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6/29/08

Joya Sherrill 1927 - 2010

Joya Sherrill (1963 photo by Chris Albertson)

This evening (tuesday) I made a stop at one of my favorite blogs, Villes Ville, and learned the sad news thatI Joya Sherrill left us on June 28, 2010. You may recall that Joya sang with Duke Ellington's Orchestra off and on between 1942 and 1959. I took this photo of her in 1963, at a summer afternoon lawn party thrown by Jackie Robinson and his wife as a benefit to raise bail money for SNCC. Many performers were there, including Quincy Jones and Billy Taylor, The Dave Brubeck Quartet, and the Ellington Alumni Orchestra, led by Mercer Ellington. It is interesting to note that Villes Ville has a photo by LIFE taken on that same occasion. I was there with William B. Williams and a WNEW crew—we recorded the afternoon's music (big band, and all), but I didn't know what became of the tapes until 2013, when they were located in a "lost" box at the Royal Library in Copenhagen.

Here are two more photos from that afternoon. Willie B was the MC and you'll spot our host behind him.

William B. Williams and Jackie Robinson
(Photo by Chris Albertson)
WNEW disc jockey William B. Williams
(Photo by Chris Albertson)

Posted by Chris Albertson on Sunday, June 29, 2008