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Donald's Encyclopedia of Popular MusicA B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y ZKING, Nancy(b 15 June '40, Eugene OR) Jazz- oriented singer in an offbeat style. She studied dance for eight years and won a beauty contest, but turned down offers to train with the San Francisco Ballet and a movie contract: she had attended an Ella Fitzgerald concert at age 14 and knew she wanted to do music, 'not just sing, but use my voice like a horn player in a band'. She served an apprenticeship with Pony Poindexter in San Francisco (saxophonist, later vocalist Poindexter b 8 Feb. '26, New Orleans; d 14 April '88, Oakland) and worked the Playboy Club circuit. Debut album First Date '78 on Inner City was co-led by tenor saxist Steve Wolfe, with Ray Brown, Jack Sheldon and others; tunes incl. 'Scrapple From The Apple', 'Get Out of Town', 'You Stepped Out Of A Dream'. She began performing with pianist Steve Christofferson (b Seattle) '79, and at college had met bassist/composer Glen Moore, who later with his wife Samantha Moore wrote wild and witty songs, incl. the title tracks of Impending Bloom (other tunes on the album incl. 'Mountain Greenery', 'Cherokee', 'Poinciana') and Potato Radio, both '91. King also does some writing, some of her work appearing on Potato Radio, which also incl. Bennie Wallace and Art Lande (and tunes such as 'St Thomas Way', 'I Got Rhythm' and 'Four'). Cliff Dance '93 incl. 'On Green Dolphin Street' and 'Nature Boy'. These CDs are all on the Justice label with Glen Moore as co-leader; some of the the Moores' other tunes are 'Man In The Oven', 'Dark Matter', 'Hour of The Possum', 'Alligator Dancing', 'Little Bronco'. She made an album with Christofferson '93 not then released; in early '96 they flew to Holland to record Straight Into Your Heart on MONS with the 54-piece Metropole Orchestra, arranged (but not over-arranged) by Rob Pronk and Steve Gray: it incl. Dave Frishberg's 'Zanzibar', Artie Shaw's 'Moonray', Bill Evans/Gene Lees's 'Waltz For Debbie', and Christofferson's 'Blue Beach' as a vehicle for King's scatting. |