Lady Bianca talks VAN MORRISON, ZAPPA, SLY STONE and KANYE with Mark Hummel
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- Опубликовано: 22 авг 2024
- #vanmorrison #slystone #frankzappa #kanyewest #royalalberthall #grammy
Lady Bianca is an American electric blues singer, songwriter and arranger. Lady Bianca has worked as a session singer, depicted Billie Holiday on stage, and since 1995 released six solo albums, three of which were nominated for a Grammy Award.
Born Bianca Thornton, in Kansas City, Missouri, her first exposure to music was through gospel, and she studied at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music. Her first professional gig was with Quinn Harris and the Masterminds, when she was aged 17. Harris dubbed her 'Lady Bianca', and the combination contributed two tracks to a compilation album released by Reynolds Records in 1970.
In 1972, she played the role of Billie Holiday in the San Francisco stage production of Jon Hendricks' Evolution of the Blues. In the mid 1970s, she worked in various clubs in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she met bass guitarist Henry Oden. They were subsequently married for 15 years. She then joined Sly and the Family Stone as backing vocalist and keyboard player, and appeared on their 1976 album, Heard Ya Missed Me, Well I'm Back. Starting in October the same year, she toured for one month with Frank Zappa in North America, and a recording of her singing "Wind Up Workin' in a Gas Station" appeared in 1992 on You Can't Do That on Stage Anymore, Vol. 6. The complete concert of 29 October 1976 in The Spectrum, Philadelphia (with Lady Bianca singing on several tracks) was published on two CDs by the Zappa Family Trust in 2009, entitled Philly '76, on which she is credited as Bianca Odin. The release included the previously released version of "Wind Up Workin' in a Gas Station," as well as "Dirty Love" and "You Didn't Try To Call Me." She is also heard employing the technique of multi-phonics with her voice on a wordless solo in "Black Napkins." After November 11, she left the band because of conflicts with Zappa. When not touring, she performed locally in the recording studio, backing musicians such as Lee Oskar, Merle Haggard and Taj Mahal. In 1977, she co-founded the short-lived ensemble Vitamin E, and they released the commercially doomed Sharing album on Buddah Records. Lady Bianca then joined another group, Zingara, which was set up by Lamont Dozier in 1980. The trio included James Ingram, Wali Ali and Lady Bianca, but again, it did not have any lasting appeal.
Between 1981 and 1986, Lady Bianca toured with and recorded backing vocals for Van Morrison, appearing on recordings such as Beautiful Vision (1982), Inarticulate Speech of the Heart (1983), Live at the Grand Opera House Belfast (1984), A Sense of Wonder (1985), and No Guru, No Method, No Teacher (1986). Lady Bianca also worked with John Lee Hooker and Willie Dixon. In 1984, she met Stanley Lippitt, a songwriter and her eventual husband. She continued to perform locally and undertook more low-key recording work.
After recording demos with Lippitt, she was noticed by Joe Louis Walker who helped arrange a recording contract. Her debut solo album, Best Kept Secret was released in 1995 on Telarc Distribution. Her backing vocals work continued in the 1990s, when she worked with Frankie Lee and Maria Muldaur. Lady Bianca's next solo effort was the critically acclaimed Rollin' (2001), which was released on the Rooster Blues label.
Bianca formed her own record label, Magic-O Records, and with Lippitt have their own production and publishing company. Further albums were recorded and issued on Magic-O. These included All by Myself (2004), Let Love Have Its Way (2005), Through a Woman's Eyes (2007), and A Woman Never Forgets (2009).
In April 2007, at the Bay Area Black Music Awards, Lady Bianca was awarded as Best Blues Performer. In March 2008, she was voted into the West Coast Blues Society Hall of Fame. In 2009, she appeared with Van Morrison at the Royal Albert Hall in London.
Lady Bianca and the Magic-O Rhythm Band have appeared at many blues music festivals, including the San Francisco Blues Festival in 1987, the Sarasota Blues Fest in 1996, and the Monterey Bay Blues Festival in 2008.
Three of her albums have been nominated for a Grammy Award: Best Kept Secret, Rollin', and Through a Woman's Eyes.
Thank you both!
Such a charming, delightful woman. And been a fan of her records for decades.
Zappa fan here. This is a great conversation, and I love the singing. The Billie Holiday imitation was superb
Thank you for another great interview, Mark. Lady B opened my eyes to how a song makes you FEEL versus simply enjoying the music, and she certainly has a voice with feeling. Wow!!
The bionic vocals of Lady Bianca!
I was in the audience at the Boston Zappa gig that may have pushed Bianca over the edge, prompting her to leave the tour just a few weeks later.
Calls out from the audience for Bianca to take her clothes off and her immediate reply was epic!
Lady Bianca was 23 years old at that time and SMOKING!!
The audience was wrong to call out like that, and the kind of lyrics that Bianca was called upon to sing would make any decent person cringe.
It wasn't meant to be, but I was lucky to be able to see this goddess of the bionic vocals along with my hero musician.
Blessings to you, Lady Bianca!!
Great interview! I always heard sauch dreadful things about Van Morrison. Cool, that Bianca liked him
I really enjoyed this interview! Lady Bianca is so talented and such a Great Lady! Her Billy Holiday stylings are right on. When she mentioned meeting Mavis I assume it was Mavis Staples, correct? That was a bit unclear. Thanks for these interviews Mark. I met you once in Knoxville some years ago, when you fronted the band with Charlie Baty and Anson. THAT was a great show!
Mavis Staples
Philly ‘76.?