- Myra Taylor (jazz singer)
-
Not to be confused with Myra Taylor (scriptwriter).
Myra Jardine Taylor 
Myra Taylor
at her 94th birthday party
at Knuckleheads SaloonBorn February 24, 1917
Bonner Springs, KansasMyra Taylor (born February 24, 1917) is an American jazz singer and songwriter from Bonner Springs, Kansas. She began performing as a teen and has continued performing into her nineties. She currently lives in Kansas City, Missouri.
Contents
Biography
Early life
Born in Bonner Springs, Kansas, Taylor's family moved to Kansas City, Missouri when she was a child to the historic 18th and Vine area.[1] Working as a housekeeper at age 14, she began dancing at the Sunset and Reno clubs on 12th street.[2] Being underage, she entered some clubs by sneaking in through a rear window [3] and eventually attracted attention singing.
Music career
In 1940, Harlan Leonard hired Taylor as the featured singer for his new band Harlan Leonard and His Rockets. The band had a lengthy engagement at Harlem's Golden Gate Ballroom. The band recorded on RCA's Bluebird Records label. Taylor wrote the song Dig It, and Leonard claimed co-writing credit, later omitting her name and denying her royalties.[3]
Taylor and Leonard parted company, and she join Eubie Blake's band for a single tour, then returned to Kansas City to sing with Jimmy Keith. In 1946, she had a hit with Spider and the Fly on Mercury Records, but was denied royalties by publisher Blasco Music.[3]
Frustrated at the American music business, Taylor began touring in Europe, and in 1965 moved to Frankfurt, Germany and opened her own club named Down by the Riverside. She performed in USO shows during World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War, [4] performing in 32 different countries. [5]
In 1977, she moved back to the US and settled in Los Angeles, California to work in film and television, and in 1994 relocated once again in Kansas City.
In 2000, she recorded My Night to Dream for Analogue Production Originals records and released it on the very inauspicious date of September 11, 2001. It was re-released on SACD in 2010.[6]
Taylor has continued singing, performing with the group Wild Women of Kansas City[7] and celebrated her 94th birthday with a concert at Knuckleheads Saloon with Samantha Fish and Mike Zito[8]. As of April 2011, Taylor is still performing, and will appear with the Wild Women of Kansas City at the Corbin Theatre in Liberty, Missouri on June 10, 2011.[5]
Acting career
Taylor appeared as Pearl in three episodes of the US television program The Jeffersons[9] - The Arrival (Part 1) and The Arrival (Part 2)[10] in 1980 and Men of the Cloth in 1982[11]
She was the lead in the 1979 women's professional basketball comedy Scoring[12], as well as supporting roles in the Cher thriller Suspect[13], the Amy Irving romance Crossing Delancey[14], director Lasse Hallström's Once Around with Richard Dryfuss [15] and Ron Howard's The Paper [16]
References
- ^ "Historic 18th and Vine District". http://18thandvinedistrict.org/. Retrieved 2011-02-24.
- ^ Driggs, Frank; Haddix, Chuck (13) Kansas City Jazz: From Ragtime to Bebop--A History Oxford University Press, USA p. 188 ISBN 978-0195307122 http://books.google.com/books?id=8ZbAyDygTLAC&lpg=PA226&dq=Myra%20Taylor%20spider%20fly%20hit&pg=PA188#v=onepage&q=Myra%20&f=false. Retrieved 20-02-26
- ^ a b c "Now in her 90s, Kansas City jazz singer Myra Taylor has had a life of ups and downs in the music industry". http://www.pitch.com/2008-02-21/music/taylor-made/. Retrieved 2011-02-24.
- ^ Gillis, Delia (2007). Kansas City (MO) (Black America Series). Arcadia Publishing. p. 57. ISBN 978-0738534480. http://books.google.com/books?id=tbyFQP3AX5sC&lpg=PA57&dq=Myra%20Taylor&pg=PA57#v=onepage&q=Myra%20Taylor&f=false.
- ^ a b "Wild Women of Kansas City booked at Corbin Theatre". Liberty Tribune. 13 April 2011. http://www.kccommunitynews.com/liberty-tribune-community-living/27534793/detail.html. Retrieved 22 April 2011.
- ^ "My Night to Dream". http://www.allmusic.com/album/my-night-to-dream-r551745. Retrieved 2011-02-24.
- ^ "The Wild Women of Kansas City booking information". http://www.mcquittymusic.com/wildwomen.php. Retrieved 2011-02-24.
- ^ "KC's oldest and youngest women musicians jam out at Knuckleheads tonight". http://blogs.pitch.com/wayward/2011/02/kcs_oldest_and_youngest_lady_m.php. Retrieved 2011-02-24.
- ^ "The Arrival". The Jeffersons. IMDB. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0072519/fullcredits#cast. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
- ^ "The Arrival parts 1 and 2". The Jeffersons. TVGuide.com. http://www.tvguide.com/tvshows/jeffersons/cast/100482. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
- ^ "Men of the Cloth". The Jeffersons. IMDB. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0614923/. Retrieved 18 April 2011.
- ^ Scoring (1979) at the Internet Movie Database
- ^ Suspect (1987) at the Internet Movie Database
- ^ Crossing Delancey (1988) at the Internet Movie Database
- ^ Once Around (1991) at the Internet Movie Database
- ^ The Paper (1994) at the Internet Movie Database
Categories:- 1917 births
- African American female singers
- African American singer-songwriters
- American jazz singers
- English-language singers
- Living people
- Women in jazz
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
