Blossom Dearie

[4][5][2][3] Dearie performed regular engagements in London and New York City over many years[4][2] and collaborated with many musicians, including Johnny Mercer, Miles Davis,[3][6] Jack Segal, Johnny Mandel, Duncan Lamont, Bob Dorough, Dave Frishberg, and Jay Berliner.

She formed a vocal group, the Blue Stars (1952–1955),[1][5] which included Michel Legrand's sister, Christiane, and Bob Dorough.

One of Dearie's most famous song recordings from that period is "The Riviera", with music by Cy Coleman and lyrics by Joseph McCarthy, in 1956.

[4] After returning from France in 1957,[1] Dearie made her first six American albums as a solo singer and pianist for Verve Records in the late 1950s and early 1960s,[10] mostly in a small trio or quartet setting.

Dave Garroway, host of The Today Show and an early fan of Dearie, featured her on several occasions, increasing her exposure with the popular audience.

As it proved very popular, the LP Blossom Dearie Sings Rootin' Songs was released[12] as a premium item that could be ordered for one dollar and a proof of purchase.

Dearie appeared on television throughout her career, including voice work for the children's educational series Schoolhouse Rock!.

Some of her pieces in this series were written by her friend Bob Dorough, the jazz singer and composer with whom she performed in Paris in the 1950s.

She listened to musicians such as Count Basie, Benny Goodman, and Duke Ellington,[2] likely forming her pianistic style from such instrumentalists.

Shortly after her death, the pianist Dave Frishberg recalled asking Bill Evans about his use of fourths in chord voicings.

[11] Dearie's vocal style was described by Natalie Weiner in The New Yorker as a "childish treble" singing "postgraduate lyrics".

[19] Dearie lived in Paris, France, during the early 1950s; here she met and in 1954 married Bobby Jaspar, a Belgian flautist and saxophonist.

On February 7, 2009, after a long illness[7] and failing health,[9] Dearie died in her sleep[9] of natural causes[5] at her apartment in Greenwich Village, according to her representative and manager Donald Schaffer.