Tata Vega
Encyclopedia
Táta Vega is an American
vocalist
whose career spans theater, film, and a variety of musical genres.
borough of New York City
on October 7, 1951, her father nicknamed her Táta, because that was the first word she uttered as a baby. Her father served in the Air Force and as a result, the family moved frequently. Before she was even a teenager, the family lived in Panama
, Puerto Rico
, San Antonio, and Colorado Springs, Colorado
.
(1969–70) she was cast in the Los Angeles
production of the Broadway
musical
Hair
. From there went on to join the group Pollution, led by Dobie Gray
(who also appeared in the L.A. Cast of Hair), and then became a member of the group Earthquire, which released an album
in 1973 on Motown's Natural Resources label.
With Motown Records
, Vega released four solo albums on the Tamla label
: Full Speed Ahead
(1976), Totally Táta
(1977), Try My Love
(1978) and Givin' All My Love (1981). These albums featured a diverse range of genres, including classic Motown soul, country or southern soul, disco
, jazz
, funk
, country
, Latin
, doo-wop
, and gospel
.
She has had an active career as a Lead backing vocalist, working with Russ Taff
, Stevie Wonder
, Andraé Crouch
, Lou Rawls
, Rare Earth
, Chaka Khan
, Patti LaBelle
, Michael Jackson
, Ray Charles
and Madonna
. She is featured on the 2010 Elton John
and Leon Russell
CD The Union. She also worked in film, performing the voice of Shug Avery in The Color Purple
; she is featured on four songs on the 1986 soundtrack
album
, one of which, "Miss Celie's Blues (Sister)", was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Song category.
In 1985 Vega was nominated for Best Soul female Gospel Performance at the 27th annual Grammy Awards For her vocals on "Oh,It is Jesus" written by Andrae Crouch
.In which she also performed "Miss Celie's Blues (Sister)" from the motion picture The Color Purple
.
Other nominees included:Shirley Caesar
, Kristle Edwards, Albertina Walker
,and Danniebelle Hall
.
In 1994, she recorded the Two Spanish versions of "The Circle Of Life
" (El ciclo sin fin) for the Latin American dubbing of Disney's The Lion King
. During 1995, she was featured in the Warren Chaney
docudrama
, America: A Call to Greatness
.
In 1998, she signed with Quincy Jones’s
Qwest Records and released a gospel album, Now I See.
In 2006 Vega signed with Do Rite Records,in which she released a new Gospel album "This Joy" on October 27, 2009.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
vocalist
Signer
Signer may refer to :*Martin Signer is a famous Swiss financial economist.*Roman Signer is principally a visual artist who works in sculpture, photography, and video....
whose career spans theater, film, and a variety of musical genres.
Early life
Born Carmen Rosa Vega in the QueensQueens
Queens is the easternmost of the five boroughs of New York City. The largest borough in area and the second-largest in population, it is coextensive with Queens County, an administrative division of New York state, in the United States....
borough of New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
on October 7, 1951, her father nicknamed her Táta, because that was the first word she uttered as a baby. Her father served in the Air Force and as a result, the family moved frequently. Before she was even a teenager, the family lived in Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
, Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico , officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico , is an unincorporated territory of the United States, located in the northeastern Caribbean, east of the Dominican Republic and west of both the United States Virgin Islands and the British Virgin Islands.Puerto Rico comprises an...
, San Antonio, and Colorado Springs, Colorado
Colorado
Colorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
.
Career
Vega began her professional singing career in 1963. In CaliforniaCalifornia
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
(1969–70) she was cast in the Los Angeles
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
production of the Broadway
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, refers to theatrical performances presented in one of the 40 professional theatres with 500 or more seats located in the Theatre District centered along Broadway, and in Lincoln Center, in Manhattan in New York City...
musical
Musical theatre
Musical theatre is a form of theatre combining songs, spoken dialogue, acting, and dance. The emotional content of the piece – humor, pathos, love, anger – as well as the story itself, is communicated through the words, music, movement and technical aspects of the entertainment as an...
Hair
Hair (musical)
Hair: The American Tribal Love-Rock Musical is a rock musical with a book and lyrics by James Rado and Gerome Ragni and music by Galt MacDermot. A product of the hippie counter-culture and sexual revolution of the 1960s, several of its songs became anthems of the anti-Vietnam War peace movement...
. From there went on to join the group Pollution, led by Dobie Gray
Dobie Gray
Dobie Gray is an African American singer and songwriter, whose musical career has spanned soul, country, pop and musical theater...
(who also appeared in the L.A. Cast of Hair), and then became a member of the group Earthquire, which released an 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...
in 1973 on Motown's Natural Resources label.
With Motown Records
Motown Records
Motown is a record label originally founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation in Detroit, Michigan, United States, on April 14, 1960. The name, a portmanteau of motor and town, is also a nickname for Detroit...
, Vega released four solo albums on the Tamla label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
: Full Speed Ahead
Full Speed Ahead (Táta Vega album)
Full Speed Ahead is an R&B studio album by Táta Vega. It is her first solo album and was released on Motown's Tamla label in 1976.The album was produced by Trinidadian native Winston Monseque, who was also her manager...
(1976), Totally Táta
Totally Táta
Totally Táta is an R&B studio album by Táta Vega. It is her second solo album and was released on Motown's Tamla label in 1977. Andrew Hamilton, in his four star review in the All Music Guide stated that "Totally Táta is a marvelous production by Winston Monseque." Of the nine songs on the album,...
(1977), Try My Love
Try My Love (Táta Vega album)
Try My Love is an R&B studio album by Táta Vega. It is her third solo album and was released on Motown's Tamla label in late 1978. While not as critically acclaimed as her two previous albums, it received the greatest success on Billboard's Pop and R&B album charts...
(1978) and Givin' All My Love (1981). These albums featured a diverse range of genres, including classic Motown soul, country or southern soul, disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
, 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...
, funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
, country
Country music
Country music is a popular American musical style that began in the rural Southern United States in the 1920s. It takes its roots from Western cowboy and folk music...
, Latin
Latin American music
Latin American music, found within Central and South America, is a series of musical styles and genres that mixes influences from Spanish, African and indigenous sources, that has recently become very famous in the US.-Argentina:...
, doo-wop
Doo-wop
The name Doo-wop is given to a style of vocal-based rhythm and blues music that developed in African American communities in the 1940s and achieved mainstream popularity in the 1950s and early 1960s. It emerged from New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Baltimore, Newark, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and...
, and gospel
Gospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
.
She has had an active career as a Lead backing vocalist, working with Russ Taff
Russ Taff
Russell Taff is an American gospel singer who is originally from Farmersville, California. Taff later then moved to Arkansas where he graduated from Cutter-Morning Star High School in Hot Springs, Arkansas....
, Stevie Wonder
Stevie Wonder
Stevland Hardaway Morris , better known by his stage name Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer and activist...
, Andraé Crouch
Andrae Crouch
Andraé Crouch is a seven-time Grammy Award-winning American gospel singer, songwriter, arranger, recording artist, record producer, and pastor.-Early years:Born Andraé Edward Crouch in San Francisco, California....
, Lou Rawls
Lou Rawls
Louis Allen "Lou" Rawls was an American soul, jazz, and blues singer. He was known for his smooth vocal style: Frank Sinatra once said that Rawls had "the classiest singing and silkiest chops in the singing game"...
, Rare Earth
Rare Earth (band)
Rare Earth is an American rock band affiliated with Motown's Rare Earth record label , who prospered in 1970-1972. Although not the first white band signed to Motown, Rare Earth was the first big hit-making act signed by Motown that consisted only of white members...
, Chaka Khan
Chaka Khan
Chaka Khan , frequently known as the Queen of Funk, is a 10-time Grammy Award winning American singer-songwriter who gained fame in the 1970s as the frontwoman and focal point of the funk band Rufus. While still a member of the group in 1978, Khan embarked on a successful solo career...
, Patti LaBelle
Patti LaBelle
Patricia Louise Holte-Edwards , better known under the stage name, Patti LaBelle, is a Grammy Award winning American singer, author and actress who has spent over 50 years in the music industry...
, Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson
Michael Joseph Jackson was an American recording artist, entertainer, and businessman. Referred to as the King of Pop, or by his initials MJ, Jackson is recognized as the most successful entertainer of all time by Guinness World Records...
, Ray Charles
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
and Madonna
Madonna (entertainer)
Madonna is an American singer-songwriter, actress and entrepreneur. Born in Bay City, Michigan, she moved to New York City in 1977 to pursue a career in modern dance. After performing in the music groups Breakfast Club and Emmy, she released her debut album in 1983...
. She is featured on the 2010 Elton John
Elton John
Sir Elton Hercules John, CBE, Hon DMus is an English rock singer-songwriter, composer, pianist and occasional actor...
and Leon Russell
Leon Russell
Claude Russell Bridges , known professionally as Leon Russell, is an American musician and songwriter, who has recorded as a session musician, sideman, and maintained a solo career in music....
CD The Union. She also worked in film, performing the voice of Shug Avery in The Color Purple
The Color Purple (film)
The Color Purple is a 1985 American period drama film directed by Steven Spielberg, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name by Alice Walker. It was Spielberg's eighth film as a director , and was a change from the summer blockbusters for which he had become famous...
; she is featured on four songs on the 1986 soundtrack
Soundtrack
A soundtrack can be recorded music accompanying and synchronized to the images of a motion picture, book, television program or video game; a commercially released soundtrack album of music as featured in the soundtrack of a film or TV show; or the physical area of a film that contains the...
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...
, one of which, "Miss Celie's Blues (Sister)", was nominated for an Academy Award in the Best Song category.
In 1985 Vega was nominated for Best Soul female Gospel Performance at the 27th annual Grammy Awards For her vocals on "Oh,It is Jesus" written by Andrae Crouch
Andrae Crouch
Andraé Crouch is a seven-time Grammy Award-winning American gospel singer, songwriter, arranger, recording artist, record producer, and pastor.-Early years:Born Andraé Edward Crouch in San Francisco, California....
.In which she also performed "Miss Celie's Blues (Sister)" from the motion picture The Color Purple
The Color Purple (film)
The Color Purple is a 1985 American period drama film directed by Steven Spielberg, based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name by Alice Walker. It was Spielberg's eighth film as a director , and was a change from the summer blockbusters for which he had become famous...
.
Other nominees included:Shirley Caesar
Shirley Caesar
Shirley Ann Caesar is an American Gospel music singer, songwriter and recording artist whose career has spanned six decades...
, Kristle Edwards, Albertina Walker
Albertina Walker
-Early years:Walker was born in Chicago, Illinois, to Ruben and Camille Coleman Walker. Her mother was born in Houston County, Georgia, and her father in Bibb County, Georgia. They moved to Chicago between 1917-1920 where they lived out their lives. Albertina had four siblings born in Bibb County...
,and Danniebelle Hall
Danniebelle Hall
Danniebelle Hall , gospel musician, recording artist, songwriter.-Early life:Danniebelle Hall was born in Pittsburgh, PA the fourth of eight children. She was born to William Butler Jones and Danniebell Jones. Danniebelle learned to play piano at the age of three. She played piano for her...
.
In 1994, she recorded the Two Spanish versions of "The Circle Of Life
The Circle of Life
The Circle of Life is the fourth full-length album by the German power metal band Freedom Call. It was released on March 21, 2005, by SPV.-Track listing:# "Mother Earth" – 4:31# "Carry On" – 3:30# "The Rhythm of Life" – 3:41...
" (El ciclo sin fin) for the Latin American dubbing of Disney's The Lion King
The Lion King
The Lion King is a 1994 American animated film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is the 32nd feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series...
. During 1995, she was featured in the Warren Chaney
Warren Chaney
Warren Herbert Chaney, Ph.D. is an American executive, author, filmmaker, behavioral scientist, entertainer, businessman and a pioneer in early television. In a career spanning four decades, Chaney wrote fifteen books, fourteen screenplays, and seventy-eight professional and nonprofessional...
docudrama
Docudrama
In film, television programming and staged theatre, docudrama is a documentary-style genre that features dramatized re-enactments of actual historical events. As a neologism, the term is often confused with docufiction....
, America: A Call to Greatness
America: A Call to Greatness
America: A Call to Greatness is a 1995 docudrama feature from Paige-Brace Cinema, chronicling United States history from its inception through the 20th century. It stars Charlton Heston, Mickey Rooney, Deborah Winters, Peter Graves, Jane Russell, and Rita Moreno among others and was written,...
.
In 1998, she signed with Quincy Jones’s
Quincy Jones
Quincy Delightt Jones, Jr. is an American record producer and musician. A conductor, musical arranger, film composer, television producer, and trumpeter. His career spans five decades in the entertainment industry and a record 79 Grammy Award nominations, 27 Grammys, including a Grammy Legend...
Qwest Records and released a gospel album, Now I See.
In 2006 Vega signed with Do Rite Records,in which she released a new Gospel album "This Joy" on October 27, 2009.