June Christy started singing professionally at 13. In the 1950s, her album ‘Something Cool’, which she re-recorded three times, launched the ‘cool’ vocal genre in jazz. She is this week’s Phantom Dancer feature artist.

THE PHANTOM DANCER

Swing and jazz from live 1920s-60s radio in a non-stop mix by Greg Poppleton.

Mixed live-to-air on radio 2SER 107.3 Sydney since 1985.

The Phantom Dancer is re-broadcast on 22 radio stations of the Community Radio Network and online at 2ser.com. That’s where you can hear lots of past Phantom Dancers, too.

IN THIS WEEK’S PHANTOM DANCER MIX?

The June Christy feature and a whole mix of swing and jazz from live 1930s-50s radio. Read the full play list below.

The last hour of the mix is ALL VINYL.

JUNE CHRISTY

was the stage name of cool jazz singer, June Christy. She was described in a 1998 New Statesman article as “one of the finest and most neglected singers of her time.”

THIRTEEN

Her professional singing career began at age 13, singing in the Decatur, Illinois based Bill Oetzel Society Orchestra at thirteen. After high school, changing her name to Sharon Leslie she sang with various bands including a group led by A-list band leader Boyd Raeburn.

FORTY-FIVE

Her big break came in 1945. She’d heard Stan Kenton was auditioning for a female singer to replace Anita O’Day. She won the audition.

Changing her name to June Christy, she sung on Kenton’s biggest selling and million selling record, his 1945 hit Tampico which we’ll hear live from ’45 on this week’s Phantom Dancer.

When Kenton broke up his band in 1948, June spent two years as a solo in nightclubs before joining the new Stan Kenton Orchestra in 1950.

FORTY-SEVEN

She had also, from 1947, started to work on her own records

She released her ‘Something Cool’ album in 1954. In the orchestra for the album was her multi-instrumentalist husband, Bob Cooper. The album was a Top 20 hit and was important in launching the vocal cool movement of the 1950s.

The New York Times quoted Christy as saying that ‘Somethng Cool’ was “the only thing I’ve recorded that I’m not unhappy with.”

She released a second edition of the album in 1955 with extra tracks.

SIXTY

Christy re-recorded ‘Something Cool’ in 1960 in stereo and with a slightly different musical line-up.

TV showcased Christy’s talents in the 1940s-50s-60s.

We’ll hear two of her TV performances on this week’s Phantom Dancer. The first is from a 1949 ‘Eddie Condon’s Floorshow’ telecast. The second is from the first sponsored jazz concert on television, The Timex All-Star Jazz Show, in 1957.

She toured Australia in the 1950s.

SEVENTY

Alcoholism reduced the number of performances she gave post-1969. Notable was her appearance with the Kenton orchestra at the 1972 Newport Jazz Festival with which she also recorded again in 1977.

EIGHTY

She continued to sing at festivals in the 1980s, making her final appearance sharing the stage with Chet Baker in 1988.

“Christy’s wholesome but particularly sensuous voice is less an improviser’s vehicle than an instrument for long, controlled lines and the shading of a fine vibrato. Her greatest moments—the heartbreaking ‘Something Cool’ itself, ‘Midnight Sun,’ ‘I Should Care’—are as close to creating definitive interpretations as any singer can come.”- The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings

VIDEO OF THE WEEK

June Christy singing with Stan Kenton’s Orchestra in a 1945 soundie

11 SEPTEMBER PLAY LIST