Dee Bell
Dee Bell (born July 16, 1950, in Fort Wayne, Indiana) is an American jazz singer.
Recordings and performances
Her debut album, Let There Be Love, with Stan Getz on saxophone and Eddie Duran (a Benny Goodman Band graduate) on guitar, was released on the Concord Jazz label as an LP for Valentine's Day 1983. The record also featured prominent Bay Area musicians Al Plank, Vince Lateano, and Dean Reilly.
Her follow-up recording in 1985 of One by One, also on Concord Jazz, featured trumpeter Tom Harrell along with Duran and Plank, and other Bay Area jazz musicians. Let There Be Love was chosen as a Billboard magazined Recommended LP Jazz Pick in their March 26, 1983 issue. Bell was also nominated by Down Beat in their Jazz Critics Poll of 1984 and 1985 as "Talent Deserving Wider Recognition". BAM magazine nominated Let There Be Love as the Best Debut Album in their 1983 Awards.
Bell recorded a third album in 1990, but when the tracks were compressed during the mastering process, the recordings of the bass instrument were badly distorted due to a misplaced microphone. After two failed attempts to re-engineer the tapes, the project was discarded. Ater a 20-year delay and advancements in digital remastering, Sagacious Grace, was released.
Bell has performed around the U.S. and internationally, appearing at festivals, and on TV.
Critical reception
Leonard Feather of the Los Angeles Times wrote in a 1985 article that "Bell has a haunting, jazz-infected sound, her diction and phrasing flawless." Jay Roebuck at the Orange County Register chose One by One as the third best album of 1985, stating that "Dee Bell sings with a beautiful, clear voice that brings to mind Jackie Cain with just a touch of Chris Connor here and there. It's a pleasant combination, and she definitely has style of her own." In the British Jazz Journal, Derrick-Stewart Baxter wrote in 1985 that "Dee Bell is more than just a good professional. She knows just how to bring the best out in a song. She does her own thing, lazy, hazy smoky singing."
Personal life
Bell began playing music at home, where she grew up in a musical family. She played clarinet in the Plainfield High School band and performed in an a cappella trio from age ten through her senior year. She graduated from Indiana University in December 1972, lived on the edge of the Hoosier National Forest in a two-room cabin with a woodstove for heat, and was co-founder and head chef of the Earth Kitchen vegetarian restaurant in Bloomington, Indiana.
Discography
- 1983, Let There Be Love, (Concord Jazz)
- 1985, One by One, (Concord Jazz)
- 2011, Sagacious Grace, (Laser)
- 2014, Silva Bell Elation, with Marcos Silva (Laser)