Toni Harper (born June 8, 1937 in Los Angeles, California), also known as Toni Dunlap, is an American former child singer who retired from performing at the age of 29. After learning dance under Maceo Anderson, Harper was cast by the choreographer Nick Castle in ''Christmas Follies'', at the Wilshire Ebell Theatre in 1945. She later went on to perform on stage with Herb Jeffries and

Cab Calloway Cabell Calloway III (December 25, 1907 – November 18, 1994) was an American singer, songwriter, bandleader, conductor and dancer. He was associated with the Cotton Club in Harlem, where he was a regular performer and became a popular vocalist ...

. Harper performed at the third annual

Cavalcade of Jazz The Cavalcade of Jazz was the first large outdoor jazz entertainment event of its kind produced by an African American, Leon Hefflin, Sr. The event was held at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles, Lane Field in San Diego and the last one at the Shrine Aud ...

concert held at Wrigley Field in Los Angeles produced by Leon Hefflin Sr. on September 7, 1947. Woody Herman, The Valdez Orchestra, The Blenders, T-Bone Walker,

Slim Gaillard Bulee "Slim" Gaillard (January 9, 1911 – February 26, 1991), also known as McVouty, was an American jazz singer and songwriter who played piano, guitar, vibraphone, and tenor saxophone. Gaillard was noted for his comedic vocalese singing ...

, The Honeydrippers,

Sarah Vaughan Sarah Lois Vaughan (March 27, 1924 – April 3, 1990) was an American jazz singer. Nicknamed "Sassy" and "Jazz royalty, The Divine One", she won two Grammy Awards, including the Lifetime Achievement Award, and was nominated for a total of nine ...

and the Three Blazers also performed that same day. She came back to perform for the eighth

concert on June 1, 1952. Also featured that day were

Roy Brown Roy Brown may refer to: Arts, music and entertainment * Roy Brown (blues musician) (1920/25–1981), American blues musician who was a pioneer of rock and roll * Roy Brown (Puerto Rican musician) (born 1945), Puerto Rican musician and folk singer ...

and His Mighty Men, Anna Mae Winburn and Her Sweethearts,

Jerry Wallace Jerry Leon Wallace (December 15, 1928 – May 5, 2008) was an American country and pop singer. Between 1958 and 1964, Wallace charted nine hits on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, including the No. 8 "Primrose Lane" that was later used as the theme ...

Louis Jordan Louis Thomas Jordan (July 8, 1908 – February 4, 1975) was an American saxophonist, multi-instrumentalist, songwriter and bandleader who was popular from the late 1930s to the early 1950s. Known as " the King of the Jukebox", he earned his high ...

, Jimmy Witherspoon, and Josephine Baker. Harper recorded "Candy Store Blues" in 1946, which became a

platinum record Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

, appeared twice on ''Toast of the Town'' (later The Ed Sullivan Show) in 1949, and made her third and final appearance on the show in 1950. After success as a child singer, Harper recorded her first album, '' Toni'', for Verve Records in 1955, with the Oscar Peterson trio. She made two further albums, arranged by Marty Paich, ''Lady Lonely'' (1959) and ''Night Mood'' (1960), for

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label currently owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside RCA's former long-time rival Columbia Records; also Aris ...

. Harper toured Japan with

Cannonball Adderley Julian Edwin "Cannonball" Adderley (September 15, 1928August 8, 1975) was an American jazz alto saxophonist of the hard bop era of the 1950s and 1960s. Adderley is perhaps best remembered for the 1966 soul jazz single "Mercy, Mercy, Mercy", whi ...

in 1963, and appeared in the film '' How to Stuff a Wild Bikini'' (1965), before retiring from performing in 1966.

Discography

* 1956 '' Toni'' (with the Oscar Peterson trio) * 1957 ''Here Come The Girls!'' (with The Buddy Bregman Orchestra) * 1959 ''Lady Lonely'' (with Marty Paich & Orchestra) * 1960 ''Night Mood'' (with Marty Paich & Orchestra) * 1988 ''Candy Store Blues'' (compilation) With

Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie (; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy Eldridge but addi ...

* '' Jazz Recital'' ( Norgran, 1955) With Harry James *"Baby Blues" and "Peculiar Kind Of Feeling" on

Columbia Columbia may refer to: * Columbia (personification), the historical female national personification of the United States, and a poetic name for America Places North America Natural features * Columbia Plateau, a geologic and geographic region in ...

39390 (1951) *"

Blacksmith Blues "The Blacksmith Blues" is a song which was written for Ella Mae Morse by Jack Holmes. The recording reached #3 on the '' Billboard'' chart when it was released in 1952, and sold over a million copies. Recordings were later made by Bing Crosby, th ...

" and "Don't Send Me Home" on Columbia 39671 (1952) *"Melancholy Trumpet" on Columbia 39846 (1952) *"Fruit Cake" on Columbia 39877 (1952)

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Harper, Toni 1937 births Living people African-American women singers American jazz singers American child singers Columbia Records artists American women jazz singers Jubilee Records artists RCA Records artists Singers from Los Angeles Torch singers Traditional pop music singers Verve Records artists Jazz musicians from California