Barbara Lea (April 10, 1929 – December 26, 2011) was an American jazz singer.
She decided at an early age to become a singer, participating in contests and singing with dance bands.
[1] She worked at the Storyville club when singer Lee Wiley performed there in the early 1950s.
[3] In the 1970s, Lea was invited to the National Public Radio series American Popular Song with Alec Wilder and Friends.
[4] Lea appeared in the JVC, Kool, and Newport Jazz Festivals several times, but her increasing devotion to the songs as written led to concerts of the works of Rodgers and Hart, Arthur Schwartz, Cy Coleman, Cole Porter, Hoagy Carmichael, and the Gershwins, as well as cabaret appearances devoted to Kurt Weill, Jerome Kern, Johnny Mercer, and Yip Harburg.