Mabel Mercer

Mabel Mercer ( born February 3, 1900 in Burton -upon -Trent, Staffordshire, England; † April 20, 1984 in Pittsfield ( Massachusetts)) was a British vaudeville singer and interpreter of the Great American Songbook, in Europe and America with the sizes of their trade occurred.

Biography

Mabel Mercer was the daughter of white Welsh music-hall dancer Gertrude Doak and black jazz musician Warren Mercer, who died before she was born. She grew up with her grandparents on mother's side and began at age 14, performing in vaudeville shows. My uncle and aunt who were also active in show business, they brought in a piece called "The Five Romanies ," in which she appeared as Gypsies. At the beginning of the First World War, she moved in with a friend in Europe. In 1926 she appeared in the revue Lew Leslie's Blackbirds in London. In 1928 she was a member of the black choir in the London production of the musical Show Boat. In the 1930s, she was engaged in the famous Chez Bricktop in Paris, where she began to sing and enthusiastic among others Ernest Hemingway, Gertrude Stein, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Cole Porter.

At the outbreak of World War II, she moved to New York, where she appeared in the best clubs of the city, as in the Harlem club " Le Ruban Bleu " 1941. In 1942 followed a seven-year commitment to " Tony's " Club 1949 " byline Room ". 1955, opened as the new " byline Room", they had established themselves in the New York cabaret scene. She also made recordings, toured the United States and had TV appearances. In the late 1960s she was in New York two legendary concerts with Bobby Short, both of which were released on LP: Mabel Mercer & Bobby Short at Town Hall ( 1968) and Mabel Mercer & Bobby Short Second Town Hall Concert ( 1969). In the late 1960s, with the advent of discotheques and the end of the night clubs, the star fell from Mabel Mercer; she still had occasional appearances on "Café Carlyle " and the " Downstairs at the Upstairs ". From a lottery prize, they bought a farm near New York and drew largely from show business back. In 1971 she gave her first concert in her native England after 41 years. From 1970, Jimmy Lyon was her companion at the piano. In 1978, she appeared on the occasion of their 78th Birthday before a packed house in San Francisco.

Mabel Mercer is one of the great interpreters of the contemporary popular songs. In particular, they devoted themselves to the work of Cole Porter, Bart Howard and Alec Wilder, with whom she was friends. Among her best-known songs from the Great American Songbook include titles such as " While We're Young ," " Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye ," " Some Other Time " and " Blame it on My Youth ", which also jazz standards were later. However, Mercer is not considered a true jazz singer, even if they sometimes occurred with jazz musicians, such as with the orchestra of Eddie South. Among her admirers was one of Frank Sinatra, which she described as his artistic role model.

Awards

For her life's work Mabel Mercer was awarded the first "Award for Merit " of the " Stereo Review Magazine". This award was in 1984 renamed " Mabel Mercer Award". In 1981 it was held in honor of the Whitney Museum of American Art, New York "An American Cabaret". In 1983, Mercer of President Ronald Reagan in the White House, the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award the U.S.. Besides her two honorary doctorates were awarded, from Berklee College of Music and the New England Conservatory of Music. In 1985, the Mabel Mercer Foundation was established, which aims to maintain the memory of Mabel Mercer, and to support artists.