Vi Redd

Vocation

Traits

American jazz alto saxophone player, vocalist and educator, whose 1963 album Lady Soul features many prominent jazz figures of the day. She has been active since the early 1950s and is known primarily for playing in the bebop, hard bop and post-bop styles. She is highly regarded as an accomplished veteran who has performed with Count Basie, Rahsaan Roland Kirk, Linda Hopkins, Marian McPartland and Dizzy Gillespie. Her father, New Orleans jazz drummer and Clef Club co-founder Alton Redd, was one of the leading figures on the Central Avenue jazz scene. He deeply influenced her formative years, and another important musical mentor was her paternal great aunt Alma Hightower. Redd played in Las Vegas in 1962, toured with Earl Hines in 1964 and led a group in San Francisco in the mid-1960s with her husband, drummer Richie Goldberg. During this time, Redd also worked with Max Roach. While active, she toured as far as Japan, London (including an unprecedented 10 weeks at Ronnie Scott's), Sweden, Spain and Paris. In 1969, she settled in Los Angeles where she played locally while also working as an educator. She led albums for United Artists (1962) and Atco (1962–1963). She served on the music advisory panel of the National Endowment for the Arts in the late 1970s. In 1989 she received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Los Angeles Jazz Society. In 2001 she received the Mary Lou Williams Women in Jazz Award from the Kennedy Center. Link to Wikipedia biography