Lee Wiley (
9 October 1908–11 December 1975) was an
American jazz singer popular in the
1930s, 1940s and
1950s. Although today less well-known than such singers of the same era as
Billie Holiday, Wiley is nonetheless still appreciated by jazz aficionados and nearly all her recordings are in print. Although she had only a small voice, she possessed an attractive, slightly husky tone and delivered lyrics with warmth and intimacy.
Wiley was born in
Fort Gibson, Oklahoma. While still in her early teens, Wiley left home to begin a career singing with the
Leo Reisman band. Her career was temporarily interrupted by a fall while horse-riding and she suffered temporary blindness, but she recovered and at the age of 19 was back with Reisman again. She also sang with
Paul Whiteman and later, the Casa Loma Orchestra. A collaboration with composer
Victor Young resulted in several songs for which Wiley wrote the lyrics, including "Got The South In My Soul" and "Anytime, Anyday, Anywhere", the latter becoming an
R&B hit in the 1950s.
In 1939, Wiley made a 78 album set of eight
Gershwin songs with a small group for Liberty Music Shops. The set sold well and was followed by 78 album sets dedicated to
Cole Porter (1940) and
Richard Rodgers &
Lorenz Hart (1940 and 1954),
Harold Arlen (1943), and
Vincent Youmans and
Irving Berlin (1951). The players on these recordings included such musicians as
Bud Freeman, Max Kaminsky, Fats Waller, Billy Butterfield, Bobby Hackett, Eddie Condon, and the bandleader
Jess Stacy, the latter to whom Wiley was married for a number of years. These influential albums launched the concept of a "songbook" (often featuring lesser-known songs), which was later widely imitated by other singers.
In the 1940s, Wiley was married to the jazz pianist, Jess Stacey.
Wiley's career made a resurgence in 1950 with the much admired ten-inch album
Night in Manhattan. In 1954, she opened the very first
Newport Jazz Festival accompanied by
Bobby Hackett. Later in the decade she recorded two of her finest albums,
West of the Moon (1956) and
A Touch of the Blues (1957).
In the 1960s, Wiley essentially went into retirement, although a 1963 television film,
Something About Lee Wiley, which told her life story, stimulated interest in the singer. Her last public appearance was a concert in
Carnegie Hall in 1972 as part of the
New York Jazz Festival, where she was enthusiastically received.
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