Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- [ca. 1970-1998] (Creation)
Level of description
Extent and medium
1 m of textual records
Context area
Name of creator
Biographical history
Jazz singer Trudy Desmond was born in October 12, 1945 and died February 19, 1999 in Toronto, Ontario. Desmond's career began at the age of 14 in Coney Island, New York, where she made her first record. She moved to Toronto to appear in the revue Spring thaw (1970), and stayed, performing in variety shows, commercials, and cabaret productions (e.g., What's a nice country like you doing in a state like this). She also performed regularly in Los Angeles. Desmond took a break from performing briefly in the 1980s, but returned in 1988.
She performed regularly with other jazz artists like Rob McConnell and the Boss Brass, Lionel Hampton, Kenny Rogers, Neil Swainson, Ed Bickert, Don Thompson, and Doug Riley. Desmond was one of the 16 original members of Doug Riley's Dr. Music ensemble. In 1990 and 1991, Desmond was the music director of the Church Street Café in Toronto.
In addition to live performances, Desmond appeared on several radio and television programs and made several recordings, including Tailor Made (The Jazz Alliance, 1992); RSVP (Jazz Alliance, 1994); Make me Rainbows (Koch, 1995); and My One and Only (Justin Time, 1998). She also had a radio series called The Song is You, where she interviewed various jazz singers including Carol Weisman and Ranee Lee, which ran on CBC Radio Two.
Desmond was also an actress, interior designer, club manager, and theatrical producer.
Repository
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Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
Collection of jazz standards and show tunes arranged by or performed by Trudy Desmond. The majority of arrangements are for voice and rhythm (piano, guitar, bass, and/or drums). Some arrangements also include trumpet, trombone, saxophone, vibraphone, or string quartet. Collection includes manuscript parts and copies of parts annotated by the performers. Most charts do not indicate the arranger, performer, composer, lyricist, or date of arrangement.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
System of arrangement
Arrangements are listed alphabetically by title. Most of the arrangements are also numbered ("Trudy Desmond chart no." in alternative identifiers), roughly coinciding to the order in which they were performed by Trudy Desmond and her colleagues.
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Script of material
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Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
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Related units of description
Also see vocal jazz arrangements (for the University of Toronto Vocal Jazz Ensemble) in the Lisa Martinelli collection (OTUFM 75).
Notes area
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Dates of creation revision deletion
Last edited April 29, 2022. RS.