Album Notes

A native of Mississippi, jazz vocalist Betty Shirley moved to New York as a teen-ager to study music. That’s where she established her career singing in such clubs as Birdland and Greenstreet. In the early 1990s she followed her muse and moved to New Orleans, which is still her home.

Shirley ranges from classic jazz standards to Bossa Nova/Latin. Blessed with all the range and tonal control one might expect from a first-class jazz singer, she can scat, she can hang on to a note, she can coax and she can propel. Shirley improvises with unerring instincts and delivers exactly what a song needs, spinning songs like silk. She is a versatile jazz performer who mesmerizes audiences with her ability to make a song her own. Her range and command of the stage make Shirley’s a voice that should be heard around the world.

Shirley’s appearances have included the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, the Pensacola Jazz Festival, and the Women in Jazz Series. Thanks to the great work of Word of Mouth Studio this CD master was able to survive Hurricane Katrina.

About this her third CD:
"From “Bursting with the Dawn” through “You’re my Thrill”, Betty Shirley documents why she is one of the top female vocalist on the New Orleans scene … Sensitive, sassy, coy and a great interpreter sum up some of the many qualities she manifests on this outing…” declares Michael “MR JAZZ” Gourrier, host of “Bebop &Beyond” WRIR-FM, Richmond, Virginia and Formerly of WWOZ-FM New Orleans.

PERSONNEL
Betty Shirley - vocals
with:
Richard Moten - bass #1-14
Kirk Branch - piano #3-6, 8, 10-14
Karl Budo - drums #3, 5, 6, 8, 10, 12
Wayne Mereau - drums #1, 2, 7, 9
Chuck Chaplan - #1, 2, 7, 9
Percy Williams - percussion #1, 2, 7, 9
Matthew Freaky - guitar # 1, 2, 7, 9
Herman LeBeaux - drums #11, 13, 14