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JAZZ LIBRARY BOB PERKINS
MARY STALLINGS
THE QUESTION OF WHY the many with great talent (whatever their chosen field) are sometimes overlooked, and their contributions uncelebrated, will probably go unanswered until the end of time. The question can be termed rhetorical with no answer expected. For some fifty years there has been a lady often referred to as a singer’s singer, plying her craft abroad and domestically, and who has shared stages with the likes of Ben Webster, Earl Hines, Tony Bennett, Ella Fitzgerald and, Billy Eckstine, to name a few. Her resumé also includes a three-year stint as vocalist with the Count Basie Band. Mary Stallings was born August 16, 1939, in San Francisco, California. Like so many African-America entertainers, she first performed in church, and later turned to secular music, singing in various nightclubs in the San Francisco area, before graduating from high school. Picture a high school student singing in nightclubs, accompanied by seasoned jazz professionals the caliber of Cal Tjader, Red Mitchell, Montgomery brothers Wes and Buddy, and Monk. After completing high school and teaming with jazz giants, Stallings continued in fast company by becoming the girl vocalist in Louis Jordan’s rocking Tympani Five. She later performed with Dizzy Gillespie at the famed Black Hawk nightclub in San Francisco. Several years later, she and Gillespie worked together again when featured at the Monterey Jazz Festival. She was barely into her early 20s when major gigs began to open up, and she garnered engagements in Tokyo, Manila, and Bankok, along with choice bookings at clubs on the homefront. Opportunities to perform in the company of megastars continued to come when Stallings performed for a year in Nevada with Billy Eckstine, and in the mid-1960s she toured South America with Dizzy Gillespie’s big band. Toward the late 1960s, Stallings began a threeyear residency with Count Basie’s band. She then took time off from performing to give birth to daughter Adriana, who grew up to be an R&B and soul singer. Stallings singing career lost steam during her time off, but she restarted it with renewed vigor 36
around 1980, but it wasn’t until 1994 that she returned to the recording studio to complete an album titled I Waited for You. I discovered Stallings through this album. The entire collection of songs on the disc were well chosen, sung well—and she is supported so closely by the Gene Harris Quartet, the guys could be charged with stalking. There is one in song in particular that I often play for my listeners—and one which I usually get requests to repeat, and that song is, “Serenade in Blue,” a Harry Warren-Mack Gordon gem that has never died, and one that Stallings and her support group manage to breathe even more life into. This cut by itself is worth the price of the CD. Stallings has recorded other fine albums, and also completed many successful nightclub and concert appearances in the years following her return to performing. The irony surrounding her career is that even though many legendary jazz vocalists and instrumentalists respect her talent, the mention of her name to more than a few knowledgeable jazz fans will often draw a blank look. On the other hand, I’m sure that after hearing Stallings’ rich contralto caress a tune or two, more than a few new-found fans might question why she is not a household name. Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for gifted performers to receive returns far smaller than their outputs. Mary Stallings in now in the twilight of her career, but she’s still singing, although perhaps not with the voice she once owned. If you’d like to hear a singer at the top of her game, check out I Waited for You. n Bob Perkins is a writer and host of an all-jazz radio program that airs on WRTI-FM 90.1. Listen to Bob Mon. through Thurs. night from 6–9 and Sunday 9–1.
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