Germaine Bazzle (born March 28, 1932) is a jazz vocalist from New Orleans.
Background
Bazzle was born in
New Orleans
New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...
in 1932 and is from the
Seventh Ward.
She grew up in a musical family and began playing the piano by ear at a young age. Her formal musical education began at the age of twelve at the Xavier Junior School of Music.
Her musical influences include
Sarah Vaughan
Sarah Lois Vaughan (, March 27, 1924 – April 3, 1990) was an American jazz singer and pianist. Nicknamed "Sassy" and "List of nicknames of jazz musicians, The Divine One", she won two Grammy Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, ...
,
Ella Fitzgerald
Ella Jane Fitzgerald (April25, 1917June15, 1996) was an American singer, songwriter and composer, sometimes referred to as the "First Lady of Song", "Queen of Jazz", and "Lady Ella". She was noted for her purity of tone, impeccable diction, phra ...
, and
Billy Eckstein
William Clarence Eckstine (July 8, 1914 – March 8, 1993) was an American jazz and pop singer and a bandleader during the swing and bebop eras. He was noted for his rich, almost operatic bass-baritone voice. In 2019, Eckstine was posthumously a ...
.
Career
After graduating from the
Xavier University of Louisiana
Xavier University of Louisiana (XULA) is a Private university, private Historically black colleges and universities, historically black Roman Catholic, Catholic university in New Orleans, Louisiana. It is the only Catholic Historically black c ...
Bazzle worked as a teacher, including as choir and music appreciation at Xavier Prep.
She retired from teaching in 2008.
Since graduating from university Bazzle has been a performing musician. She has collaborated and performed with
Red Tyler,
Peter "Chuck" Badie,
Victor Goines
Victor Louis Goines (born August 6, 1961) is a jazz saxophonist and clarinetist who has served as president and chief executive officer of Jazz St. Louis since September 2022. From 2000 to 2007, he was director of the jazz program at Juilliard.
...
, George French,
Ellis Marsalis, Emile Vinnette, Larry Siebert, and David Torkanowsky, along with their band Germaine Bazzle & Friends.
She sang regularly with the Saint Louis Catholic Choir
and The New World Ensemble. She has performed in New Orleans night clubs for over twenty years.
Bazzle is a supporter and faculty member of the Louis Armstrong Jazz Camp.
Discography
Between 1985 and 1997 she participated in ten recording sessions as a vocalist and backing vocalist.
Albums
Guest appearances and collaborations
Awards
In 2015, Bazzle received ''
OffBeats Lifetime Achievement in Music Education award. ''OffBeat'' also awarded her two Best of the Beat awards, Best Contemporary Jazz Vocalist in 1996 and Best Female Vocalist in 1997.
In 1990, 1992, 1993, and 1994 she received the
Big Easy Music Award for Best Female Performer.
References
External links
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bazzle, Germaine
1932 births
Living people
20th-century African-American women singers
African-American Christians
American women jazz singers
American jazz singers
Rounder Records artists
Jazz musicians from New Orleans
Singers from New Orleans
20th-century American singers
20th-century American women singers
21st-century American women singers
21st-century American singers
Xavier University of Louisiana alumni
21st-century African-American women singers