Home » Jazz Musicians » Clea Bradford
Clea Bradford
Clea Bradford, 67, a versatile jazz singer who toured the Soviet Union with Earl "Fatha" Hines and recorded with Clark Terry in the 1960s, died Aug. 19 of complications from breast cancer at Holy Cross Hospital. She lived in Silver Spring. Ms. Bradford, who settled into a second career as a voice coach in the Washington area after two decades of touring, was not a big star but a "huge twinkle," as she once joked to The Washington Post, and was a favorite of critics. She performed locally in the 1970s and '80s, and reviewers found her compelling, noting her range, versatility and hornlike phrasing. "Clea Bradford has been compared to other vocalists but the equation fails on two counts," former Washington Post critic W. Royal Stokes wrote. "One, despite surface similarities, she is not an imitation. Two, attentive listening reveals that her craft derives from horn players rather than singers." Critics commented on her striking looks as well as her vocal expertise. She was almost 6 feet tall with high cheekbones and long straight hair, characteristics that she attributed to her mixture of Choctaw Indian and Ethiopian ancestry. Continue...
Tags
Singer Clea Bradford Dies at Age 67
Source:
St. Louis Jazz Notes by Dean Minderman
Clea Bradford, a jazz singer who spent her formative years in St. Louis, has died of complications from breast cancer at age 67 in a Washington, DC hospital.Born in Mississippi and raised in Charleston, MO and St. Louis, Bradford (pictured) was a protege of trumpeter Clark Terry and saxophonist Jimmy Forrest who in the 1960s gigged frequently in the St. Louis area with Quartette Tres Bien. She later toured the Playboy Club circuit, using the Gateway City as ...
read more
Clea Bradford, 67; Jazz Singer Was Known for Her Versatility
Source:
All About Jazz
Clea Bradford, 67, a versatile jazz singer who toured the Soviet Union with Earl Fatha" Hines and recorded with Clark Terry in the 1960s, died Aug. 19 of complications from breast cancer at Holy Cross Hospital. She lived in Silver Spring. Ms. Bradford, who settled into a second career as a voice coach in the Washington area after two decades of touring, was not a big star but a huge twinkle," as she once joked to The Washington Post, and ...
read more