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Biography
Infobox musical artist| name = June Christy| image = June Christy and Red Rodney at Club Troubadour, New York, ca. Sept. 1947, by William Gottlieb (LOC gottlieb.01251).jpg| caption = June Christy at the Club Troubador, New York, ca. 1947| background = solo_singer| birth_name = Shirley Luster| alias = Sharon Leslie,June Christy | Born = Birth date|1925|11|20|mf=yes Springfield, Illinois|Springfield , Illinois | Died = Death date and age|1990|6|21|1925|11|20|mf=yes Sherman Oaks , California | origin =American | instrument = singing|Vocals | genre = Pop music|Pop , jazz , cool jazz | occupation = Singer | years_active = 1938–1969, 1972, 1977-1980, 1983, 1985-1986, 1988 | label = Capitol Records|Capitol | associated_acts = Pete Rugolo Stan Kenton|The Stan Kenton Orchestra Boyd Raeburn Benny Strong | website = | notable_instruments =
June Christy (November 20, 1925 & ndash; June 21, 1990), born Shirley Luster , was an American singer, known for her work in the cool jazz genre and for her silky smooth vocals. Her success as a singer began with Stan Kenton|The Stan Kenton Orchestra . She pursued a solo career from 1954 and is best known for her debut album Something Cool . After her death, she was hailed as "one of the finest and most neglected singers of her time." New Statesman article: " http://www.newstatesman.com/199812110033 Carrying a torch".
Biography
Early life
Shirley Luster was born in Springfield, Illinois and moved with her family to Decatur, Illinois when she was three years old. She began to sing with the Decatur-based Bill Oetzel Orchestra at thirteen. While attending Decatur High School she appeared with Oetzel and his society band, the Ben Bradley Band, and Bill Madden's Band. After high school she moved to Chicago, changed her name to Sharon Leslie , and sang with a group led by Boyd Raeburn . Later she joined Benny Strong's band. In 1944, Strong's band moved to New York at the same time Christy was quarantine d in Chicago with scarlet fever .
Work with Stan Kenton's Orchestra
In 1945, after hearing that Anita O'Day had left Stan Kenton 's Orchestra, she auditioned and was chosen for the role as a vocalist. During this time, she changed her name once again, becoming June Christy .
Her voice produced successful hits such as " Shoo Fly Pie and Apple Pan Dowdy ," the million-selling " Tampico (song)|Tampico " in 1945, and " How High the Moon ". "Tampico" was Kenton's biggest-selling record. When the Kenton Band temporarily disbanded in 1948, she sang in nightclubs for a short time, and reunited with the band two years later in 1950.Sparke, Michael. Stan Kenton: This Is an Orchestra! http://www.belten.freeserve.co.uk/misty/memys.htm Misty Miss Christy Website
Solo career
From 1947, she started to work on her own records, primarily with arranger and bandleader Pete Rugolo . In 1954, she released a 10" LP entitled Something Cool , recorded with Rugolo and his orchestra, a gathering of notable Los Angeles jazz musicians that included her husband, multi-instrumentalist Bob Cooper (musician)|Bob Cooper and alto saxophonist Bud Shank . Something Cool was re-released as a 12" LP in 1955 with additional selections, and then entirely rerecorded in stereo in 1960 with a somewhat different personnel. Christy would later say that the album was "the only thing I've recorded that I'm not unhappy with."cite news| url= http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html? res=9C0CE5D8103FF937A15755C0A966958260 | work=The New York Times | title=June Christy, Singer, 64, Is Dead; Gained Fame With Kenton's Band | first=Stephen | last=Holden | date=June 24, 1990 | accessdate=May 7, 2010 Something Cool was also important in launching the vocal cool movement of the 1950s, and it hit the Top 20 Charts, as did her third album, The Misty Miss Christy .
In the 1950s and 1960s, Christy appeared on a number of television programs, including the short-lived CBS show Adventures in Jazz (1949), ''Eddie Condon's Floor Show (1949), The Alan Young Show (1950), The JackCarter Show (1950), PenthouseParty (1951), The Jackie Gleason Show (1953), The Tonight Show (1955), Nat King Cole|The Nat King Cole Show (1957), Stars of Jazz (1958), The Steve Allen Show (1959) , Playboy's Penthouse (1961), The Lively Ones (1963), http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0160700/ June Christy credit page at IMDB The MikeDouglas Show (1965), Not Only But Also (1965) and The Joey Bishop Show (1967). She also appeared on the first sponsored jazz concert on television, The Timex All-Star Jazz Show I (December 30, 1957),Terrace, Vincent. Encyclopedia of Television: Series, Pilots and Specials, 1937-1973 , p. 438. which also featured Louis Armstrong , Carmen McRae , Duke Ellington and Gene Krupa .
Christy embarked on dozens of concert tours, playing in Europe , South Africa , Australia and Japan . She toured to such an extent that eventually it began taking a toll on her marriage. She began to pull back from touring in the early 1960s.McClellan, Lawrence. The Later Swing Era, 1942 to 1955 , http://books.google.com/books? id=Oit7y0bS4MUC& pg=PA92& dq=june+christy pp. 92& ndash;93.
R.M. Cook and Brian Morton, writers of The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings , appreciated the singer's body of work: "Christy's wholesome but particularly sensuous voice is less an improviser's vehicle than an instrument for long, controlled lines and the shading of a fine vibrato . Her greatest moments—the heartbreaking 'Something Cool' itself, 'Midnight Sun,' 'I Should Care'—are as close to creating definitive interpretations as any singer can come."
Personal life
Christy was married to Bob Cooper. In 1954, she gave birth to a daughter, Shay Cooper. http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/guynew/sheet/june18.htmdead link|date=December 2010 Christy's nephew claims that although she was agnostic , she was very well versed in religion and philosophy, identifying at least partially with Buddhism ." http://www.belten.freeserve.co.uk/misty/june2b.htm My Aunt June - A Tribute" by Scott Luster.
Later years and death
Christy mostly retired from the music business in 1969, in part due to her battle with alcoholism . http://books.google.com/books? id=fkTGhR_vyJ8C& pg=PA697& lpg=PA697& dq=june+christy+alcohol& source=bl& ots=MwUcL8Xf7I& sig=cyTYS2d5ZQ99vwINuLZCGijEZXo& hl=en& sa=X& ei=44zpTsvqIY3PiAKe-MDIBA& sqi=2& ved=0CFYQ6AEwBw#v=onepage& q=june%20christy%20alcohol& f=false A Biographical Guide to the Great Jazz and Pop Singers , pp. 697. The Independent article: " http://www.independent.co.uk/news/people/obituary-bob-cooper-1459636.html Bob Cooper Obituary."
In 1972 in music|1972 , she sang at the Newport Jazz Festival in New York City , where she was reunited with the Kenton Orchestra. She also performed at a handful of jazz festivals during the late 1970s and 1980s, playing with a band of all-star west coast jazz musicians led by Shorty Rogers . Her final performance came in 1988 sharing the stage with Chet Baker . Christy returned to the recording studio in 1977 to record her final LP, Impromptu .
Christy died at her home in Sherman Oaks , California of kidney failure on June 21, 1990, at the age of 64. http://www.parabrisas.com/d_christyj.php Solid! "June Christy Biography" http://www.discogs.com/artist/June+Christy Discogs "June Christy" Her remains were cremate d and scattered off the coast of Marina Del Rey . Find A Grave entry for http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi? page=gr& GRid=2527 June Christy.
Discography
Release date
Album
Label
1954
Something Cool (10" LP)
Capitol Records http:/ / www.belten.freeserve.co.uk/ misty/ disco.htm June Christy Discography
Allmusic|class=artist|id=june-christy-p3088|pure_url=yes June Christy at AllMusic
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0160700/ June Christy at IMDB
http://www.last.fm/music/June+Christy June Christy at last.fm
http://www.nndb.com/people/017/000044882/ June Christy at NNDB
Find a Grave|2527
Persondata|NAME= Christy, June |ALTERNATIVE NAMES= Luster, Shirley |SHORT DESCRIPTION= American singer |DATE OF BIRTH= November 20, 1925 |PLACE OF BIRTH= Springfield, Illinois , U.S. |DATE OF DEATH= June 21, 1990 |PLACE OF DEATH= Sherman Oaks, California , U.S. DEFAULTSORT:Christy, June Category:1925 births Category:1990 deaths Category:People from Decatur, Illinois Category:People from the Greater Los Angeles Area Category:Musicians from Illinois Category:Torch singers Category:American agnostics Category:Cool jazz singers Category:Cool jazz musicians Category:Disease-related deaths in California Category:Deaths from renal failure Category:Female jazz musicians Category:Capitol Records artists Category:American female singers Category:American jazz singers Category:English-language singers Category:Traditional pop music singers
