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Dinah Washington

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Wikimp3 information about the music of Dinah Washington. On our website we have 70 albums and 70 collections of artist Dinah Washington. You can find useful information and download songs of this artist. We also know that Dinah Washington represents Jazz genres.

Biography

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Dinah Washington was at once one of the most beloved and controversial singers of the mid-20th century — beloved to her fans, devotees, and fellow singers; controversial to critics who still accuse her of selling out her art to commerce and bad taste. Her principal sin, apparently, was to cultivate a distinctive vocal style that was at home in all kinds of music, be it R&B, blues, jazz, middle of the road pop — and she probably would have made a fine gospel or country singer had she the time. Hers was a gritty, salty, high-pitched voice, marked by absolute clarity of diction and clipped, bluesy phrasing. Washington's personal life was turbulent, with seven marriages behind her, and her interpretations showed it, for she displayed a tough, totally unsentimental, yet still gripping hold on the universal subject of lost love. She has had a huge influence on R&B and jazz singers who have followed in her wake, notably Nancy Wilson, Esther Phillips, and Diane Schuur, and her music is abundantly available nowadays via the huge seven-volume series The Complete Dinah Washington on Mercury.

Born Ruth Lee Jones, she moved to Chicago at age three and was raised in a world of gospel, playing the piano and directing her church choir. At 15, after winning an amateur contest at the Regal Theatre, she began performing in nightclubs as a pianist and singer, opening at the Garrick Bar in 1942. Talent manager Joe Glaser heard her there and recommended her to Lionel Hampton, who asked her to join his band. Hampton says that it was he who gave Ruth Jones the name Dinah Washington, although other sources claim it was Glaser or the manager of the Garrick Bar. In any case, she stayed with Hampton from 1943 to 1946 and made her recording debut for Keynote at the end of 1943 in a blues session organized by Leonard Feather with a sextet drawn from the Hampton band. With Feather's "Evil Gal Blues" as her first hit, the records took off, and by the time she left Hampton to go solo, Washington was already an R&B headliner. Signing with the young Mercury label, Washington produced an enviable string of Top Ten hits on the R&B charts from 1948 to 1955, singing blues, standards, novelties, pop covers, even Hank Williams' "Cold, Cold Heart." She also recorded many straight jazz sessions with big bands and small combos, most memorably with Clifford Brown on Dinah Jams but also with Cannonball Adderley, Clark Terry, Ben Webster, Wynton Kelly, and the young Joe Zawinul (who was her regular accompanist for a couple of years).

In 1959, Washington made a sudden breakthrough into the mainstream pop market with "What a Diff'rence a Day Makes," a revival of a Dorsey Brothers hit set to a Latin American bolero tune. For the rest of her career, she would concentrate on singing ballads backed by lush orchestrations for Mercury and Roulette, a formula similar to that of another R&B-based singer at that time, Ray Charles, and one that drew plenty of fire from critics even though her basic vocal approach had not changed one iota. Although her later records could be as banal as any easy listening dross of the period, there are gems to be found, like Billie Holiday's "Don't Explain," which has a beautiful, bluesy Ernie Wilkins chart conducted by Quincy Jones. Struggling with a weight problem, Washington died of an accidental overdose of diet pills mixed with alcohol at the tragically early age of 39, still in peak voice, still singing the blues in an L.A. club only two weeks before the end. ~ Richard S. Ginell, Rovi

Title: My Lovin' Papa

Artist: Dinah Washington

Genre: Blues

Title: Street Rodeo

Artist: Dinah Washington

Genre: Jazz

Title: Cherry Pie

Artist: Dinah Washington

Genre: Jazz

Title: Freestyle

Artist: Dinah Washington

Genre: Jazz

Title: Smile Boy

Artist: Dinah Washington

Genre: Jazz

Title: Legendary

Artist: Dinah Washington

Genre: Jazz

Title: Light Branched

Artist: Dinah Washington

Genre: Jazz

Title: Atomic Days

Artist: Dinah Washington

Genre: Jazz

Title: Buds & Blossoms

Artist: Dinah Washington

Genre: Jazz

Title: Aurora Borealis

Artist: Dinah Washington

Genre: Jazz

Title: A Funny Couple

Artist: Dinah Washington

Genre: Jazz

Title: Time To Relaxe

Artist: Dinah Washington

Genre: Jazz

Title: Delightful Trip

Artist: Dinah Washington

Genre: Jazz

Title: Spring Awakening

Artist: Dinah Washington

Genre: Jazz

Title: The Ferris Wheel

Artist: Dinah Washington

Genre: Jazz

Collections

Title: X-Mas Jazz

Genre:

Title: Happy Hour Jazz

Genre: Jazz

Title: Crooners & Divas

Genre: Jazz

Title: Remixed Jazz & Soul

Genre: Jazz

Title: Cocktail Bar Jazz

Genre: Jazz

Title: Jazz Lounge

Genre: Jazz

Title: Jazz Vocal Gems

Genre: Jazz

Title: Finest Jazz Queens

Genre: Jazz

Title: Ultimate Jazz Divas

Genre: Jazz

Title: 50's Souvenirs

Genre: Jazz

Title: Jazz Pop Lounge

Genre: Jazz

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Genre: Blues

Title: 8 Best of Blues

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Title: Black and Blue

Artist: The Black, Blue

Genre: Jazz

Title: Jam Session

Artist: The Clifford Brown

Genre: Jazz, Bop

Title: Jams 2

Artist: The Clifford Brown

Genre: Jazz, Bop

Title: Verve//Unmixed 4

Artist: Various Artists

Genre: Jazz

Title: Verve/Unmixed 3

Artist: Various Artists

Genre: Jazz

Genres