Dianne Reeves (Detroit, October 23, 1956) is a Grammy-winning jazz singer. Commentator Scott Yanow said of her, "A logical successor to Dinah Washington and Carmen McRae (although even she cannot reach the impossible heights of Ella and Sarah Vaughan), Reeves is a superior interpreter of lyrics and a skilled scat singer."
Dianne Elizabeth Reeves was born into a musical family. Her father sang, her mother played trumpet, her uncle is bassist Charles Burrell, and her cousin is George Duke. Although she was born in Detroit, she was raised in Denver. In 1971 she started singing and playing piano.
She was a member of her high school band, and while performing at a convention in Chicago was noticed by trumpeter Clark Terry, who invited her to sing with him: "He had these amazing all-star bands, but I had no idea who they all were! The thing I loved about it was the way they interacted with each other - the kind of intimate exchange that I wasn't part of. For a young singer, it was fertile soil." She studied classical voice at the University of Colorado for a time, then moved to Los Angeles, where she sang with Stanley Turrentine and Lenny White. She became a member of the jazz fusion group Caldera (produced by Larry Dunn), then founded another fusion group, Night Flight, with Billy Childs, with whom she would collaborate again in the 1990s. She moved to New York City and from 1983 to 1986 toured with Harry Belafonte.
She signed with Blue Note Records in 1987, staying with the label until 2009, and she subsequently signed with Concord Records.
1989: At Last (Lou Rawls); Ballads (Lou Rawls); Best of Feldman and the Generation Band (Victor Feldman's Generation Band); Straight to My Heart: The Music of Sting (Bob Belden Ensemble)
1990: Nova Collection '90 (Various); Yule Struttin' (Various)
1991: Continuing the Legacy of Black Music... (Various); Free Play (Eduardo Del Barrio); Keys to Life (Ben Tankard)
1992: Christmas Carols & Sacred Songs (Boys Choir of Harlem); Handel's Messiah: A Soulful Celebration (Various); Legendary Lou Rawls (Lou Rawls); Moonlight Love: Soft Sounds for a Summer Night (Various)
1993: Journey (McCoy Tyner Big Band); Let Your Love Flow (Solomon Burke)(background); When the Time is Right (Javon Jackson)
1994: Blue Note Now! (Various); For the Love of Music (Lionel Hampton); I've Known Rivers (Billy Childs); Shades of Blue (Bob Belden)
1995: Esquire Jazz Collection: Crosstown Traffic (Various); Jazz to the World (Various); Rhythm & Blues Christmas [Cema] (Various); Today's Stars Sing Holiday Classics (Various)
1996: Bob Beldon Presents Strawberry Fields (Various); Doky Brothers, Vol. 2 (Niels Lan Doky & Chris Minh Doky); Never Ending Game, Vol. 1 (Dreadformation); New Groove: The Blue Note Remix Project, Vol. 1 (Various); Panasonic Village Jazz Festival 1996 (Various); Place of Hope (Various); Soulful Sounds of Christmas [One Way] (Various); Strawberry Fields (Bob Belden); World Christmas (Various)
1997: 1997 Panasonic Village Jazz Festival (Various); Best of George Duke: The Elektra Years (George Duke)(background); Fiesta & More (Victor Feldman); Is Love Enough? (George Duke) (background); Last Time I Committed Suicide (Original Soundtrack); Monk on Monk (T.S. Monk); Sample This (Joe Sample); Sleep Warm (Various); Slow Jams: On the Jazz Tip, Vol. 1 (Various); Soul Control (Gerald Veasley); That Old Feeling (Original Soundtrack); Yule Be Boppin' (Various); Great Jazz Vocalists Sing Strayhorn & Ellington (Various); Ultimate Nina Simone (Nina Simone)
1998 :Afro-Cuban Fantasy (Cabildo) (Poncho Sanchez); Blue Box, Vol. 2: Finest Jazz Vocalists (Various); Blue Note Salutes Motown (Various); Blue Note Years 1939–1999 (Various); Chez Toots (Toots Thielemans); Colors of a Band (Peter Herbolzheimer); Minh Chris (Minh Doky); Seasons 4 U (Lou Rawls); Soulful Divas, Vol. 3: Softly with a Song (Various); Soulful Divas, Vol. 5: Ladies of Jazz N Soul (Various); Ultimate Divas [Box] (Various); We've Got What You Need (James Williams & ICU)
1999: Afro Blue (Various); Art & Soul (Renee Rosnes); Beach Music Anthology, Vol. 2 (Various); Best Blue Note Album in the World Ever (Various); Billboard Top Contemporary Jazz (Various); Blue Movies: Scoring for the Studio (Various); Blue Note Years, Vol. 6: New Era 1975–1998 (Various); Blue Note Years, Vol. 7: Blue Note Now & Then (Various); Blue Valentines (Various); Down Here Below (Jeffery Smith); Edge (Lenny White); Jazznavour (Charles Aznavour); Just the Ticket (Original Soundtrack) (background); Live at the Blue Note: 75th Birthday Celebration (Chico & Von Freeman); Live in Swing City: Swingin with the Duke (Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra & Wynton Marsalis); Manhattan Melodies (Eric Reed); Native Voices (Various); R 'N' Browne (Tom Browne); Tribute to Ellington (Daniel Barenboim)
2000: 30 Years of Montreux Jazz Festival (Various); Anthology (Eddie Henderson) (background); Going Home: Tribute To Duke Ellington (Various); Love Affair: The Music of Ivan Lins (Jason Miles/Various); Never Gonna Give Up (Lorrich); Pure Cool (Various); Sci-Fi (Christian McBride); Smooth and Straight (Various); Smooth Grooves: Jazzy Soul, Vol. 2 (Various); Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow (Rodney Whitaker)
2001: Dear Louis (Nicholas Payton); Identity Crisis (Affirmation); Let's Get Lost: The Songs of Jimmy McHugh (Terence Blanchard); Phonography (DJ Smash); With a Little Help From My Friends (Renee Rosnes)
2002: At His Best (Solomon Burke) (background); Café (Trio da Paz); I Heard It on NPR: Jazz for Blue Nights (Various); Incredible Solomon Burke at His Best (Solomon Burke)(background); Lenny White Collection (Lenny White); Pump It Up (Les McCann); Tom Browne Collection (Tom Browne)
2003: I Heard It on NPR CD Box Set: Jazz for Blue Nights (Various); Midnight Music (Various); Wise Children (Tom Harrell)
2004: Blue Note Plays the Beatles (Various); Colors of Latin Jazz: Música Romántica (Various): The Magic Hour (Wynton Marsalis)
2006: The Phat Pack (Gordon Goodwin's Big Phat Band)
2014: Map to the Treasure: Reimagining Laura Nyro (Billy Childs)
Filmography
2005: Appeared as jazz singer in Good Night, and Good Luck
2005: Dianne Reeves "Live in Montreal" (Montreal International Jazz Festival 2000)
2008: Dianne Reeves: The Early Years with Billy Childs and Snooky Young
