| Birth: | Nov. 18, 1924
Prichard
Mobile County
Alabama, USA | | Death: | Jul. 19, 2011
Mobile
Mobile County
Alabama, USA | 
Jazz and Blues Vocalist. Famed for her work with the Duke Ellington Orchestra. The daughter of a Baptist Church minister, she was raised with the sound of Gospel music and the desire of becoming a singer. After attending Alabama State College, she embarked on her career in 1949, moving to the California Bay-area and finding her break with bandleader Roy Milton & His Solid Senders. During the three years that she was a part of his ensemble, she recorded the blues tune "No More Heart Full of Pain", "Boogie All Night Long", "Ain't Gonna Cry", "Come Back Baby" and her duet with Little Willie Littlefield titled "Monday Morning Blues". The scores became her most prolific recorded body of work. In 1956 while performing at San Francisco's Purple Onion, Greenwood was hired by an impressed Duke Ellington to be a soloist for his orchestra. After Mercer Ellington took over as bandleader following his father's death in 1974, Greenwood remained a member until the late-1970s, when she retired from the music industry and returned to Mobile. Her singing career led to an acting role in the TV-movie "My Father's House" (1975) and an episode in the series "Good Times". During the mid-2000s, she made a comeback with her album "Back to My Roots" (2007), a collaboration with composer David Amram. Greenwood died of complications from a stroke she suffered in the fall of 2010. (bio by: C.S.)
Search Amazon for Lil Greenwood | | | Burial:
Catholic Cemetery
Mobile
Mobile County
Alabama, USA |
Maintained by: Find A Grave
Originally Created by: C.S.
Record added: Aug 01, 2011
Find A Grave Memorial# 74251393 |
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