Janet Lawson

Jazz singer and educator Janet Lawson was born Janet Ann Polun on Number 13, 1940 in Baltimore, Maryland. Her father was a jazz drummer and her mother, a singer and lyricist. The family would work on songs together around the piano, which then led to her performing on local radio and television. At eighteen, she moved to New York and began work as a secretary for Columbia Records. She began appearing on Steve Allen’s television show in the late 1960s and began working in theater. Inspired by the local jazz scene and seeing Thelonious Monk live, she made her debut with Art Farmer at the Village Vanguard. She formed the Janet Lawson Quintet in 1976 and began playing the local scene. Because of her live performances, she became a popular scat singer and improviser. Her first album, The Janet Lawson Quintet, was released in 1981. She followed that up in 1984 with the album Dreams Can Be. She also worked with many other artists including Chick Corea, Ron Carter, Bob Dorough, Duke Ellington, Tommy Flanagan, Sheila Jordan, Barry Harris, Clark Terry, and many others. In 1993, a self-titled album was released containing tracks from her previous two albums. In the early 2000’s, her vocal cords were damaged by Lyme Disease and Bell’s Palsy, so she turned to teaching voice at New York University and the New School.

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