Vocalist-songwriter-radio host-author
jazz-blues-spirituals
Lois Deloatch premieres her new recording, Roots: Jazz/Blues/Spirituals in Summer 2010. For nearly two decades, vocalist and songwriter Deloatch has been immersed in music, headlining concerts, conducting music education workshops, lecturing, and emceeing events. Noted for her rich contralto voice and expansive repertoire, Deloatch’s performances highlight and integrate spirituals, jazz, and blues as well as original and standard compositions. Hymn to Freedom: Homage to Oscar Peterson, her fourth recording as leader, was released in limited edition in 2008 and garnered international accolades including selection as one of the Top 10 CDs of 2008 by JazzTimes Magazine’s music critic Owen Cordle.
Roots: Jazz/Blues/Spirituals includes a soulful and eclectic mix of music including interpretations of Wade in the Water, Steal Away, and Good Morning Heartache as well as three of Deloatch’s original and inspiring compositions, You Will, May I Have this Dance and Someday Soon.
“As jazz vocalist, with a sultry voice and presentation in the tradition of Sarah Vaughn, and as a lyricist, Lois Deloatch gives testament to the well known but not always observed fact that knowing the meaning of lyrics is essential to any meaningful interpretation of a song whether one is a singer or instrumentalist. Nevertheless, only some voices are blessed with that jazz sound, feeling, and intuition, and Lois is surely one of them.” Bob Gish, Jazz Improv Magazine.
Deloatch's first commercial recording, the earthy Sunrise, was released in 1998 and was followed by Holy Night with Tyson Rogers in 2004 and Closure in 2005. Additionally, she has appeared as guest vocalist on Barbara Cooke’s Sometimes I Feel: A Collection of Negro Spirituals. Musicians appearing on her recordings include legendary drummer Ed Thigpen, pianist Willie Pickens and Gabe Evens, guitarist Scott Sawyer, trumpeter Tom Browne, saxophonist/flutist Ira Wiggins, bassists Carroll Dashiell and Ron Brendle, and drummer/percussionists Bobby Cohen and Beverly Botsford.
Lois forges innovative partnerships with artists in a broad range of art forms and has collaborated and performed with Chuck Davis and the African Dance Ensemble (AADE) and Wellness Partners in the Arts (Dance), as well as other visual and nontraditional artists including documentary photographers and filmmakers.
A lifelong resident of North Carolina, Deloatch hails from rural Northampton County. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies from the University of North Carolina–Chapel Hill and the Master of Arts in Liberal Studies from Duke University where she also serves as associate director of corporate and foundation relations. Her academic pursuits have included research on jazz legends Mary Lou Williams and Thelonious Monk, and her documentary project, Sam Reed and The Trumpet of Conscience, is a permanent part of Duke University Library’s John Hope Franklin Collection. Currently, she has two interdisciplinary books in progress. Among her volunteer activities, Lois and her husband, Ed Gomes, host “Sunday Evening Classics,” a weekly radio program on WNCU 90.7 FM. She is the recipient of an Emerging Artist Award from the Durham Arts Council and the 2009 Lamplighter Award for community service from 103.9 FM The Light. She is an honorary member of the North Carolina Central University (NCCU) Jazz Ensemble and AADE.
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