Annette Sanders (born 1937 or 1938) is an American jazz vocalist and studio singer. She is the mother of singer-songwriter

Michelle Lewis Michelle Robin Lewis (born ) is a singer-songwriter from United States who has released two solo albums. She has since worked as a songwriter for artists including Cher, Shawn Colvin, Hilary Duff, Kay Hanley and Kelly Osbourne. Biography Mic ...

Early life and career

Born Annette Benbasset in the Bronx, New York City in 1937 or 1938, Sanders was one of four children born to Turkish immigrants Celia Lomita and Joseph Benbasset, the latter a self-described "salesman fsporting goods" who would soon achieve great success as a clothing designer, earning a seat on the Board of Directors of the National Skirt and Sportswear Association. He was also active in the Central Sephardic Community of America, Inc., where he later served as treasurer. After attending

Hunter College Hunter College is a public university in New York City, United States. It is one of the constituent colleges of the City University of New York and offers studies in more than one hundred undergraduate and postgraduate fields across five schools ...

,Adderton, Donald V. (May 1, 1998)
"Sanders' jazzy sounds shine through on CD"
''Biloxi Sun Herald''. p. 62. Sanders first attracted national attention in 1963 as one of the first performers booked at The Rat Fink Room, Jackie Kannon's fledgling comedy club. "Among the new talent Kannon brought in," observed columnist

Louis Sobol Louis Sobol (August 10, 1896 – February 9, 1986) was a journalist, Broadway gossip columnist, and radio host. Sobol wrote for Hearst newspapers for forty years, and was considered one of the country's most popular columnists. Sobol wrote about ...

, "was a winner named Annette Sanders who looks something like Barbra Streisand and sings very much like in her manner." ''

Variety Variety may refer to: Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats * Variety (radio) * Variety show, in theater and television Films * ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont * ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...

's'' review likewise highlights the

Streisand Barbara Joan "Barbra" Streisand ( ; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress, songwriter, producer, and director. With a career spanning over six decades, she has achieved success across multiple fields of entertainment, being the ...

influence, but adds:

By the following spring, Sanders had appeared in such venues as the hungry I,

Mister Kelly's Mister Kelly's was a nightclub on Rush Street in Chicago which existed from 1953 to 1975. From around 1956 until its demise, it was a springboard to fame for many entertainers, especially jazz singers and comedians. As reported in the ''Chicago Tr ...

, and the Blue Angel. In April, she shared the bill with

Woody Allen Heywood Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American filmmaker, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades. Allen has received many List of awards and nominations received by Woody Allen, accolade ...

at the soon-to-be-renamed Washington, D.C. music club, the

Shadows A shadow is a dark area on a surface where light from a light source is blocked by an object. In contrast, shade occupies the three-dimensional volume behind an object with light in front of it. The cross-section of a shadow is a two-dimensiona ...

. The following month, patrons at the

Crescendo In music, the dynamics of a piece are the variation in loudness between notes or phrases. Dynamics are indicated by specific musical notation, often in some detail. However, dynamics markings require interpretation by the performer depending ...

West Hollywood West Hollywood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Incorporated in 1984, it is home to the Sunset Strip. As of the 2020 U.S. Census, its population was 35,757. History Most historical writings about West Hollywood be ...

saw Sanders and a young

Bill Cosby William Henry Cosby Jr. ( ; born July 12, 1937) is an American retired comedian, actor, and media personality. Often cited as a trailblazer for African Americans in the entertainment industry, Cosby was a film, television, and stand-up comedy ...

open for

Tommy Makem Thomas Makem (4 November 1932 – 1 August 2007) was an Irish folk music, folk musician, artist, poet and storyteller. He was best known as a member of the Clancy Brothers and Tommy Makem. He played the long-necked 5-string banjo, tin whistle, l ...

and the

Clancy Brothers The Clancy Brothers were an influential Irish folk music group that developed initially as a part of the American folk music revival. Most popular during the 1960s, they were famed for their Aran jumpers and are widely credited with popularisi ...

. In December, the ''

Cincinnati Post ''The Cincinnati Post'' was an afternoon daily newspaper published in Cincinnati, Ohio, United States. In Northern Kentucky, it was bundled inside a local edition called ''The Kentucky Post''. The ''Post'' was a founding publication and onetim ...

's'' Dale Stevens reviewed her performance at Cincinnati's recently opened Playboy Club, commending Sanders' "fine voice control, which gives her an added dimension of dramatics on her ballads, which are her specialty ..Her approach is one of thoughtful emotion spiced by a high-keyed awareness of the lyrics." On the other hand, ''Variety'', assessing Sanders' performance the previous month at

Houston Houston ( ) is the List of cities in Texas by population, most populous city in the U.S. state of Texas and in the Southern United States. Located in Southeast Texas near Galveston Bay and the Gulf of Mexico, it is the county seat, seat of ...

's Tidelands nightclub, observes:

By this time, Sanders had been signed to

Mercury Records Mercury Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group. It had significant success as an independent operation in the 1940s and 1950s. Smash Records and Fontana Records were sub labels of Mercury. Mercury Records released ...

by Bobby Scott, who also provided the tunes and arrangements on her first single, "If My Love Were There" and "Half a Crown. After appearing twice on

The Merv Griffin Show ''The Merv Griffin Show'' is an American television talk show starring Merv Griffin. The series had runs on two different networks on NBC (1962–1963) and CBS (1969–1972) but is most known for its run on first-run syndication from 1965 to 1 ...

in the fall of 1965, and once on

The Tonight Show ''The Tonight Show'' is an American late-night talk show that has been broadcast on NBC since 1954. The program has been hosted by six comedians: Steve Allen (1954–1957), Jack Paar (1957–1962), Johnny Carson (1962–1992), Jay Leno (1992–2 ...

the following January, Sanders was discovered by

Benny Goodman Benjamin David Goodman (May 30, 1909 – June 13, 1986) was an American clarinetist and bandleader, known as the "King of Swing". His orchestra did well commercially. From 1936 until the mid-1940s, Goodman led one of the most popular swing bi ...

, with whom she performed intermittently over the next five years.Santelli, Robert (May 16, 1991)
"Jingle Singer Will Be Singing a Different Tune"
''Asbury Park Press''. p. E3. May 19, 1966 marked the beginning of the group's first extended engagement, at New York's Rainbow Grill. Reviewing that performance, ''

Down Beat ''DownBeat'' (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 that it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1 ...

's''

Dan Morgenstern Dan Michael Morgenstern (October 24, 1929 – September 7, 2024) was an American jazz historian and archivist. Born to a Jewish family in Germany, Morgenstern fled Nazi-occupied Austria with his mother and in 1947 emigrated to the United States ...

observed:

Meanwhile, Sanders cut another two sides for Mercury in December 1966: "Come To The Masquerade" and "Any Other Way," both from the

Off Broadway An off-Broadway theatre is any professional theatre venue in New York City with a seating capacity between 100 and 499, inclusive. These theatres are smaller than Broadway theatres, but larger than off-off-Broadway theatres, which seat fewer tha ...

musical, '' Man with a Load of Mischief''. Early successes notwithstanding, her marriage in 1965, plus the birth of two children not long thereafter, compelled Sanders to limit her commitments—not merely to Goodman, but to her music career as a whole, which, as a result, was confined almost entirely to studio work for the next two decades.Jacobsen, Ellen (October 2, 1969)
"Home, Career — She Manages Both"
''The Hackensack Record''. p. 21. Among the more memorable jingles Sanders performed during those years are "I Love New York", "I'm a Chiquita Banana," and "Turn me loose, Imprévu!" (for Coty Inc.'s Imprévu perfume).O'Connor, Helen (February 25, 1991)
"Singers That Jingle Jangle Jingle"
''New York Daily News''. p. 33. Some of the other companies, products and/or places whose praises Sanders sang include

Sears Sears, Roebuck and Co., commonly known as Sears ( ), is an American chain of department stores and online retailer founded in 1892 by Richard Warren Sears and Alvah Curtis Roebuck and reincorporated in 1906 by Richard Sears and Julius Rosen ...

Pathmark Pathmark is a supermarket brand owned by Allegiance Retail Services, a retailers’ cooperative based in Iselin, New Jersey, USA. Pathmark currently has one location in East Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York, which it has operated since 2019. From ...

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation, doing business as McDonald's, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational fast food chain store, chain. As of 2024, it is the second largest by number of locations in the world, behind only the Chinese ch ...

Coca-Cola Coca-Cola, or Coke, is a cola soft drink manufactured by the Coca-Cola Company. In 2013, Coke products were sold in over 200 countries and territories worldwide, with consumers drinking more than 1.8 billion company beverage servings ...

Jell-O Jell-O (stylized in all caps) is an American brand offering a variety of powdered gelatin dessert (fruit-flavored gels/jellies), pudding, and no-bake cream pie mixes. The original gelatin dessert ( genericized as jello) is the signature of ...

, and Trump Plaza. ''The Time is Right'', Sanders' 1986 debut disc, featuring pianist-arranger

Michael Abene Michael may refer to: People * Michael (given name), a given name * he He ..., a given name * Michael (surname), including a list of people with the surname Michael Given name * Michael (bishop elect)">Michael (surname)">he He ..., a given nam ...

, guitarist

Joe Beck Joe Beck (July 29, 1945 – July 22, 2008) was an American jazz guitarist who was active for over 40 years. Biography Born in Philadelphia, Beck moved to Manhattan in his teens, playing six nights a week in a trio setting, which gave him an opp ...

, and her husband,

reedman The Autobots are a fictional faction of sentient robots in the ''Transformers'' multimedia franchise. The Autobots are living robots from the planet Cybertron who, like most Transformers, are each imbued with a unique "life force" known as a "s ...

Mort Lewis, was given a brief but emphatic—and empathetic—thumbs-up by the ''

Herald-Sun The ''Herald Sun'' is a Conservatism, conservative daily tabloid newspaper based in Melbourne, Australia, published by The Herald and Weekly Times, a subsidiary of News Corp Australia, itself a subsidiary of the American Rupert Murdoch, Murd ...

's'' R.C. Smith, stressing the album title's autobiographical connotation:

In 1985, Sanders, along with colleague Arlene Martell and others, formed Group Five, a jazz vocal quintet composed entirely of veteran studio performers. The other original members were Helen Miles, Lenny Roberts and Artie Schroeck,Orgill, Roxanne (October 12, 1989)
"Voices That Soar and Sell"
''The Hackensack Record''. p. E6. the latter two providing lyrics and musical arrangements, respectively. By 1991, Paul Evans had replaced Schroeck, and by no later than 1997, Miles and Roberts had been succeeded by Holli Ross and Kevin DeSimone. Although no Group Five album was ever released, one of the quintet's later incarnations—with Sanders, Martell, Miles, Evans and Jeff Lyons—was featured on

Freddy Cole Lionel Frederick Cole (October 15, 1931 – June 27, 2020) was an American jazz singer and pianist whose recording career spanned almost 70 years. He was the brother of musicians Nat King Cole, Eddie Cole, and Ike Cole, father of Lionel Cole, ...

's 1996 release, ''It's Crazy, But I'm in Love'', providing all background vocals.Di Fillipo, Ricardo (April 1, 2015
"Cole Freddy"
Enciclopedia Del Jazz.

Personal life

A longtime resident of

River Vale, New Jersey River Vale is a township in Bergen County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. River Vale is the easternmost municipality in an area of the county referred to as the Pascack Valley. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's population ...

, Sanders was married to tenor saxophonist Morty Lewis from May 1965 until his death in March 1990. The following year, on December 13, at Temple Beth El in

Closter, New Jersey Closter (Westergaard, Barbara"Closter: Bergen" ''New Jersey: A Guide to the State'', p. 78. Rutgers University Press, 2006. . Accessed July 22, 2011. "Known locally as the "hub of the Northern Valley," Closter (pronounced with a long ''o'') was ...

, Sanders and pianist Michael Abene performed a

Shabbat Shabbat (, , or ; , , ) or the Sabbath (), also called Shabbos (, ) by Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazim, is Judaism's day of rest on the seventh day of the seven-day week, week—i.e., Friday prayer, Friday–Saturday. On this day, religious Jews ...

jazz service in her husband's memory, featuring a setting of

Sim Shalom Sim Shalom (; "Grant Peace") is a blessing that is recited at the end of the morning Amidah and the Mincha Amidah during fast days in the Ashkenazic tradition, and on mincha of the Sabbath in the Western Ashkenazic rite and most communities in Is ...

composed by Rabbi Fredric S. Pomerantz. In addition to Sanders, Lewis was survived by their two children, Jonathan and singer-songwriter

Discography

As leader

* ''The Time Is Right'' (Sovereign, 1986)"Search results for au='Sanders, Annette'"
WorldCat.Ineck, Tom (July 9, 1989)
"Top Organist Swings, Vocalist Scats on Jazz Releases"
''Lincoln Journal Star''. p. 18. * ''On My Way to You'' (Cabaret Records, 1995) * ''Everything I Love'' (Ripe & Ready, 1998) * ''Let's Get Lost'' (Orchard, 2000)"Annette Sanders credits"

AllMusic AllMusic (previously known as All-Music Guide and AMG) is an American online database, online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on Musical artist, musicians and Mus ...

. * ''No Free Jam'' (Orchard, 2000) * ''You Will Be My Music'' (Mama Jazz Foundation/Summit Records, 2007)

As sidewoman

* Various artists – ''All By Myself, Vol. I (1921–1926)'' (Monmouth/Evergreen, 1968)Gross, Mike (May 25, 1968). "Record Review: Monmouth Fires on-Target 3-Album Salute to Berlin" ''Billboard''. p. 22. * Various artists – ''All By Myself, Vol. II (1926–1930)'' (Monmouth/Evergreen, 1968) * Various artists – ''All By Myself, Vol. III (1930–1933)'' (Monmouth/Evergreen, 1968) *

Rusty Dedrick Lyle "Rusty" Dedrick (12 July 1918 – 25 December 2009) was an American swing and bebop jazz trumpeter and composer born in Delevan, New York, probably better known for his work with Bill Borden, Dick Stabile, Red Norvo, Ray McKinley and Cla ...

– ''Many Facets, Many Friends'' (Monmouth/Evergreen, 1971) *

Jon Lucien Lucien Leopold Harrigan (January 8, 1942 – August 18, 2007), known professionally as Jon Lucien, was a singer from Tortola in the British Virgin Islands. Life and career Born in Tortola in 1942, Lucien was raised in St. Thomas. His parents we ...

– ''Rashida'' (

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic ...

, 1971) * Harold Dumont – ''Harold Dumont Sings Duke Ellington'' (Cleemo, 1975) * Various artists – ''Say It With Music'' (Monmouth/Evergreen, 1978) * Various artists – '' The Wiz (OST)'' (

Motown Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

, 1978) *

Meco Domenico Monardo (November 29, 1939 – May 26, 2023), known as Meco, was an American record producer and musician, as well as the name of his band or production team. Meco is best known for his 1977 space disco version of the ''Star Wars'' ...

– ''Pop Goes The Movies'' ( Arista, 1982) *

Leslie Pearl Leslie Pearl is an American songwriter, record producer and musician. Biography Born in Pennsylvania, Pearl wrote hits for Crystal Gayle, Kenny Rogers, Johnny Mathis and Dr. Hook, as well as writing the lyrics and music for the Karen Carpenter s ...

– ''Words and Music'' (RCA, 1982) * Various artists – ''Christmas In The Stars: Star Wars Christmas Album'' ( RSO, 1982) *

Arnie Lawrence Arnold Lawrence Finkelstein (July 10, 1938 in Brooklyn, New York – April 22, 2005 in Jerusalem) was an American jazz saxophonist. Career Lawrence studied clarinet in his youth before switching to saxophone. He played from age 12 in clubs in th ...

– ''Arnie Lawrence and Treasure Island'' ( Doctor Jazz, 1983) * Michael Davis – ''Heroes'' (Voss, 1991) *

– ''Yale Archives—Volume 6: Rainbow Grill '66 and '67'' ( MusicMasters, 1991; rec. 1966) *

The Glenn Miller Orchestra Glenn Miller and His Orchestra was an American swing dance band that was formed by Glenn Miller in 1938. Arranged around a clarinet and tenor saxophone playing melody, and three other saxophones playing harmony, the band became the most popu ...

– ''In the (Christmas) Mood'' (

LaserLight "Laserlight" is a song by English singer-songwriter Jessie J featuring French DJ David Guetta, taken from the platinum edition of Jessie J's debut studio album, '' Who You Are'' (2011). The artists co-wrote the song with The Invisible Men, ...

, 1991) *

Wynton Marsalis Wynton Learson Marsalis (born October 18, 1961) is an American trumpeter, composer, and music instructor, who is currently the artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center. He has been active in promoting classical and jazz music, often to young ...

– ''Portraits by Ellington'' ( Columbia, 1992)Mayhall, Mark (November 17, 1995)
"Club Crawling: Double-barreled Blank; Ambassador of Jazz"
''The Cincinnati Enquirer Weekend''. p. 39. *

Gloria Estefan Gloria María Milagrosa Estefan (; ; born September 1, 1957) is an American singer, actress, and businesswoman. Estefan is an eight-time Grammy Awards, Grammy Award winner, a Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient, and has been named one of t ...

– '' Christmas Through Your Eyes'' (

Epic Epic commonly refers to: * Epic poetry, a long narrative poem celebrating heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation * Epic film, a genre of film defined by the spectacular presentation of human drama on a grandiose scale Epic(s) ...

, 1993) * The Glenn Miller Orchestra – ''In the (Christmas) Mood II'' (LaserLight, 1993) *

Sal Salvador Sal Salvador (November 21, 1925 – September 22, 1999), whose name was originally Silvio Smiraglia, was an American bebop jazz guitarist and a prominent music educator. He was born in Monson, Massachusetts, United States, and began his profession ...

– ''The Way of the Wind'' (JazzMania, 1994) * Various artists – '' Burning for Buddy: A Tribute to the Music of Buddy Rich'' (At1antic, 1994) * Various artists – ''Bullets Over Broadway: Music From the Motion Picture'' (

Sony Classical Sony Classical is an American record label founded in 1924 as Columbia Masterworks Records, a subsidiary of Columbia Records. In 1980, the Columbia Masterworks label was renamed as CBS Masterworks Records. The CBS Records Group was acquired ...

, 1994) * Various artists – ''Mighty Aphrodite: Music From the Motion Picture'' (Sony Classical, 1995) *

Michael Jackson Michael Joseph Jackson (August 29, 1958 – June 25, 2009) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, and philanthropist. Dubbed the "King of Pop", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Michael Jackson, one of the most culturally significan ...

– '' HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I'' (Epic, 1995) *

– ''It's Crazy, But I'm in Love'' (Hip Pocket, 1996) * Benny Goodman – ''The King Of Swing – Volumes 6–10'' (1996, MusicMasters; rec. 1966) * Ray Starling, Joel Kaye – ''Alternate Routes'' (Tantara, 1996; rec. 1965) * Michael Jackson – '' Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix'' (Epic, 1997) * Steve Ross – ''I Won't Dance! ...Fred & Cole'' (Ligeti, 1997) * The Glenn Miller Orchestra – ''In the Nutcracker Mood'' (LaserLight, 1997) * Various artists – '' Burning for Buddy: A Tribute to the Music of Buddy Rich, Vol. 2'' ( At1antic, 1997) * Various artists – ''Everyone Says I Love You (OST)'' (RCA Victor, 1997) *

Chuck Mangione Charles Frank Mangione ( ; born November 29, 1940) is an American flugelhorn player, trumpeter and composer. He came to prominence as a member of Art Blakey's band in the 1960s, and later co-led the Jazz Brothers with his brother, Gap Mangione, ...

– ''The Feeling's Back'' ( Chesky, 1999) * Joe McMahon Jr. – Secondhand Heart for Sale: The Songs of Joe McMahon Jr. (Sharla, 1999) * Various artists – ''There's No Place Like Hollywood (OST)'' (Ducy Lee, 2003) *

Walt Levinsky Walt Levinsky (April 18, 1929 – December 14, 1999) was an American big band and orchestral player, composer, arranger, and bandleader. While many of his big band assignments were as lead alto sax player, his favorite instrument was the clarin ...

– ''Walt Levinsky in Concert: As He Wanted to Be Remembered'' ( Arbors, 2003) * Various artists – ''Salute: The World War II Tribute Album'' (

Curb A curb (American English) or kerb (British English) is the edge where a raised sidewalk/pavement or road median/central reservation meets a street/other roadway. History Although curbs have been used throughout modern history, and indeed ...

, 2005) * Mike Berkowitz and the Gene Krupa Orchestra – ''Thinking of Gene'' (Sea Breeze, 2007) * Various artists – ''Jazz at Token Creek 2009 : Songs of Jimmy van Heusen'' (Token Creek Recordings, 2010) * Various artists – ''Jazz at Token Creek 2004 : Harold Arlen & Vernon Duke'' (Token Creek Recordings, 2020; rec. 2004)"Jazz at Token Creek 2004 : Harold Arlen & Vernon Duke"
WorldCat.

Filmography

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sanders, Annette 1930s births Year of birth missing (living people) Living people 20th-century American Sephardic Jews 20th-century American singers 20th-century American women singers 21st-century American singers 21st-century American women singers American women jazz singers American jazz singers American people of Turkish descent Jazz musicians from New York City People from River Vale, New Jersey Singers from New Jersey Hunter College alumni