UNLV Jazz presents the 34th Annual Joe Williams UNLV Jazz Scholarship Concert, featuring a special tribute to the late Marlena Shaw, at 3 p.m. Feb. 25 in Artemus W. Ham Concert Hall. Shaw performed with the UNLV Jazz Ensembles for many years, beginning in the 1980s.
This concert, also in appreciation and recognition of Black History Month, features performers Don Cunningham, Laura Taylor, Michelle Johnson, Jo Belle Yonely, Naomi Mauro, Gary Fowler, Clint Holmes, Pete Barbutti, Lara Vivian Smith, Toscha Comeaux, Linda Woodson, and T. Bradleigh Calvin.
Tickets are $10 and available at the UNLV Performing Arts Center Box Office, online, or at 702-895-ARTS (2787).
About Joe Williams
Singing a mixture of blues, ballads, popular songs, and jazz standards, Joe Williams was an elegant and sophisticated baritone who is counted among the masters of jazz and blues singing; he has, in fact, earned the title "Emperor of the Blues." His singing style, which he developed over a long and consistently successful career, contributed to the success of the Count Basie Orchestra and influenced the style of many younger singers.
Williams worked with Coleman Hawkins and Lionel Hampton before joining Count Basie's band in 1954. The success of "Every Day I Have the Blues" established Williams, and after leaving the Basie band in 1961, he led small ensembles singing popular songs, ballads, and blues. He was a frequent performer on television, both as a singer and as an actor. His album Nothin' but the Blues won a Grammy Award in 1984.
Williams died on March 29, 1999.
About Marlena Shaw
Everyone agrees that Marlena Shaw was a national treasure, and it was difficult to categorize her. Both Downbeat and Record World named her “Best Female Singer,” and many compared her range, class, and swing to eternal jazz lights like Sarah Vaughn, Dinah Washington, and Nancy Wilson. She was also called a “soul legend,” both before and after her successful detour into disco. She was a lyricist and composer, as well — for example, her ballad “You” was recorded by both Stanley Turrentine and Benny Golson.
Given her 40+ year boundary-busting career, such labeling confusion was inevitable. Shaw’s music was unmistakable. Whether she was singing jazz, R&B, pop, rock, soul, disco, blues, or gospel, her originality made such distinctions irrelevant, and each song became intimate and new. She was a soulful survivor who had been there, and more than once. Her music was never heavy — where others might communicate pain or despair, she offered wisdom and hope, laced with humor.
Born in Valhalla, New York, and raised on gospel and jazz, Shaw’s first public performance was at the age of 10, at the legendary Apollo Theater. Her activities since then were as diverse as her legions of fans. It was not unusual for her to be on the road more than 200 days a year.
The first female vocalist ever signed to Blue Note Records, where she made five albums and several singles, Shaw’s recording career actually began in 1966 with Cadet Records. Along with hit singles like “Wade in the Water,” “California Soul,” and “Mercy, Mercy, Mercy” (which she co-wrote, and which first brought her to Count Basie’s attention), she made two well-received albums. At Columbia Records there were four more, including the disco smash, “Take a Bite!,” and “Verve” and “Concord” followed.
In 2000, her tremendous overseas popularity led to “Anthology,” a splendid collection from London’s Soul Brother Records, and two hits for Sony Japan: “Live in Tokyo” (2002) and “Lookin’ for Love” (2003). The critics used words like “astonishing,” “peerless,” “radiant,” and “powerful,” and marveled at her “soaring sensuality.”
In 2009, Shaw received the Lifetime Achievement Award presented in London by World Wide Music. She retired from making professional appearances in 2016, residing in Las Vegas. She is survived by two daughters and a son, and several grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
Shaw died on Jan. 19, 2024
About the UNLV College of Fine Arts
The College of Fine Arts educates, empowers, and engages creative people to become visionary change-makers in the arts through acts of imagination. At UNLV we believe the arts are an essential good for society. We make education relevant and accessible through our programs and outreach. We create new knowledge in the arts. We celebrate independent thought and the power of bringing people together to foster creativity.
