Odetta

An American singer, songwriter, and actress, Odetta built her work around folk, blues, jazz, and spirituals. Born in Birmingham, Alabama, she moved to Los Angeles as a child and began operatic training at thirteen. Her first professional work came in 1944 with the Hollywood Turnabout Puppet Theatre, where she stayed four years, and a 1949 national tour of Finian's Rainbow turned her toward folk singing. She made her name at New York's Blue Angel and San Francisco's hungry i, then released early albums, including Odetta Sings Ballads and Blues in 1956 and At the Gate of Horn in 1957; Odetta Sings Folk Songs ranked among the top-selling folk albums of 1963. She also acted, appearing in The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman (1974). In later years, Blues Everywhere I Go earned a Grammy nomination in 2000, and Gonna Let It Shine earned one in 2007.