SUSANNAH MCCORKLE

Susannah McCorkle (4 January 1946 – 19 May 2001) was an American jazz singer much admired for her direct, unadorned singing style and quiet intensity. McCorkle was born in Berkeley, California. She studied modern languages at the University of California, Berkeley. McCorkle began singing professionally after hearing recordings of Billie Holiday in Paris in the late 1960s. She nearly became an interpreter at the European Commission in Brussels, but moved instead to London in 1972 to pursue a career in singing. While in the UK, she made two albums which, although well received, enjoyed only limited circulation. In the late 1970s, McCorkle returned to the United States and settled in New York City, where a five-month engagement at the Cookery in Greenwich Village brought her to wider public attention and elicited rave reviews from critics. During the 1980s, McCorkle continued to record; her maturing style and the darkening timbre of read more...