Karen Carroll (musician)
Encyclopedia
Karen Carroll is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 Chicago blues
Chicago blues
The Chicago blues is a form of blues music that developed in Chicago, Illinois, by taking the basic acoustic guitar and harmonica-based Delta blues, making the harmonica louder with a microphone and an instrument amplifier, and adding electrically amplified guitar, amplified bass guitar, drums,...

 singer. She was born to parents Mack Carroll and Alberta Simmons Carroll (stage name
Stage name
A stage name, also called a showbiz name or screen name, is a pseudonym used by performers and entertainers such as actors, wrestlers, comedians, and musicians.-Motivation to use a stage name:...

: Jeanne Carroll). Her godparent
Godparent
A godparent, in many denominations of Christianity, is someone who sponsors a child's baptism. A male godparent is a godfather, and a female godparent is a godmother...

s were the jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...

 guitarist George Freeman
George Freeman (guitarist)
George Freeman is an American jazz guitarist. He was born on Apr 10, 1927 in Chicago, Illinois.By mid-1947, Freeman was a member of a sextet led by Johnny Griffin and Joe Morris and supporting touring musicians such as Lester Young and Charlie Parker...

 and blues vocalist Bonnie Lee
Bonnie Lee
Bonnie Lee was an American Chicago blues singer. Known as 'Sweetheart of the Blues', she is best remembered for her lengthy working relationships with Sunnyland Slim and Willie Kent...

.

Carroll started singing in church at the age of six. Her first appearance was on stage playing guitar with her mother's band at age 14. Early in her career she worked with Katie Webster
Katie Webster
Katie Webster , born Kathryn Jewel Thorne, was an American boogie-woogie pianist.-Career:Webster was initially best known as a session musician behind Louisiana musicians on the Excello and Goldband record labels, such as Lightnin' Slim and Lonesome Sundown...

 and Albert King
Albert King
Albert King was an American blues guitarist and singer, and a major influence in the world of blues guitar playing.-Career:...

.
She recorded her first song with Carey Bell
Carey Bell
Carey Bell was an American blues musician, who played the harmonica in the Chicago blues style. Bell played harmonica and bass for other blues musicians during the late 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s before embarking on a solo career...

 on his album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...

, Son of a Gun in 1983. Carroll went on to tour with Eddie Lusk in Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

, after recording his album Professor Strut in 1989. She went on to play at some big Chicago blues clubs
Nightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...

. In 1995, Carroll worked on an album with five other female blues artists called Women of Blue Chicago, and it is still being played on the radio today. She was offered her own recording contract
Recording contract
A recording contract is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist , where the artist makes a record for the label to sell and promote...

 by Delmark Records
Delmark Records
Delmark Records is an independent American jazz and blues record label, based in Chicago since 1958. The label originated in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1953 when owner Bob Koester released a recording of the Windy City Six, a traditional jazz group, under the "Delmar" imprint.-History:Born in 1932 in...

 in 1995, subsequently making the album Had My Fun. This was followed by another recording
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...

, Talk to the Hand in 1997. Some of the tracks on the album Carroll wrote and holds copyright for.

Over the years she has worked with many Chicago blues musicians such as Carey and Lurrie Bell
Lurrie Bell
Lurrie Bell is an American blues guitarist and singer. His father was renowned blues harmonica player, Carey Bell.-Career:...

, Rudy Rotta
Rudy Rotta
Rudy Rotta is an Italian blues guitarist who lives near Verona.Rotta achieved success in Italy before touring in other European countries. His reputation spread to the United States where he gained great popularity. His music combines a modern style with blues roots and a rocky funk soul...

, Otis Grand
Otis Grand
Otis Grand is an American blues musician, best known for his album, Perfume and Grime .-Biography:Although born in Beirut, Grand has spent much of his life in the United States...

, Angela Brown
Angela Brown
Angela M. Brown is an African-American dramatic soprano particularly admired for her portrayal of Verdi heroines.-Early life and education:...

, Billy Branch
Billy Branch
Billy Branch is an American blues harmonica player and singer of Chicago blues and harmonica blues.-Career:...

, Melvin Taylor
Melvin Taylor
Melvin Taylor is an American electric blues guitarist, based in Chicago, Illinois.-Career:Born in Mississippi, Taylor relocated to Chicago in 1962....

, Eddy Clearwater
Eddy Clearwater
Eddy "The Chief" Clearwater is the stage name of Edward Harrington ,) an American Chicago blues musician. Blues Revue said Eddy plays “joyous rave-ups…he testifies with stunning soul fervor and powerful guitar. One of the blues’ finest songwriters.” -Early life:He was born in Macon, Mississippi,...

, Lonnie Brooks
Lonnie Brooks
Lonnie Brooks is an American blues singer and guitarist. He was born in Dubuisson, Louisiana, United States...

, Alvin Lee
Alvin Lee
Alvin Lee is an English rock guitarist and singer. He began playing guitar at the age of 13, and with Leo Lyons formed the core of the band Ten Years After in 1960...

, Byther Smith
Byther Smith
Byther Smith is an American blues musician, noted for his gritty style and uncompromising delivery.-Career:...

 and Sugar Blue
Sugar Blue
Sugar Blue is an American Grammy Award winning blues musician, who plays the harmonica. He is probably best known for playing on The Rolling Stones' single, "Miss You"....

.

In 2008, she released Be My Guest! on Indigoteam Records.

Solo discography

  • 1989: Professor Strut (Delmark
    Delmark Records
    Delmark Records is an independent American jazz and blues record label, based in Chicago since 1958. The label originated in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1953 when owner Bob Koester released a recording of the Windy City Six, a traditional jazz group, under the "Delmar" imprint.-History:Born in 1932 in...

    )
  • 1995: Had My Fun (Delmark)
  • 1997: Talk to the Hand (Delmark)
  • 2007: Live in Oleśnica (Stowarzyszenie Jazz Kanapie)
  • 2008: Be My Guest! (Indigoteam)
  • 2009: Evolution Revolution (Gryllus)
  • 2010: Ghetto Love (unsigned)
  • 2011: Karen Carroll's Blues Mix (unsigned)

Collaboration with other artists

  • 1984: Son of a Gun (P-Vine
    P-Vine Records
    P-Vine Records is a record label started by Blues Interactions, Inc., a firm in Tokyo, Japan established in 1975 by Yasufumi Higurashi and Akira Kochi...

    )
  • 1993: Stock Yards Strut (Delmark)
  • 1993: Chicago's Finest Blues Ladies (Wolf)
  • 1994: Johnny B. Moore, Live at Blue Chicago (Blue Chicago)
  • 1996: Woman of Blue Chicago (Delmark)
  • 1997: Red Hot Mamas (Blue Chicago)
  • 1998: Delmark Records 45 Years Of Jazz And Blues (Delmark)
  • 2003: Delmark 50th Anniversary Cd Collection (Delmark)
  • 2003: Wild About That Thing: Ladies Sing The Blues (Delmark)
  • 2011: First Class Blues (feat. Karen Carroll, Big Jay McNeely) (Acoustic Music Records)
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