Diane Schuur Biography

Diane Schuur (born December 10, 1953 in Tacoma, Washington) is an American jazz singer and pianist. Nicknamed "Deedles", she has won two Grammy Awards, headlined many of the world's most prestigious music venues, including Carnegie Hall and The White House and has toured the world performing with such greats as Quincy Jones, Stan Getz, B. B. King, Dizzy Gillespie, Maynard Ferguson, Ray Charles, Joe Williams and Stevie Wonder. Like Stevie Wonder, Schuur was blinded at birth due to retinopathy of prematurity.

Biography

Diane Schuur grew up in suburban Seattle, Washington and was encouraged by both her parents to sing. She started singing when she was two-and-a-half, and by age nine, was getting professional gigs. She has said that as a small child she would often retreat to the closet to be alone with herself and sing. Her early childhood music heroines were Sarah Vaughan and Dinah Washington. Schuur had her first gig at Tacoma's Holiday Inn at age ten in which she sang country music. Attending the Washington State School for the Blind, she began performing original material, and starting at the young age of sixteen, revealed a distinctive voice and began performing. Her big break came when Stan Getz became positive about her work on hearing her sing "Amazing Grace" at legendary Monterey Jazz Festival in 1979, returning in '88 and '91. In 1982, Getz asked her to join him at a performance at the White House. Nancy Reagan invited her to perform again as a vocalist with the Count Basie Orchestra in 1987. Stan Getz later played on Schuur's first three albums, Deedles (1984), Schuur Thing (1985 also with Jose Feliciano ) and Timeless (1988).

Schuur's debut album, Deedles, was released in 1984, the first of several recordings to showcase her vocal abilities. In 1985, while on tour in the Far East, Schuur met B.B. King when the two of them played a music festival in Tokyo. Schurr and King eventually made an album together, Heart to Heart released May 1994, which top the Billboard charts to number one. Twelve of Schuur's albums have reached the Top 10 Jazz Albums on Billboard history charts, including Diane Schuur: Live In London (2006) She received her first Grammy for the album Timeless (1986), and the following year received another, for Diane Schuur & the Count Basie Orchestra (1987).

Schuur proved her staying power through the 1990s and into the 2000s, first with her 1991 follow up to Talkin' 'Bout You, Pure Schuur, and then with nearly an album a year from then on, including In Tribute (1992]), Love Songs (1993), Heart to Heart (1994), Love Walked In (1995), Blues for Schuur (1997), Music Is My Life (1999), Friends for Schuur (2000), and Swingin' for Schuur (2001). Late in 2003, Schuur released Midnight, featuring original songs written for the album by Barry Manilow. Manilow also performs alongside Schuur on the album, along with Alan Broadbent on piano, Chuck Berghofer on bass, and the drummers Harvey Mason and Peter Erskine.

Her second live album, Diane Schuur: Live In London, was released in June 2006. It is her first release on the GR2 Classics label, the 20th album of her career and was recorded at Ronnie Scott's in Soho, London.

In 2008 she released a new studio collection entitled Some Other Time.

Selective discography

Year	Title	Genre	Label
1984	Deedles	Jazz	Digital Master
1985	Schuur Thing	Jazz	GRP
1986	Timeless	Jazz	GRP
1987	Diane Schuur & the Count Basie Orchestra	Jazz	GRP
1988	Talkin' 'bout You	Jazz	GRP
1988	A GRP Christmas Collection	Gospel	GRP
1989	Diane Schuur Collection	Jazz	GRP
1991	Pure Schuur	Jazz	GRP
1992	In Tribute	Jazz	GRP
1993	Love Songs	Jazz	GRP
1994	Heart to Heart w/B. B. King	Jazz	GRP
1996	Love Walked In	Jazz	GRP
1997	Blues for Schuur	Blues, Jazz	GRP
1997	The Best of Diane Schuur	Jazz	GRP
1999	Music Is My Life	Jazz	Atlantic / Wea
2000	Friends for Schuur	Jazz	Concord
2001	Swingin' for Schuur with Maynard Ferguson	Jazz	Concord
2003	Midnight	Jazz, Pop	Concord
2005	Schuur Fire	Jazz	Concord
2006	Diane Schuur: Live in London	Jazz	GR2 Classics
2008	Some Other Time	Jazz	Concord
2011	The Gathering	Jazz	Vanguard Records

Grammy history

• Career Nominations: 5
• Career Wins: 2

Diane Schuur Grammy Awards History

Year	Category	Title	Genre	Label	Result
1986	Best Jazz Vocal Performance - Female	Timeless	Jazz	GRP
1987	Best Jazz Vocal Performance - Female	Diane Schuur and the Count Basie Orchestra	Jazz	GRP
1989	Best Jazz Vocal Performance - Female	The Christmas Song	Jazz	GRP
1991	Traditional Pop Performance	Pure Schuur	Pop	GRP
1993	Traditional Pop Performance	Love Songs	Pop	GRP