Ronnie Wells

Ronnie Wells (February 28, 1943 – March 7, 2007) was a jazz singer and educator in the Washington area for more than three decades. She shared the stage with musicians such as Billy Eckstine, Lonnie Liston Smith, Jimmy Witherspoon and Oscar Brown. Wells was founder of the Fish Middleton Jazz Studies Scholarship and co-founded the East Coast Jazz Festival, an annual jazz festival that continued under her leadership from 1992 through 2006.

Family and education Wells was born Veronica Burke on February 28, 1943. She came from a musical family. Among her fond recollections were the annual family gatherings at Thanksgiving and Christmas when, after dinner, the family would gather together to play the piano and sing. She was introduced to jazz when she was permitted by her parents at age 11 to attend the Howard Theater every Saturday. There she had to opportunity to see some of Jazz greats perform. She attended Howard University during 1960–1962, majoring in liberal arts. She was largely self-taught as a singer.

Career

She sang in her church choir, leading her own group when she was 13, both as a singer and as a pianist. Her first experience singing jazz professionally was at age 20 with A Shade Mellow, a Washington, D.C., group consisting of five voices. She knew she wanted to be a professional vocalist when her sister, Shirley Heard, who was performing at a club, invited her to sit in. Her sister Wilhelmina was a member of the John & Wilhelmina Richburg singers. After singing the first song that is all it took. She knew then the music had chosen her. Her first single gig was in 1960 at the Tallyrand where she sang for 1 ½ years before she was approached by Bert Coleman, proprietor at the Top of the Foolery where she performed for 9 ½ years.

Discography The Gift (Jazz Karma, 1984) After the Lights Go Down Low (Jazz Karma, 1990) Make Me a Present of You (Jazz Karma, 1992) After You (Jazz Karma, 1994) Mostly Ballads (Jazz Karma, 1997) Here I Am (Jazz Karma, 1998) Live at the 10th Annual East Coast Jazz Festival (Jazz Karma, 2001)