June Christy


June Christy 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 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".

Biography

Early life

Shirley Luster was born in Springfield, Illinois, United States. She moved with her parents Steve and Marie Luster 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 City at the same time Christy was quarantined 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 hits such as "Shoo Fly Pie and Apple Pan Dowdy", the million-selling "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. Christy appeared as guest vocalist on Kenton's albums Artistry in Rhythm, Encores, Innovations in Modern Music and Stan Kenton Presents, Stan Kenton Classics and The Kenton Era.
Beginning on September 28, 1959, Christy began a five-week road tour of 38 performances called "Road Show".
The all-star billing: Stan Kenton and his orchestra, June Christy, The Four Freshmen. Capitol recorded highlights on October 10 at Purdue University in Lafayette, Indiana, for a two-disc LP, reissued in 1988 on CD.

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 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 the album was "the only thing I've recorded that I'm not unhappy with". 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, Eddie Condon's Floor Show, The Jackie Gleason Show, The Tonight Show, The Nat King Cole Show, Stars of Jazz, The Steve Allen Show , The Lively Ones, and The Joey Bishop Show. She also appeared on the first sponsored jazz concert on television, The Timex All-Star Jazz Show I, which also featured Louis Armstrong, Carmen McRae, Duke Ellington and Gene Krupa.
Christy played in Europe, South Africa, Australia and Japan, but the extensive touring eventually began taking a toll on her marriage, and she pulled back from touring by the 1960s.
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 momentsthe 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 1947. In 1954, she gave birth to a daughter, Shay Christy Cooper. She had one brother Jack A. Luster.

Later years and death

Christy semi-retired from the music business in 1969, in part due to her battle with alcoholism.
In 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, as well as taking part in a number of world tours.
Christy returned to the recording studio in 1977 to record her final solo LP, Impromptu. She recorded an interview in 1987 for a Paul Cacia produced album called "The Alumni Tribute to Stan Kenton" on the Happy Hour label. A number of other Kenton alumni interspersed their tunes with reminiscences of the man and the years on the road.
Christy toured one final time in 1988, again with Shorty Rogers. Her final performance was sharing the stage with Chet Baker.
Christy died at her home in Sherman Oaks, California, of kidney failure on June 21, 1990, at the age of 64. Her remains were cremated and scattered off the coast of Marina Del Rey.

Discography

Albums

ReleasedAlbumLabel & Number
1947Artistry in Rhythm – Stan Kenton & His Orchestra Capitol Records BD-39
1950Day Dream Capitol Records CC-126
1953Get Happy Capitol Records EAP 1-148
1953The Swinging Chicks Camay Records CA-3042
1954Something Cool Capitol Records H-516
1955Duet Capitol Records T-656
1955Something Cool Capitol Records T-516
1956The Misty Miss ChristyCapitol Records T-725
1957Fair and Warmer!Capitol Records T-833
1957Gone for the DayCapitol Records T-902
1958This Is June Christy!Capitol Records T-1006
1958June's Got RhythmCapitol Records S/T1076
1958The Song Is June!Capitol Records S/T1114
1959Recalls Those Kenton DaysCapitol Records S/T1202
1959Ballads for Night PeopleCapitol Records S/T1308
1959Road Show Capitol Records S/TBO1327
1960The Cool SchoolCapitol Records S/T1398
1960Something Cool Capitol Records SM-516
1960Off-BeatCapitol Records S/T1498
1961Do-Re-Mi Capitol Records S/T1586
1961This Time of YearCapitol Records S/T1605
1962Big Band SpecialsCapitol Records S/T1845
1962Best of June ChristyCapitol Records T1693
1963The Intimate Miss ChristyCapitol Records S/T1953
1965Something Broadway, Something LatinCapitol Records S/T2410
1977Impromptu Interplay Records IP 7710
1986A Lovely Way to Spend an Evening Jasmine Records JASM 2528
1986The Uncollected June Christy with The Kentones Hindsight SR 219
1987The Uncollected June Christy, Vol. II Hindsight SR 235

CDs

Release dateAlbumLabel
1995Day Dreams Capitol Records
1995Through the Years Hindsight HCD 260
1995Spotlight On...June ChristyCapitol Records
1997The Best of June Christy: The Jazz SessionsCapitol Records
1998A Friendly Session Jasmine Records
1999Live at the Newport Jazz Festival, July 1972 Jazz Band EBCD 2145-2
2000The Ballad CollectionCapitol Records
2002Cool Christy 2-CD setProper Records Ltd
2012101 Essential June Christy: Something CoolAP Music Ltd

Television appearances

DateSeriesSongs
1949Adventures in JazzUnknown
1949Art Ford ShowUnknown
1949Eddie Condon's Floor ShowUnknown
1950The Alan Young ShowUnknown
1950Jack Carter ShowUnknown
9/29/1950Penthouse PartyUnknown
1/12/1951Penthouse PartyUnknown
3/7/1953The Jackie Gleason ShowUnknown
1955The Tonight Show with Steve AllenUnknown
9/3/1956Stars of JazzUnknown
7/9/1957Nat King Cole ShowI Want to Be Happy; How High the Moon
12/30/1957Timex All Star JazzI Want to be Happy
3/3/1958Stars of JazzGet Happy; That's All
6/2/1958Stars of JazzI Want to Be Happy; That's All
10/1/1959Playboy's PenthouseHow High the Moon; I Want to Be Happy; Something Cool
11/23/1959The Steve Allen Plymouth ShowMidnight Sun; Medley with Steve and Mel
9/10/1962The Steve Allen PlayhouseMidnight Sun; Willow Weep for Me
2/11/1963One O'Clock ShowUnknown
8/8/1963The Lively OnesI'll Take Romance; Midnight Sun
1/10/1964On StageUnknown
2/24/1965The Mike Douglas ShowUnknown
6/2/1965Not Only But AlsoYou Came a Long Way From St. Louis; Just in Time; Remind Me; My Shining Hour
8/12/1965Mike Douglas ShowUnknown
11/8/1967The Joey Bishop ShowUnknown
2/20/1968Woody Woodbury ShowA Lovely Way to Spend an Evening; My Shining Hour; Midnight Sun
6/30/1972The Dick Cavett ShowA Lovely Way to Spend an Evening; Remind Me; My Shining Hour
1972Words & Music by Bobby Troup The Meaning of the Blues; Hey Daddy; Lonely Girl
6/2/1975New MorningUnknown