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Shirley Bunnie Foy

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Shirley Bunnie Foy with Archie Shepp in 1975

Shirley Bunnie Foy, also known as Bunny Foy (October 13, 1936 – November 24, 2016), was an American jazz singer, percussionist and songwriter. She was raised in a family of musicians and during her childhood she discovered various kinds of music such as gospel, blues, spirituals and caribbean songs.

Biography

Shirley Bunnie Foy was born in Harlem, New York. At the age of 17, she started her career touring the Atlantic coast and Canada with a rhythm and blues group called "The Dell-Tones". The ensemble was formed by Della Griffin, Gloria Lynne, Sonny Til, Slide Hampton and other notable vocalists and musicians.

Foy settled in Paris in 1959, and after an engagement at La Calvados, a jazz club near the Champs-Élysées, she toured with pianist Pierre Franzino (her future husband), in France, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland and North Africa. In 1960 she participated at the first Jazz Festival of Antibes/Juan-les-Pins. In 1965 she performed in New York with Archie Shepp and the following years she collaborated with trumpeter Charlie Shavers, bassist Arvell Shaw, drummer Papa Jo Jones and saxophonist Curtis Porter (Shafi Hadi) on his compositions and arrangements for 16 voices. In 1975, she performed (vocals, maracas, percussions) on the famous Archie Shepp album A Sea of Faces.[1]

During her career, she worked in the U. S. with notable jazz musicians such as saxophonists Archie Shepp and Johnny Griffin, drummers Art Blakey and Jo Jones, pianist Randy Weston, organist Lou Bennett, vibraphonist Milton Jackson and in Italy with guitarists Franco Cerri and Bruno De Filippi, bassist/arranger Pino Presti, bassist Stefano Cerri, pianists Enrico Intra and Renato Sellani, drummers Gil Cuppini and Tullio De Piscopo, American clarinetist/arranger Tony Scott, Jamaican pianist Sonny Taylor and many more.[2][3][4][5]

After the 1990s Foy lived in Nice (France) and continued her jazz career working with musicians such as saxophonist Sébastien Chaumont, pianists Ronnie Rae and Jean-Sébastien Simonoviez, trumpeter François Chassagnite, drummers Laurent Sarrien and Yoann Serra, bassists Bibi Rovère, Fabrice Bistoni and Dodo Goya.

Her last album, Shirley Bunnie Foy (60th Anniversary), was a tribute dedicated to the singer (considered one of the great voices of jazz)[6] on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of her career. The album, produced by Pino Presti & Mad Of Jazz and Claudio Citarella, consists of 17 songs performed by Bunnie Foy from 1954 to 2009 and features renowned musicians such as Tony Scott, Archie Shepp, Franco Cerri, Pierre Franzino, Lou Bennett, among others (MAP Golden Jazz, 2013).

Foy died of a heart attack on November 24, 2016, in Nice.[7]

Selected discography

Leader

Performer

Compilations

  • 2000: Riviera Jazz Vol.1, Mo' Smog Records
  • 2005: African Spirits : A Spiritual Jazz Journey Looking Back To Africa, Soul Brother Rec
  • 2009: A La Costa Sud, Edizion musicali Curci
  • 2011: Montecarlo - Life Night & Day, h.squared / Halidon

References

  1. ^ Archie Shepp - A Sea of Faces.
  2. ^ MySpace Monday: Shirley Bunnie Foy
  3. ^ Shirley Bunnie Foy, una voce da jazz
  4. ^ Links - Franco Cerri
  5. ^ Radio National - Archie Shepp
  6. ^ Una voce per Cole Porter - Archivio storico Corriere della Sera
  7. ^ http://www.lejazzophone.com/rip-shirley-bunnie-foy/
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