Elaine Delmar
Born in Harpenden, Hertfordshire, England, Elaine was raised in
a musical environment in North London. Her father, Jamaican-
born trumpeter Leslie 'Jiver' Hutchinson and mother, Phyllis,
came to Britain in the mid-30's and Leslie became a much-loved
musical influence in the 40's and 50' as a jazz soloist and
band leader. Elaine was undoubtedly influenced by her musical
surroundings and remembers warmly a household bustling with
visiting musicians playing, rehearsing and talking about music
or simply listening to the sounds of Basie, Ellington, Sarah
Vaughn, Ella Fitzgerald or Nat King Cole from her father's
record collection. Her mother Phyllis was renowned for her
hospitality and for keeping a warm and stable household which
Elaine feels has grounded her to this day.
Brought up in North London, the eldest of three children,
brother lvor and sister Maria, Elaine was educated at Rhodes
Avenue Junior School and then Trinity Grammar School, Wood
Green. She studied classical piano privately from the age of 6,
completing the Associated Board Exams and becoming a well-
recognized face on the North London Music Festival circuit.
Elaine actually made her first broadcast at 13 on BBC radio's
Children's Hour. Whilst still at school at the age of 16, she
became a singer with her father's band at functions and at US
Air Force Bases around Britain until his untimely death in a
car accident in 1959.
Elaine's first legitimate stage appearance was in a revival of
Finian's Rainbow in the late 50's at the New Shakespeare
Theatre, Liverpool. She then became a member of a group called
The Dominoes before starting her solo career on the working
men's club circuit, mainly in the north of England and touring
overseas in cabaret. From the early '60s, Elaine made several
appearances on the London stage in such musicals as No Strings,
Cowardly Custard and Bubbling Brown Sugar (with Billy Daniels),
The Wiz and Jerome Kern Goes to Hollywood (1985) which marked
the centenary of the composer's birth. This show ran both in
London and on Broadway after which Elaine made her New York
cabaret debut at the Ballroom in New York.
In the 80's Elaine toured Britain in a series of composer
tribute concerts: Swinging on 10th Avenue (Gershwin Tribute
with Georgie Fame) Let's Do It (Cole Porter Tribute with Paul
Jones) Hooray For Hollywood (Berlin, Porter and Gershwin with
Paul Jones) and Thank You Mr. Gershwin (Gershwin Tribute). By
George, It's Gershwin, another Gershwin tribute, took Elaine on
a tour of New Zealand in 1984, this being the first of many
successful trips to the land of Kiwi's.
Elaine's recording career began in the early 60's when she
recorded various albums for one of her early champions,
producer Denis Preston of Lansdowne Records. The first was an
EP titled A Swinging Chick featuring the wonderful talent of
Victor Feldman. Amongst her other albums, Elaine has also
released the highly-acclaimed Elaine Sings Wilder, a tribute to
one America's lesser known composers, Alec Wilder. This album
has become something of a collector's item. The pianist and
musical director on this record was Colin Beaton, one of
Elaine's mentors and early musical influences. She later went
on to make a double album for Denis Preston entitled Elaine
Delmar and Friends featuring Tony Coe, Alan Branscombe, Eddie
Thompson and Pat Smythe, another great influence on Elaine's
musical life.
Elaine's more recent recordings S'Wonderful, Nobody Else But Me
and But Beautiful have all featured Brian Dee, the much-
respected jazz pianist and accompanist with whom Elaine has
been working for the past 20 years. Strangely enough Elaine and
Brian first met when Elaine was still a teenager and he would
visit Elaine's home with his father. In the late 70's Elaine
played the part of the Bohemian Princess in Ken Russell's film
Mahler, the film biography of Gustav Mahler. In 1983 she
appeared at London's National Theatre in David Hare's highly
acclaimed play, Map of the World.
Elaine's musical path has taken her in many directions. She has
made numerous radio and television broadcasts and concerts
singing with small groups, big bands and symphony orchestras
around the world, starring with Michel Legrand, Stephane
Grappelli, Andy Williams, Benny Carter and Herb Ellis to
mention but a few. Equally at home in a concert hall, night
club or theatre, Elaine thrives on communicating with her
audience
A great deal of Elaine's working year these days is spent
touring the world, quite often working aboard some of the
world's top luxury cruise ships. She believes these ships have
become the new vaudeville. One of the high points of Elaine's
working year is her annual engagement at Ronnie Scott's Jazz
Club in London. Having worked there once a year for the past
sixteen years, Elaine still finds it one of the most
challenging and stimulating of all the venues to work.
Elaine has a daughter, Sarah who is currently living in Los
Angeles, California. She is a talented young woman with a
fabulous voice and hopes to one day follow a career in the
music business. After all, it's in the blood isn't it? Read more on Last.fm. User-contributed text is available under the Creative Commons By-SA License; additional terms may apply.
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