Dee Bell
| Dee Bell | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Background information | |
| Born |
July 16, 1950 Fort Wayne, Indiana, U.S. |
| Genres | Jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Website |
www |
Dee Bell (born July 16, 1950, in Fort Wayne, Indiana) is an American jazz singer.
Personal life
Bell grew up in a musical family and began playing music at home. She played clarinet in the Plainfield High School band and performed in an a cappella trio from age ten through her last year of high school. She graduated from Indiana University in December 1972, lived on the edge of the Hoosier National Forest in a two-room cabin with a woodstove for heat, and was co-founder and head chef of the Earth Kitchen vegetarian restaurant in Bloomington, Indiana.
Recordings
Her debut album, Let There Be Love, with Stan Getz on saxophone and Eddie Duran on guitar, was released on the Concord Jazz label as an album for Valentine's Day 1983. The record also featured prominent Bay Area musicians Al Plank, Vince Lateano, and Dean Reilly.
Her follow-up recording in 1985 of One by One, also on Concord Jazz, featured trumpeter Tom Harrell along with Duran and Plank and other Bay Area jazz musicians. Let There Be Love was chosen as a Billboard magazine Recommended LP Jazz Pick in their March 26, 1983 issue. Bell was also nominated by Down Beat in their Jazz Critics Poll of 1984 and 1985 as "Talent Deserving Wider Recognition". BAM magazine nominated Let There Be Love as the Best Debut Album in their 1983 Awards.
Bell recorded a third album in 1990, but when the tracks were compressed during the mastering process, the recordings of the bass were badly distorted due to a misplaced microphone. After two failed attempts to re-engineer the tapes, the project was discarded. Ater a 20-year delay and advancements in digital remastering, Sagacious Grace, was released.
Bell has performed around the U.S. and internationally, appearing at festivals and on TV.
Discography
- 1983 Let There Be Love, (Concord Jazz)
- 1985 One by One, (Concord Jazz)
- 2011 Sagacious Grace, (Laser)
- 2014 Silva Bell Elation, with Marcos Silva (Laser)