Marlena Shaw was born Marlina Burgess on 22 Sep 1942 in New Rochelle, NY, and as is celebrating her 80th birthday today.
She was introduced to jazz music via her uncle, Jimmy Burgess', records of Dizzy Gillespie and Miles Davis. Burgess was a jazz trumpeter who performed with pianist Horace Silver and brought his niece on stage to sing during a show at the famed Apollo Theater when she was ten. Although she received an enthusiastic reception, her mother refused to let her go on the road with her uncle.
Marlena began her career in the 1960s working with a trio led by Howard McGhee and is still performing. Her music crosses genre boundaries as she made her mark on jazz, R&B, disco, and soul music at various times.
Her debut single on Chess subsidiary, Cadet, in Oct 1966 is regarded a Northern Soul classic which is a vocal version of the recently departed Ramsey Lewis' "Wade In The Water". It wasn't a hit but the follow up in Jan 1967, which was the first vocal version of a Cannoball Adderley recorded song "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy", ultimately became her biggest hit reaching #33 R&B and #58 Hot 100. She would have to wait almost ten years before another single hit the charts. The success of the single led to her first album in 1968 "Out Of Different Bags" the title reflecting the diversity of styles, including blues, jazz, and pop standards. One of her best, in my opinion, followed in 1969, "The Spice Of Life" both released by Cadet.
These recording brought her to the attention of Count Basie who she sang with for the next four years before joining the legendary jazz label Blue Note in 1972. She was the first female vocalist signed to the label and recorded five albums there between 1972-1976. Her next hit single was the first 12" release by Blue Note with "It's Better Than Walking Out" in 1976.
In 1977 she joined Columbia who she had auditioned for before signing with Cadet but failed the audition owing to nerves. Her first single for the label "Yu Ma/Go Away Little Boy" is probably her most iconic. It's a version of a song written by Goffin & King first recorded by Nancy Wilson in 1964 on "Today, Tomorrow, Forever", which Shaw had recorded earlier as the flip to "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy" in 1967, but the new version included the "Yu-Ma" rap introduction. She recorded three albums for Columbia which spawned several major dance-club hits.
Album Discography
1967 - Out of Different Bags [Cadet]
1969 - The Spice of Life [Cadet]
1972 - Marlena [Blue Note]
1973 - From the Depths of My Soul [Blue Note]
1974 - Marlena Shaw Live at Montreux [Blue Note]
1975 - Who Is This Bitch, Anyway? [Blue Note]
1976 - Just a Matter of Time [Blue Note]
1977 - Sweet Beginnings [Columbia]
1978 - Acting Up [Columbia]
1979 - Take a Bite [Columbia]
1982 - Let Me in Your Life [South Bay]
1987 - It Is Love (Recorded Live at Vine St.) [Verve]
1988 - Love Is in Flight [Polydor]
1996 - Dangerous [Concord Jazz]
1997 - Elemental Soul [Concord Jazz]
2002 - Live in Tokyo [441 Records]
2004 - Lookin' for Love [441 Records]
