Chris Connor(1927-2009)
Jazz vocalist Chris Connor (nee Mary Loutsenhizer) was born in Kansas
City, MO, on November 8, 1927. She studied clarinet as a child and began
singing professionally in her late teens, often with a college band at
the University of Missouri. In 1949 she moved to New York City to
concentrate full-time on a singing career, and soon landed a gig with
the Claude Thornhill Orchestra. She
also performed with renowned jazz bandleader
Stan Kenton, in addition to working with
such orchestra leaders as Herbie Fields and
Jerry Wald. She recorded several
albums during the mid-1950s--the period of her greatest
popularity--which did well both critically and financially. She was
known for her habit of altering rhythms on ballads, using very little
vibrato. She went into semi-retirement in the 1960s, but came back in
the mid-'70s with several well-received albums with Kenton and
Maynard Ferguson and a series of
successful concert tours.
She died of cancer in Toms River, NJ, on August 29, 2009.
She died of cancer in Toms River, NJ, on August 29, 2009.
