Claire Austin | |
---|---|
Birth name | Augusta Marie |
Born | Yakima, Washington, U.S. | November 21, 1918
Died | June 17, 1994 Willits, California | (aged 75)
Genres | Jazz |
Occupation(s) | Singer |
Claire Austin (November 21, 1918 - June 19, 1994) [1] (born Augusta Marie) [2] was an American blues and jazz singer and pianist. [2]
Austin was born to Swedish-American parents in Yakima, Washington. [2] She played in nightclubs throughout the northwest in the 1930s [3] and toured with the Chuck Austin Band in the 1940s. [2] She retired from professional singing by the early 1950s and was working as an accountant in Sacramento for the state of California; [4] after singing with Turk Murphy, she frequently performed in San Francisco for two years. [4] She remained active through the 1970s. [5] Her singing style has been compared to Peggy Lee. [6]