Mary Ann McCall

Mary Ann McCall launched her career interpreting middle-of-the-road pop material before evolving into a widely admired jazz vocalist across an on-and-off professional life. Philadelphia-born, she opened as both singer and dancer in Buddy Morrow’s Orchestra, then spent a brief interval with Tommy Dorsey in 1938. Her initial engagement with Woody Herman took place in 1939, followed by a stretch as Charlie Barnet’s vocalist from 1939 to 1940, when that band was drawing notice. After stepping away from music, she resurfaced in 1946 for a prominent role with Woody Herman’s First Herd and remained through the Second Herd years of 1947–50. During this period McCall was married to Al Cohn, maintained a solo career, and worked with Charlie Ventura from 1954 to 1955. She later withdrew from wider visibility, singing locally in Detroit between 1958 and 1960 before settling in Los Angeles for part-time activity. McCall reappeared publicly to perform and record with Jake Hanna in 1976 and Nat Pierce in 1978, still displaying near-peak form. Leading her own sessions, she cut four titles for Columbia in 1947, six for Discovery in 1948, and four for Roost in 1950, plus full albums for Regent in 1956, Jubilee in 1958, and Coral in 1959.