  sarah lois vaughan (march 27, 1924 â april 3, 1990) was an american jazz singer, described by music critic scott yanow as having "one of the most wondrous voices of the 20th century."[ allmusic.com] nicknamed "sassy", "the divine one" and "sailor" (for her salty speech),jazz: a film by ken burns, episode 9, 2001. sarah vaughan was a grammy award winner. the national endowment for the arts bestowed upon her its "highest honor in jazz", the nea jazz masters award, in 1989. ==early life== sarah vaughan's father, asbury "jake" vaughan, was a carpenter by trade and played guitar and piano. her mother, ada vaughan, was a laundress and sang in the church choir.gates, cornell the african-american century: how black americans have shaped our country isbn 0684864150, page 229 jake and ada vaughan had migrated to newark from virginia during the first world war. sarah was their only biological child, although in the 1960s they adopted donna, the child of a woman who traveled on the road with sarah vaughan.gourse, leslie sassy: the life of sarah vaughan isbn 0306805782 the vaughans lived in a house on brunswick street, in newark, new jersey, for sarah's entire childhood. jake vaughan was deeply religious and the family was very active in the new mount zion baptist church on 186 thomas street. sarah began piano lessons at the age of
1924_births 1990_deaths African-American_female_singers American_contraltos American_female_jazz_singers American_jazz_pianists American_jazz_singers Baptists_from_the_United_States Bebop_singers Burials_in_New_Jersey Cadet_Records_artists Cancer_deaths_in_California Cool_jazz_musicians Cool_jazz_singers Deaths_from_lung_cancer Emmy_Award_winners Female_jazz_musicians Grammy_Award-winning_artists Grammy_Lifetime_Achievement_Award_winners Jazz_singers Mainstream_Records_artists Mercury_Records_artists Musicians_from_Newark,_New_Jersey People_from_Englewood_Cliffs,_New_Jersey Roulette_Records_artists Scat_singers Torch_singers Traditional_pop_music_singers Verve_Records_artists Vocal_jazz_musicians