Odetta

1930年除夕之夜，奧黛塔在美國(guó)阿拉巴馬州伯明翰出生。在奧黛塔六歲時(shí)，她與媽媽和妹妹一同搬到洛杉磯居住。從小對(duì)音樂狂熱的她，在大約十歲那年的某一天走在從教堂去往學(xué)校的路上，她的歌聲被發(fā)現(xiàn)。奧黛塔的母親開始為她的聲樂課攢錢，但老師建議等奧黛塔13歲進(jìn)入青春期時(shí)再去參加聲樂課。
多虧她的母親，奧黛塔在13歲順利開始了聲樂課。由于母親無力幫助她支付課程費(fèi)用，她的訓(xùn)練課程被迫中斷。然而此時(shí)木偶師Harry Burnette替奧黛塔求情并付學(xué)費(fèi)使得她能夠繼續(xù)聲樂訓(xùn)練。
《彩虹仙子》在1949年夏天被搬上洛杉磯的希臘大劇院，19歲的奧黛塔扮演作品中的一個(gè)角色。正是在表演過程中，他第一次聽到布魯斯口琴大師Sonny Terry的演奏。次年夏天，奧黛塔又一次在加利福尼亞的夏令表演中出演。
在去舊金山表演音樂劇《紅男綠女》之后，她在北部海灘休假過程中第一次體驗(yàn)了當(dāng)?shù)孛裰{音樂不斷發(fā)展的場(chǎng)景。夏天結(jié)束后，她回到洛杉磯，之前她曾經(jīng)在洛杉磯當(dāng)過女管家并住在雇主家中。然而這一次她出現(xiàn)在美國(guó)著名低音歌唱家Paul Robeson的表演海報(bào)上。
1953年，奧黛塔從家庭清潔工的工作中抽出一段時(shí)間去紐約休假旅行并出息了著名的“Blue Angel folk club”。Pete Seeger和Harry Belafonte都對(duì)奧黛塔的職業(yè)生涯很感興趣。終于，在1954年奧黛塔發(fā)布了她的首張專輯The Tin Angel。
by Philip Van Vleck
Odetta was born on New Years Eve 1930 in Birmingham, AL. By the time she was six years old, shed moved with her younger sister and mother to Los Angeles. She showed a keen interest in music from the time she was a child, and when she was about ten years old, somewhere between church and school, her singing voice was discovered. Odettas mother began saving money to pay for voice lessons for her, but was advised to wait until her daughter was 13 years old and well into puberty.
Thanks to her mother, Odetta did begin voice lessons when she was 13. She received a classical training, which was interrupted when her mother could no longer afford to pay for the lessons. The puppeteer Harry Burnette interceded and paid for Odetta to continue her voice training.
When she was 19 years old, Odetta landed a role in the Los Angeles production of Finians Rainbow, which was staged in the summer of 1949 at the Greek Theatre in Los Angeles. It was during the run of this show that she first heard the blues harmonica master Sonny Terry. The following summer, Odetta was again performing in summer stock in California. This time it was a production of Guys and Dolls, staged in San Francisco. Hanging out in North Beach during her days off, Odetta had her first experience with the growing local folk music scene. Following her summer in San Francisco, Odetta returned to Los Angeles, where she worked as a live-in housekeeper. During this time she performed on a show bill with Paul Robeson.
In 1953, Odetta took some time off from her housecleaning chores to travel to New York City and appear at the famed Blue Angel folk club. Pete Seeger and Harry Belafonte had both taken an interest in her career by this time, and her debut album, The Tin Angel, was released in 1954. From this time forward, Odetta worked to expand her repertoire and make full use of what she has always termed her instrument. When she began singing, she was considered a coloratura soprano. As she matured, she became more of a mezzo-soprano. Her experience singing folk music led her to discover a vocal range that runs from coloratura to baritone.
Odettas most productive decade as a recording artist came in the 1960s, when she released 16 albums, including Odetta at Carnegie Hall, Christmas Spirituals, Odetta and the Blues, Its a Mighty World, and Odetta Sings Dylan. In 1999 she released her first studio album in 14 years, Blues Everywhere I Go. Vanguard Records has released two excellent Odetta compilations: The Essential Odetta (1989) and Best of the Vanguard Years (1999). On September 29, 1999, President Bill Clinton presented Odetta with the National Endowment for the Arts Medal of the Arts, a fitting tribute to one of the great treasures of American music.
The next few years found Odetta releasing some new full-length albums, including Livin with the Blues and a collection of Leadbelly tunes, Looking for a Home. She toured North America, Latvia, and Scotland during this time and was mentioned in Martin Scorseses 2005 ary, No Direction Home. That same year Odetta released Gonna Let It Shine, which went on to receive a 2007 Grammy nomination for Best Traditional Folk Album.