as herself in musical specials and as an actress in popular TV shows of the time. Price's repertoire includes many obscure, lesser-known gems from the

Great American Songbook The Great American Songbook is the loosely defined canon of significant early-20th-century American jazz standards, popular songs, and show tunes. Definition According to the Great American Songbook Foundation: The "Great American Songbook" i ...

. She has worked as an adjunct assistant professor at the

UCLA The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a teachers college then known as the southern branch of the California ...

Department of Ethnomusicology.

Discography

Source:

References

American jazz singers American women jazz singers Living people 1938 births People from Phoenixville, Pennsylvania Jazz musicians from Pennsylvania 21st-century American women {{US-jazz-singer-stub