| Born in 1932 in Durham, North Carolina, Grady Tate is both world-renowned as a virtuoso jazz drummer and as a top class baritone. Grady developed his drumming during a stint in the air force in the early fifties. After his discharge, he taught as an English and speech teacher, and then moved to New York to become an actor, studying at the American academy of dramatic arts. Once in New York, however, his reputation as an outstanding musician resulted in work with Quincy Jones. His session credits read like the history of jazz; Duke Ellington, Count Basie, Wes Montgomery, Bill Evans, Jimmy Smith, Oscar Peterson, Ella Fitzgerald, Artetha Franklin, Sarah Vaughan, Peggy Lee, Stan Getz, Lalo Schifin, Tony Bennett and Charles Aznavour - Grady was also the drummer on the Johnny Carson show for six years Grady began to seriously develop the vocal aspect of his talent after Peggy Lee heard him sing and introduced him as part of her show. In 1968 he signed to Gary Mcfarland’s Skye records. Here he would make three solo albums (‘Windmills Of My Mind’ 'Feeling Life' and ‘After The Long Ride Home’) and would collaborate with Mcfarland also on the soundtrack for the film ‘Slaves’ which starred Dionne Warwick. Although Grady’s renditions of Michel Legrand’s ‘Windmills Of Your Mind’ and 'Work Song' are a delight, the outstanding vocal performances are on Gary Mcfarland¹s imaginative and perfectly judged arrangement of ‘And I Love Her’ and on ‘Sackfull Of Dreams’ which has a wonderfully endearing warmth about it. this recording and ‘Naughty Number Nine’ for ‘Multiplication Rock’ (part of ‘Schoolhouse Rock) are probably Grady’s best known vocal performances. Grady Tate received two Grammy nominations as ‘best pop vocalist’ in 1973 and 1979. Since 1989 he has been a lecturer in jazz studies at Howard University.
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