Myra Taylor (jazz singer)
Myra Taylor Jardine ( born February 24, 1917 in Bonner Springs, Kansas, † December 9, 2011 in Kansas City, Missouri) was an American jazz singer, songwriter and actress.
Life and work
Taylor grew up in Kansas City in the historic 18th and Vine -Downtown East neighborhood on. At 14, she began working as a cleaner; next she was a dancer in the clubs Sunset and Reno in the 12th Street on. Not yet come of age, she got into some clubs through a side window and gained finally by her singing better known.
In the 1930s, she toured the Midwest with Clarence Loves band. In 1937 she moved to Chicago and worked at Baby Dodds, Lonnie Johnson, Roy Eldridge and Lil Hardin Armstrong. In 1940 she returned to Kansas City and was band vocalist with Harlan Leonard's new band Harlan Leonard and His Rockets, who had a long involvement in the Harlem ballroom Golden Gate Ballroom. The band recorded I Do not Want to Set the World on Fire on the RCA label Bluebird Records. Taylor wrote the song Dig It, and Leonard claimed credits as co -author, later removed their names and deprived her of the royalties.
After her exit at Leonard she went with Eubie Blake on a USO tour, then returned to Kansas City to sing at Jimmy Keith. In 1946 she had a hit with Spider and the Fly at Mercury Records, but were deprived of their royalties from the publisher Blasco Music.
Frustrated by the American music business, they lived most of the 1950s in Juarez, Mexico. Taylor then began to appear in Europe, moved in 1965 to Frankfurt am Main and eröffnetete a club called the Down by the Riverside. She also appeared in USO shows in the Korean and Vietnam war, as well as a further 32 different countries.
In 1977 she returned to the United States and settled in Los Angeles to work in film and television studios. In 1994, she returned again to Kansas City. In 2000, she recorded the album My Night to Dream for the label Analogue Production Originals, released on 11 September 2001. 2010, it was re-released on SACD. Taylor continued her singing career away, and entered with the formation Wild Women of Kansas Cityauf and celebrated her 94th birthday with a concert at Knuckleheads Saloon with Samantha Fish and Mike Zito.
On July 24, 2011, she had her last appearance with the Wild Women of Kansas City in the night club Jardine's in Kansas City, Missouri. In the second half of 2011, her health deteriorated; she lived until her death in December in a nursing home, the Swope Ridge Geriatric Center in Kansas City.
Career as an actress
Taylor played the role of Pearl in three episodes of the U.S. television series The Jeffersons, 1979, she had a starring role in the basketball comedy scoring. She had supporting roles in the thriller Suspect (1987) Crossing Delancey (1988 ), A charming Disgust (1991) and Ron Howard headlines ( 1994)
Disco Graphical Notes
- Kansas City Jump: Swingin Small Combos Kansas City Style, Vol 3 (2007)
- My Night to Dream (2001)