The music world continues to mourn the loss of New Jersey jazz singer Jeanie Bryson, the only child of Dizzy Gillespie. Bryson died last month at the age of 68. She had been diagnosed with an an aggressive form of cancer and died at Memorial Sloan Kettering Hospital in New York. For personal reasons, her family didn’t make the announcement her death until late last week.
Bryson stayed in the spotlight for a decade, starting with her 1993 debut CD I Love Being Here with You on Telarc Jazz. She made three more solo albums, played festivals around the world and sang in clubs ranging from The Village Vanguard to smaller venues in New Jersey, where she lived.
On February 12th of 2009, a plane crash took the life of Jeanie's husband Coleman Mellet. Mellet, a guitarist and fellow band member and saxophonist Jerry Niewood died on their way to meet bandleader Chuck Mangione for a concert in Buffalo.
In a 2025 interview with WBGO's Doug Doyle, Jeanie Bryson said the tragedy in 2009 basically silenced her voice. She didn't sing again until adding backup vocals to a project that was released this past week. On the 16th anniversary of Mellet’s passing, Jean Bryson and producer Barry Miles, completed the songs Coleman was working on six days prior to his death.
You can hear the entire interview about the "Sing You A Brand New Song" project here.
Jeanie Bryson was also a great friend of WBGO and will be greatly missed by the jazz community.
