Anne Phillips born 17 February 1935

Phillips was born Anne Latta Dinsmore in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA and grew up in Wyomissing. She played piano growing up but didn't hear jazz until she was a senior in high school. Phillips studied at Oberlin College singing in her freshman year with the college big band. She had her own radio show, singing and playing on the college station, and sang with a college trio that was the supporting act on the occasion of Dave Brubeck’s famous Brubeck at Oberlin concert. 

After attending the New England Conservatory of Music, she relocated to New York City. There, she performed on a number of live television shows as a member of two of the best known choirs, the Ray Charles Singers and the Norman Luboff Choir. She also sang demonstrations for songwriters such as Burt Bacharach and Hal David, Carole King, Neil Diamond and Paul Simon. 

She made her recording debut in 1959 for Roulette Records, with Born To Be Blue, This marked shift in popular music patterns resulted in a highly successful career in the studios. Her industry was soon disrupted by rock ‘n roll and she wouldn’t record another album under her name until 2000, but Phillips now became one of the most respected and in-demand studio performers in the music business in New York City. 

Anne with Kermit Lewinsky

Throughout the 60s, she sang in backing groups on countless recording sessions, wrote, arranged and produced commercials for the American Gas Association, Kent Cigarettes, Campbell’s Soup and Sheraton Hotels. Phillips composed music for a Pepsi campaign with BBDOcalled "The Taste That Beats the Others Cold, Pepsi Pours it On. The spot included The Turtles, The Four Tops, The Hondells, and the Trade Masters. 

Anne with The Turtles

Other artists with whom she worked during these years include the Sammy Davis Jnr. ,Leslie Gore, Linda Ronstadt, Mahalia Jackson, Wilson Pickett and Martha And The Vandellas. She formed her own choir for recording and broadcasting, and became music director at St. Bartholomew’s Church on Park Avenue. She wrote book, lyrics and music for The Great Grey Ghost Of Old Spook Lane, a children’s show that has been produced by many theatrical groups and, with her husband, tenor saxophonist, Bob Kindred, created Bending Towards The Light - A Jazz Nativity, the Christmas story told through the medium of jazz. 

This work is produced annually in New York and elsewhere in America and has featured guests such as Brubeck, Al Grey, Lionel Hampton, Tito Puente and Clark Terry. She and her husband also operate a non-profit organization, the Kindred Spirit Foundation. Additionally, from the early 90s onwards, Phillips has been on the adjunct faculty of the Jazz and Contemporary Music Department at New York University, where she arranges for and directs the NYU Jazz Choir. She also directs Children’s Jazz Choirs through which she teaches inner-city kids songs from the Great American Songbook. 

In recent years she has happily been welcomed into the classical community. Her short operas have been performed at Weill Hall at Carnegie as a part of a program called “Opera Shorts,” She received a grant from Opera America for an evening of short operas entitled That ‘Certain Age’ (about aging with grace and humour.) Her songs have been recorded by soprano Monica Harte for MSR Records, and have been performed on concerts throughout the country and on concerts produced by Chelsea Opera. 

In 2001 she released her second solo album “Gonna lay My Heart on the Line” on which she performs songs she has written, both music and lyrics. Margaret Whiting said “Some of the best songs I’ve heard in years.”.”Noel Noel “followed in 2002 containing Christmas carols written for a 25 voice a cappella choir. On “Ballet Time” (2007) she sings with such jazz greats as Dave Brubeck and Marian McPartland. 

In 2019 she released “Live at the Jazz Bakery”. Comparing 1959’s “Born to be Blue” with this set her voice has held up remarkably well. Her accompaniment is jazzier now than it was then, led by husband Bob Kindred on tenor sax and joined by Roger Kellaway on piano and Chuck Berghoffer on bass. Her original compositions make up most of the album with a couple of standards thrown in. Her writing captures that mid-century moment when songs and singers were appreciated. This intimate and warm album, with its engaging monologues peppered with recognizable names spanning a half-century, feels like meeting someone special.  

(Edited mainly from AllMusic)