Teddi King was an American jazz and popular singer. She lived from September 18, 1929 to November 18, 1977. She was born Theodora King on September 18, 1929 in Boston, Massachusetts. After winning a singing contest hosted by Dinah Shore at Boston’s Tributary Theatre in Boston, she began work as a touring revue that “cheered up the military during the lull between World War II and the Korean conflict.” She improved her vocal and piano technique while recording her first album with Nat Pierce in 1949. Later, she recorded recordings with the Beryl Bucher trio and several other small groups between 1954-1955 (recordings that were later made available on three Storyville albums). She then toured for two years with George Shearing, beginning in 1952. She was also managed for a while by George Wein. King began performing in Las Vegas later. She signed with RCA and recorded three albums, starting with 1956’s Bidin’ My Time. Her singles “Mr. She also had minor chart success with the singles “Mr. She was praised for her 1959 album, All the Kings’ songs. In it, she interpreted the classic songs of male singers such as Frank Sinatra (the “kings”) of the title. She opened the Playboy Club in the 1960s where she performed often. She suffered from Lupus and made a brief return with an album with Dave McKenna in 1977. Two more albums were recorded for Audiophile, which she released posthumously. On November 18, 1977, she succumbed to the disease. King’s style has been influenced by Lee Wiley and Mildred Bailey. Mabel Mercer is her devoted cult following on wikipdia
