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Jazz singer Joya Sherrill passes away

Jazz singer Joya Sherrill passes away

Tributes have been paid to the jazz singer Joya Sherrill who has died in the United States. She was 85.

She will be best remembered for her work with Duke Ellington and Benny Goodman.

Ms. Sherrill was first introduced to Ellington when she was still at High School. She impressed him by singing lyrics she had written to his theme song Take the ‘A’ Train. Months later, after she had left school, the band leader offered her a job.

She stopped her full-time involvement with the band in 1946 after getting married, but continued to make appearances and occasional recordings with the ensemble.

Ms. Sherrill was asked by Benny Goodman to join a band to tour the Soviet Union in 1962. They became the first American jazz group to tour behind the Iron Curtain.

In the 1970s she hosted a children’s TV show. One of the episodes was made memorable by an appearance by Duke Ellington.

Joya Sherrill is survived by a son and a daughter.

 

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