Liz McComb

Liz McComb (born December 1, 1952 in Cleveland, Ohio) is an American gospel and blues singer, songwriter and pianist, who also loves jazz, spiritual and soul music.

Biography

Roots in the home of gospel

The sixth of seven children, Elizabeth McComb grew up in an African-American family that originally came from Mississippi. Her father, a factory worker, died when she was very young. Her mother was very religious, as was the whole family, and she became a preacher and the pastor of a Pentecostal church.^[1] Three of her sisters formed a vocal group called The Daughters of Zion, which was very popular in local churches. Many years later, they would sometimes accompany Liz McComb during her concerts. Liz started singing at the early age of three. At home, the children grew up listening to the great gospel singers: The Staple Singers, Sister Rosetta Tharpe and above all, Mahalia Jackson who became Liz’s idol and her role model. The young girl learned Jackson’s entire repertory by heart. In the meantime, her only brother played jazz trumpet and introduced Liz to the great jazz musicians - Louis Armstrong, Charlie Parker and Max Roach as well as Nat King Cole and Sarah Vaughan.

Liz began with violin but decided to switch to the piano, an instrument with which her "heartstrings feel perfectly in tune”, in her words. She learned to play the piano on her own and one day she decided to take the plunge and replace her pianist at a moment’s notice. Gradually, she became one of the best pianist-singers of her generation. While still young, she joined the Karamu House Theater school and then the cultural center’s theater company. She also began studying the history and culture of the African-American community. This was the era of the civil rights movement, which deeply impacted her whole life.

Beginnings as a singer

Liz had always been complimented for her voice and she started thinking of maybe becoming a Broadway star. She left for New York and started auditioning for shows and musicals. With the support of her cousin, Annie Moss, she toured in Europe as part of the itinerant «Roots of Rock’n’Roll» show. Thanks to this experience, Liz McComb discovered the major international theaters. While regularly touring in Germany, Spain, France and Switzerland, she was in constant contact with the “greats”, doing the first part of their concerts, such as Bessie Griffin, Helen Humes, Luther Allison, B.B. King, James Brown, Ray Charles, Memphis Slim, Taj Mahal, Randy Weston, etc.

The European period

From that period on, she regularly stayed in Europe, traveling back to the United States several times a year. Liz first stayed in Switzerland, where she was a sensation at the Montreux Festival. She then chose Paris as her main place of residence. There she met Maurice Cullaz, a famous jazz critic, who also pioneered Europe’s discovery of gospel music. Maurice Cullaz immediately saw in Liz a new potential for this music. After coming to Paris Liz McComb was part of the « Psalms » quartet, with Jerome Van Jones, Lavelle (Lavelle McKinnie Dugan) and Gregg Hunter.

Liz and the arts

For Liz McComb, music is not just entertainment. Her art stems from her ancestors’ experience of slavery and this ties in with the fate of all mankind. She accepts with devotion any tie that links her to people and peoples who suffer. That is why she sang in Lebanon when the war ended. That is why she sang in Bethlehem. That is why she gave a free concert in Gaza. Her sources of inspiration are many. She is passionate about the traditional music and percussion of the Caribbean, particularly Guadeloupe. This was present in her concerts during 2006-2007, and also in her CD trilogy called Soul, Peace & Love. For all these reasons, Liz McComb, in the words of American journalists, has become a beacon of ”global gospel“ - Liz McComb has become a planetary gospel singer.

Liz McComb

Biography

Roots in the home of gospel

Beginnings as a singer

The European period

Liz and the arts

Discography

Videography

References

External links