Dee Bell (born July 16, 1950) is an American jazz singer.

Personal life

Bell grew up in a musical family and began playing music at home. She played clarinet in the Plainfield High School band and performed in an a cappella trio from age ten through her last year of high school. She graduated from

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. * Indiana Univers ...

in December 1972, lived on the edge of the

Hoosier National Forest The Hoosier National Forest is a property managed by the United States Forest Service in the hills of southern Indiana. Composed of four separate sections, it has a total area of . Hoosier National Forest's headquarters are located in Bedford, w ...

in a two-room cabin with a woodstove for heat, and was co-founder and head chef of the Earth Kitchen vegetarian restaurant in Bloomington, Indiana.

Career

In the late 1970s, Bell moved to California and worked at a restaurant in Sausalito. While singing "Happy Birthday" to a customer, she was heard by jazz guitarist

Eddie Duran Edward Lozano Duran (September 6, 1925 – November 22, 2019) was an American jazz guitarist from San Francisco. He recorded often with Vince Guaraldi and was a member of the Benny Goodman orchestra during the 1970s. Career Duran started on p ...

, and he invited her to sing with his band. They made a demo tape which became her first album, ''Let There Be Love'' (

Concord Jazz Concord Jazz is a record company and label founded in 1973 by Carl Jefferson, the former owner of Jefferson Motors Lincoln Mercury dealership in Concord, California. The label was named after the city in the East San Francisco Bay area, and the ...

), recorded with Duran and

Stan Getz Stanley Getz (February 2, 1927 – June 6, 1991) was an American jazz saxophonist. Playing primarily the tenor saxophone, Getz was known as "The Sound" because of his warm, lyrical tone, with his prime influence being the wispy, mellow timbre o ...

. They recorded another album for Concord Jazz, this time with

Tom Harrell Tom Harrell (born June 16, 1946) is an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhornist, composer, and arranger. Voted Trumpeter of the Year of 2018 by ''Jazz Journalists Association'', Harrell has won awards and grants throughout his career, including mul ...

. Bell recorded a third album, ''Sagacious Grace'' in 1990 with

Houston Person Houston Person (born November 10, 1934) is an American jazz tenor saxophonist and record producer. Although he has performed in the hard bop and swing genres, he is most experienced in and best known for his work in soul jazz. He received the ...

and

John Stowell John F. Stowell (born July 30, 1950) is an American jazz guitarist, composer, author, and lecturer. Biography Stowell, who plays electric and acoustic guitar, was born in New York and raised in Connecticut. He had private studies with Lin ...

, but technical problems during recording kept the album from being released. She left the music business and became a grade school music teacher in Mill Valley. In 2011 audio engineers fixed the problems with ''Sagacious Grace'' and the album was released by Laser Records. It reached No. 31 on the ''JazzWeek'' radio chart. After the death of her musical director, Al Plank, Dee met Marcos Silva backstage after she performed a Marcos Valle song, ''The Face I Love'' at the same tribute to Merrilee Trost where Marcos played.They merged her swing style with his command of Brazilian rhythms and performed the belated CD release of ''Sagacious Grace'' at the Throckmorton Theatre mentioned above. They followed this performance with three CDs on the Laser Records label. ''Silva.Bell.Elation''

014 014 may refer to: * Argus As 014 * BIND-014 * 014 Construction Unit * Divi Divi Air Flight 014 * Pirna 014 * Tyrrell 014 See also * 14 (disambiguation) Fourteen or 14 may refer to: * 14 (number), the natural number following 13 and preceding 1 ...

''Lins, Lennox, & Life''

018 018 may refer to *Air Canada Flight 018, an airline flight from Hong Kong to Vancouver, Canada, illegally boarded by a Chinese man wearing a disguise in 2010 *Area code 018, a telephone area code in Uppsala, Sweden *BMW 018, an experimental turboje ...

and ''Love for Sailin' Over Seas: Then & Now'' 022 Bell has written lyrics with permission and copyrights to Billy Strayhorn's ''Isfahan'', Jimmy Rowles ''The Peacocks'', Don Sebesky's ''You Can't Go Home Again'' You_Can't_Go_Home_Again_(album), and Ivan Lins', ''Acaso'' 'By Chance'' ''Depois dos Temporais'' 'After the Storm'' and ''Choros das Aguas'' 'Crying of the Waters''

Awards and honors

''Let There Be Love'' was chosen as a ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' magazine Recommended LP Jazz Pick in their March 26, 1983 issue. Bell was nominated by ''

Down Beat ' (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 which it covered exclusively in previous years. The publication was established in 1934 in Ch ...

'' in their Jazz Critics' Poll of 1984 and 1985 as Talent Deserving Wider Recognition. '' BAM'' magazine nominated ''Let There Be Love'' as the Best Debut Album in their 1983 Awards.

Discography

* ''Let There Be Love'' with

and

(

, 1983) * ''One by One'' with Eddie Duran (Concord Jazz, 1985) * ''Sagacious Grace'' (Laser, 2011) * ''Silva Bell Elation'' with Marcos Silva (Laser, 2014) * ''Lins, Lennox, & Life'' with Marcos Silva,

Erik Jekabson Erik Jekabson (born March 23, 1973) is an American jazz trumpeter, flugelhorn player, and vibraphonist. A Bay Area-based musician, he is known for the jazz group The Electric Squeezebox Orchestra, which he leads. He is also a composer and arranger. ...

(Laser, 2018) * ''Love for Sailin' Over Seas: Then & Now'' with Marcos Silva, Romero Lubambo, (Laser, 2022)

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bell, Dee 1950 births Living people Singers from Indiana American women jazz singers American jazz singers Concord Records artists 21st-century American women