Elaine Delmar
b. 13 September 1939, Harpenden, Hertfordshire, England. Delmar was a popular singer in the UK, whose style was doubtless influenced by her Jamaican-born father, the jazz trumpeter, Leslie ‘Jiver’ Hutchinson. After studying music from the age of six, she made her first broadcast, as a pianist, seven years later on CHILDREN'S HOUR. While still at school, she sang with her father's band at US Air Force bases in Britain, and was on tour with him at the time of his fatal accident in 1959. In 1952 she appeared in a revival of FINIAN'S RAINBOW in Liverpool. For a while she was a member of the Dominoes group, before going solo and playing the club circuit and touring overseas. From the early '60s, she made several appearances on the London stage in shows such as NO STRINGS, COWARDY CUSTARD, BUBBLING BROWN SUGAR (with Billy Daniels), THE WIZ and Jerome KernGOES TO HOLLYWOOD (1985), which marked the centenary of the composer's birth. After the latter show's brief Broadway run, Delmar made her New York cabaret debut at the Ballroom in New York. In 1991, she co-starred with actor and singer, Paul Jones, in the concert tour of LET'S DO IT, another centenary celebration of the great American songwriter, Cole Porter. In the following year, Delmar teamed with Jones again for a series of concerts entitled HOORAY FOR HOLLYWOOD, which featured songs from movies such as PORGY AND BESS, ANNIE GET YOUR GUN and TOP HAT. Amongst her albums, which contained popular standards, she has also released the highly acclaimed ELAINE SINGS WILDER, a tribute to one of America's lesser known composers, Alec Wilder. The pianist and musical director on the record was Colin Beaton, one of Delmar's mentors and early influences. The antithesis of Wilder would be Gustav Mahler, and Delmar played the part of the Princess in Ken Russell's 1974 film biography of the famous composer. In 1983, she appeared at London's National Theatre in the straight play, MAP OF THE WORLD. A popular regular at Ronnie Scott's club, she has appeared in concert with jazz giants such as Benny Carter, Herb Ellis and Stéphane Grappelli. A polished performer whose execution is faultless, jazz remains her first love; her accompanists are always impeccable improvisers and have included Eddie Thompson, Brian Dee and Jeff Clyne.