Nancy LaMott

Nancy LaMott (December 30, 1951, in Midland, Michigan – December 13, 1995 in New York City) was an American singer, popular on the New York City cabaret circuit in the 1980s and breaking out into radio and the national and international scene in the 1990s. Along with Karen Mason, she was the first singer to do a continuous long run at Don't Tell Mama in New York City. She went on to play all of the smaller clubs in New York, and began to record in the early 1990s. In 1991, song writer/producer David Friedman formed a record label for LaMott, MIDDER Music Records, Inc, and, with Christopher Marlowe at the piano, recorded her first CD. It was an instant success in the cabaret world, and each year Friedman would use the profits from the previous CD to record another one. The release and popularity of LaMott's CDs led her to become a regular at New York's more prestigious clubs, such as Tavern on the Green and The Oak Room at the Algonquin, where she broke house records for attendance. In 1993, Jonathan Schwartz discovered LaMott and she became a staple on his internationally broadcast radio shows. Friedman wrote many of his songs for LaMott, including "We Can Be Kind", "We Live on Borrowed Time", and "Just in Time For Christmas" (lyrics by David Zippel). Friedman's songs "Listen To My Heart", "I'll Be Here With You" and "Your Love" also became signature tunes for LaMott. In 1994, arranger Peter Matz tapped LaMott to sing in a concert honoring Alan and Marilyn Bergman in Los Angeles, and her success at this concert catapulted her to the national scene. Matz signed on to orchestrate LaMott's fifth album, Listen To My Heart, and this CD brought her large national attention. LaMott performed twice at the White House for President Bill Clinton and Hillary Clinton. and also sang at Carnegie Hall, the annual Cabaret Conventions at Town Hall and always sang the closing song at John Znidarsic's In Celebration of Life Concert. She also participated in numerous benefits to raise money for causes related to AIDS and human rights, and performed major concerts in her home town of Midland Michigan, and her "second home town" San Francisco. In 2008, her posthumously-released album Ask Me Again, featuring songs she recorded between 1988 and 1995, reached #12 on Billboard magazine's Top Jazz Albums chart. She sang with a "sweet-voiced cabaret-style singing" described as "gentle" with a "1940s style" which won a tight circle of admirers and almost a "cult following". When she was beginning to achieve commercial and critical success, her life was tragically cut short by uterine cancer in 1995.

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