Jazz vocalist Lucy Reed was born on April 14, 1921 in Marshfield, Wisconsin. Lucy's career actually began while in high school in St. Paul Minnesota in the 1930s. Lucy and 3 girlfriends had a weekly musical spot on KSTP radio and were known as "The Ladies in Waiting."
Lucy returned to Iron Mountain, Michigan, and continued to sing with local bands, marrying Joe DeRidder, a sweet-souled jazz drummer. Joey, as she called him, went off as a pilot in World War II and was shot down and killed over Germany.
Eventually, Lucy took a gig in Duluth, Minnesota. From there she began to tour and for the next couple of years joined two touring big bands: Woody Herman and Charlie Ventura. Settling in Chicago in the early 50s, Lucy soon had more opportunities than she could handle including nightclubs, radio and television.
Her nightclub venues included the Streamliner, Lei Aloha, Black Orchid, The Cloister Inn, Mister Kelly's and many other clubs in Chicago. For a time in the mid-fifties, she lived in New York, singing at the Village Vanguard and other NY jazz hotspots.
Lucy recorded three albums during her career. The first was the critically acclaimed 'The Singing Reed" on Fantasy Records with accompaniment by her regular trio (Dick Marx and John Frigo) on some songs, and Bill Evans on others. Lucy had to push the record company to include Bill Evans, since he was not well known at the time. In fact, "The Singing Reed" was his first commercial recording. Bill had been coming south from the Great Lakes Naval base in northern Illinois to sit in with Lucy at the Lei Aloha and when it came time to record, Lucy insisted on his inclusion.
Her second album, "This is Lucy Reed" recorded in 1957 for Fantasy Records, featured arrangements by Gil Evans and George Russell and included such tunes as "Love for Sale," "Lucky to be Me," and "No Moon at All."
After a long recording hiatus, Lucy recorded again in 1988 and 1989 with longtime friends, Ray Brown, Herb Ellis and Larry Novak, producing "Basic Reeding" for release on Audiophile records.
Lucy kept a balance between family life and professional life, turning down opportunities to tour with Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman and others.
Lucy Reed sings.
Reference - Lucy's Website
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