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May 13, 1913 - April 7, 1987
"It is reported that Maxine Sullivan 'put the "ing in swing" and influenced Ella Fitzgerald, Peggy Lee, and generations of singers with her vocal style and musicianship. A petite, African-American woman, nicknamed the "Pint-sized Songstress," she inspires me also with her train-blazing courage and the lessons from her long career that spanned decades of live performance and recording."
Maxine Sullivan was born "Marietta Williams," in Homestead, Pennsylvania. She was a petite woman, only 4' 11" tall and weighing only 82 affectionately earning her the nickname the "Pint Sized Songstress," She originated an innovative effortless graceful soft swing style with precise diction and timing that influenced generations of female jazz singers. She is often forgotten when compared to her more famous colleagues, such as Louis Armstrong.
Maxine's achievements include the following:
~ Performed and recorded Vocal Jazz for more than half a century nationally and internationally.
~ The first African American woman to regularly appear on any national radio show. For two years, she sane on the CBS Radio Program, "Flow Gently, Sweet Rhythm."
~ Founded the Good Words Club for youth in NYC at "the House that Jazz Built," by teaching vocabulary words and the reading of poetry to rhythm to youth.
~Influenced generation of Jazz Singers, including Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, Peggy Lee and more, with her pioneering and effortlessly graceful soft-swing style with its hallmarks of Maxine's precise diction and timing and her beautiful natural voice and song delivery. Maxine is credited with putting the "ing" in "Swing!"
~She was honored with a Tony Award nomination for her role in the Broadway show," My Old Friends," in 1979 and with three Grammy Award nominations in 1982, 1985 and 1986.
~ Maxine was elected to the Big Band and Jazz Hall of Fame in 1998, and her music can be found on over 150 albums and continues to be released even today on new music compilations.
Maxine returned to Pittsburgh in the Spring of 1984 to perform at Walt Harper's Club. She was honored by the City of Pittsburgh and Mayor Richard Caligiuri with a proclamation declaring March 14, 1984 as "Maxine Sullivan Day."
