Marlena Shaw! A Legendary Jazz Singer

Photos: Alan Mercer

Lighting: Eric Venturo

Make-up: Rudy Calvo and Angela Johnson

Marlena Shaw is among the most versatile and charismatic jazz vocalists on the scene today. Her performances feature an artful blend of pop standards and straight-ahead jazz tunes. Her extroverted stage presence gives her an edge over other vocalists, and clearly, singing live before an audience is where she feels most comfortable.

Marlena Shaw began her career in the 1960's and is still going strong. Her music crosses genre boundaries with unusual ease, as she has made her mark on jazz, R&B, disco, and soul music at various times, all without changing her sharp, soulful musical personality. Marlena has her strongest fan base in the African-American community and during her long career has been able to see her music honored by the next generation, in the form of samples from her songs that have appeared in today's hip-hop recordings.

Marlena suffered a setback at the beginning of her career when she botched an audition with legendary Columbia Label talent scout John Hammond because she was so nervous. However, she didn't give up. She continued to sing in small clubs. Then in 1966 she landed an ongoing gig with the Playboy Club chain, and her career took off.

The connection with the Chicago-based Playboy firm led her to cross paths with the city's Chess Records, a blues-oriented label known for discovering such famous artists as Chuck Berry and Etta James. Marlena was signed to Chess's Cadet subsidiary in 1966 and recorded a moderate hit, a vocal version of 'Mercy, Mercy, Mercy.' She recorded her first full-length album for Cadet, 'Out of Different Bags.'

Meanwhile Shaw continued to hone her jazz skills with a vocalist slot in the prestigious Count Basie Orchestra. At her first rehearsal with Basie, at the Sands hotel in Las Vegas in 1966, she thought she had blown another major audition when Basie left the room after she sang a number. But as she recalled later, Basie returned with two glasses of wine, welcomed her, and said, "Save your voice, sugar, you're going to need it for tonight."

Marlena's second album for Cadet, 1969's Spice of Life, contains several songs that are among her best-known recordings. 'Woman of the Ghetto' and 'California Soul' are pop perfection. 'Woman of the Ghetto' is a jazz-tinged political pop song similar to the social-themed recordings of the period. 'California Soul' was later sampled on the hip-hop recording 'Check the Technique' by Gang Starr.

In the 1970s Marlena returned to straight-ahead jazz, becoming the first female artist signed to the Blue Note label and recording five albums there. The title of one of them, 1974's 'Who Is This Bitch, Anyway?,' gave a clue to the evolving approach of Shaw's stage show, which mixed humor and improvised monologues with music. Shaw's virtuoso vocal stylings often evoke comparisons to Sarah Vaughan and Dinah Washington.

Marlena continued to cultivate her "pop instincts" as well. In 1977 she moved to the Columbia label and capitalized on the growing popularity of disco music with her 'Sweet Beginnings' and its 'Go Away Little Boy' single, which became another of her most famous songs. She recorded three albums for Columbia, spawning several major dance-club hits. The single 'Don't Ask to Stay Until Tomorrow,' from 1978's 'Acting Up' album, was the theme song of the highly successful film 'Looking for Mr. Goodbar.' Her final album for Columbia is a deliscious disco classic entitled 'Take A Bite' featuring a stunning Scavullo portrait of Marlena in a see-through blouse. Check it out in Google Images and see for yourself!

Even though she has never become a household name, Shaw is something of a fixture on the jazz nightclub scene. Her routines mix her hits with virtuoso treatments of standards and her own compositions, complete with formidable "scat" singing skills, and her improvised comedy is always a part of her music. She tours on an international circuit and accumulates fans in such places as England and Japan. Two compilation albums, 'Go Away Little Boy: The Sass & Soul of Marlena Shaw' and 'Anthology,' brought new listeners to her older music, and fans of all ages frequent her shows.


I have been a devout follower of Marlena Shaw's music for many years now. It's easy to recognise her as one of the best in her field. I have 175 Marlena Shaw songs in my I-pod! They are all outstanding. This is the third time I've had the honor of working with Miss Shaw. We shot these new photos in Newport Beach, California with some help from Eric Venturo, Rudy Calvo and Angela Johnson. Do yourself a favor and check out her music which is all classic!

AM: Marlena I know you don't like giving interviews, so thank you for talking to me.

MS: It's so much better if you can just catch me talking because nobody can ask questions.

AM: What are you up to next?

MS: I'm on my way to Europe again.

AM: And you are looking forward to it?

MS: Am I ever! I have a ball over there.

AM: There are a lot of youtube videos of your performances from Europe.

MS: Yeah there are and I love that!

AM: I love your history, like the fact that John Hammond discovered you!

MS: Well the funny part about all this is John told me I needed more experience at the point he was working with me. He brought me in to New York and I had an audition for him. He had Ellis Larkin play for me and you can't get no better than him. He thought I needed some experience and that maybe I could even get with Count Basie. (laughing)

AM: You did work with Count Basie didn't you?

MS: Yes a few years later.

AM: How long did you play with Count Basie?

MS: I'll be honest, I don't really remember. Now this is sounding like an interview. We're not going to do it this way! (more laughing)

AM: I understand. I have been listening to the blue note albums and they are phenomenal. I really like "Just A Matter Of Time."

MS: I like those also. I remember I was planning on leaving Blue Note at that point.
I had one of those attitudes.

AM: Do you enjoy running into your fans?

MS: Yes, I was in Palermo when my husband and I were walking down the Mediterranean and I said to him, "There's some black people down there."
He said, "How can you tell they are black people?"
I said, "I can tell by the way they're walking." Sure enough as we were approaching each other we introduced ourselves and one of the guys was just carrying on. He was saying how much his Dad liked my music. We were laughing about that.

AM: I also really like your Columbia albums. I'm loving "I'm Back For More." What do you like?

MS: I like that cut. It's ok. I've done so many songs I don't have preferences.

AM: Well you are great at all of them.

MS: I'm not going to sing any song I don't like. For the most part I sing things I like, especially in Europe and Japan.

AM: You are still doing a lot of your talking and rapping in concert aren't you? You are world renowned for that!

MS: Certainly, some places I go it's like stop singing Marlena and just talk.

AM: What about playing piano?

MS: No I am not giving up my nails honey! That's all I got left for people to look at.

AM: But you've played on an album before.

MS: Oh on at least two albums I have played Gospel piano.

AM: Are you a sports fan?

MS: Oh yes, I like it all except hockey. I don't know what it's about. I especially like football. Somebody sampled "Woman Of The Ghetto" and of course changed it a bit. They played it during last years playoffs.

AM: How did you find that out?

MS: I'm watching the game and all of a sudden I hear something I recognize and say to myself, "That's me!" My son was outside ringing the bell and I'm pointing at the TV. He wanted me to open the door so when he got in I grabbed him and hugged him and he's saying, "What, what?" I told him that's me! He had already been hearing the sample on the radio.

AM: When you get sampled does it bring you more attention?

MS: I don't know. I know the mailman brings the checks since I published it.

AM: Do you love living in Las Vegas?

MS: Absolutely, I would not live anywhere else, unless somebody gave me a Palace in New Zealand. I love it there.

AM: I am in love with the songs "Blackberry Winter" and "Things Don't Ever Go My Way." You sing those songs so good.

MS: Those songs are so good and written by Loonis McGlohon. He was a dear, dear friend of mine who lived in Charlotte, North Carolina. He passed away a couple of years ago. He was the first person to actually call my attention to the fact that the South had something to offer! I was thinking it was old trees with dead people. You know what I'm saying? I come from that era so when I met him he had such a way about him so I couldn't help myself but to love him and his music.

AM: Does he have more music you could record?

MS: He had many songs. I had tried to get "Blackberry Winter" recorded with several companies that I had been with. It took an arrangement that people could relate too. It took Dave Hazeltine to make it work. If I can get Dave and we can look at some of the other music then who knows? It's hard because Dave's schedule is really busy and let's face it, I'm traveling all the time myself.

AM: Marlena I must bring up the fact that you are so sexy! Can you comment on that for me?

MS: You know a lot of different writers over the years have called it sassy rather than sexy. I think it's in the eye of the beholder!!! (laughing) Yes darling!

AM: Well I certainly like it and I think you are designed to sing that swing and sass!

MS: My uncle had a lot to do with it. I learned to sing that swing by listening to him play trumpet.

AM: Do you ever just sing for fun?

MS: I always sing for fun even when I'm being paid, so nothing has changed.

AM: I read somewhere that someone called you a natural singer. Do you know what that means?

MS: I think this particular person, who I believe was Judith Schlesinger, meant like a natural resource, like water. My singing is so natural. I took one lesson in my life and that was because I was breathing incorrectly. I wasn't using my whole diaphragm. I went to a lady in Vegas. She taped the lesson and told me I didn't really need any singing lessons.

AM: Why do you think your fans love you so much?

MS: I'm so blessed to love them all. I have no real answer for that. I know that I have been chosen to do what I do so I get on with it. I don't want to hear no excuses. If you really take the time to be in a loving mode, because let's face it we've all had times when we are mad at the world, you will return to a loving place.