Daily Dose Of Jazz…

Irene Reid was born on September 23, 1930 in Savannah, Georgia, singing in church and in high school in Georgia. In 1947 after her mother passed, she moved to New York City. Toward the end of the year she tried out for an amateur contest at the Apollo Theater in Harlem and won the competition for five straight weeks. Soon after she was offered a slot as the featured vocalist with Dick Vance at the Savoy Ballroom, which she held from 1948 to 1950.

In 1961–62, Reid sang with Count Basie’s orchestra, and recorded for Verve Records. She would later perform in a Broadway production of the musical “The Wiz”. She sang with Carmen McRae, Sarah Vaughan, Aretha Franklin and B.B. King.

Irene receded from fame in the 1970s and 1980s, but launched a comeback near the end of that decade. She appeared at the Savannah Jazz Festival in 1991, 1994, and 1996, and continued releasing albums on Savant Records in the 1990s and 2000s.

In 2002, British DJ duo Beginerz sampled Reid’s vocals to make the club hit “Reckless Girl” and in 2003 Lil’ Kim sampled Reid’s vocals to make the hit “I Came Back For You”.

On January 4, 2008 jazz singer Irene Reid passed away, leaving for posterity more than a dozen albums.

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