Diunna Greenleaf
Birth nameDiunna Fay Greenleaf
Born (1957-10-06) October 6, 1957[1]
Houston, Texas, United States[2]
GenresTexas blues
Occupation(s)Singer, songwriter
Instrument(s)Vocals
Years activeLate 1990s-present
LabelsLittle Village Foundation, CD Baby
Websitediunna.com

Diunna Greenleaf (born October 6, 1957)[1] is an American blues singer and songwriter.

At the 2014 Blues Music Awards, Greenleaf won the Koko Taylor Award (Traditional Blues Female), beating fellow nominees Teeny Tucker, Lavelle White, Trudy Lynn, and Zora Young.[3]

Life and career

Diunna Fay Greenleaf was born in Houston, Texas, United States.[1] Her parents, Ben and Mary Ella Greenleaf (née Travis), were religiously devout and involved in gospel music.[4] Her early musical influences included Sam Cooke, Sister Rosetta Tharpe, Koko Taylor, and Aretha Franklin.[2] Before her musical career, Greenleaf obtained a degree in Mass Communications at the Prairie View A&M University.[1][4]

Greenleaf and her backing band, Blue Mercy, have performed on the international stage for a number of years.[2] In 2005, they took part and triumphed at the International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tennessee.[5]

She was President of the Houston Blues Society for three years, becoming the first woman to undertake that role. Greenleaf initiated the now annual Houston Blues Society Founders Day, and continues to support the Blues in Schools Program. She was also one of the founders of the Friends of Blues Montgomery County.[2]

She performed as a backing vocalist for Pinetop Perkins, on his segment of the Grammy Award winning album, Last of the Great Mississippi Delta Bluesmen: Live in Dallas (2007).[6] The same year Greenleaf and Blue Mercy issued their debut studio album, Cotton Field to Coffee House.[7]

In 2008 at the Blues Music Awards, Greenleaf won the 'Best New Artist Debut' award for Cotton Field to Coffee House.[5] At the same ceremony the following year, she was nominated for the 'Koko Taylor Award (Traditional Blues Female)'. In 2012, Greenleaf was nominated again for the 'Koko Taylor Award', and in the 'Traditional Blues Album' category for Trying to Hold On.[2] The album included fourteen songs, of which Greenleaf wrote ten and co-wrote another. The album was recorded in Tempe, Arizona.[8]

Kenny "Blues Boss" Wayne's Rollin' with the Blues Boss (2014), included guest vocal contributions from Greenleaf and Eric Bibb.[9] Greenleaf also appeared as a guest singer on Japanese jump blues band Bloodest Saxophone's Texas Queens 5 released by Dialtone Records in 2019.[10]

Festivals

Greenleaf has performed at many music festivals. These include the Blues to Bop Festival in Lugano, Switzerland, the Montreal International Jazz Festival (2009),[11] the Bern Jazz Festival,[2] the Arkansas Blues and Heritage Festival (2007),[12] Boundary Waters Blues Festival, Sarasota Blues Fest (2008), Notodden Blues Festival (2008), Long Beach Blues Festival (2009), the DC Blues Festival (2010),[13] the Tinner Hill Blues Festival (2012),[14] the Bikes Blues and BBQ (2014),[15] and the Houston Blues and Jazz Festival (2022).[16]

Discography

Albums

YearTitleRecord labelCredits
2004Crazy But Live in Houston[17]CD BabyDiunna Greenleaf and Blue Mercy
2007Cotton Field to Coffee House[18]CD BabyDiunna Greenleaf and Blue Mercy
2011Trying to Hold On[19]CD BabyDiunna Greenleaf
2022I Ain't Playin'[20]Little Village FoundationDiunna Greenleaf

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 "Ancestry.co.uk". Search.ancestry.co.uk. Retrieved 2014-05-17. (subscription required)
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Diunna Greenleaf – Diunna Greenleaf and Blue Mercy". Diunna.com. Retrieved 2014-05-17.
  3. ↑ "2014 Blues Music Awards Nominees and Winners". Blues.about.com. Retrieved 2014-05-17.
  4. 1 2 Wood, Charles Roger (2003). Down in Houston: Bayou City Blues (19th ed.). Austin, Texas: University of Texas Press. p. 245. ISBN 0-292-79159-3.
  5. 1 2 "About Jonn 'Del Toro' Richardson – The Texas Bull". Deltoroblues.wordpress.com. Retrieved 2014-05-17.
  6. ↑ "Last of the Great Mississippi Delta Bluesmen: Live in Dallas". AllMusic. Retrieved 2012-05-20.
  7. ↑ "PastBlues Your blues". Pastblues.com. Retrieved 2014-05-17.
  8. ↑ "FAME Review: Diunna Greenleaf – Trying To Hold On". Acousticmusic.com. Retrieved 2014-05-17.
  9. ↑ Steve Leggett (2014-04-22). "Rollin' with the Blues Boss – Kenny "Blues Boss" Wayne | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2014-05-16.
  10. ↑ "Texas Queens 5 – Bloodest Saxophone | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2022-06-06.
  11. ↑ "Artist : Diunna Greenleaf – Festival International de Jazz de Montréal". Montrealjazzfest.com. Archived from the original on 2014-05-03. Retrieved 2014-05-17.
  12. ↑ "Down the Dirt Road Part 5". Earlyblues.com. Retrieved 2014-05-17.
  13. ↑ "In a Blue Mood: Diunna Greenleaf Rocked the DC Blues Festival". Inabluemood.blogspot.co.uk. 2010-09-06. Retrieved 2014-05-17.
  14. ↑ "Welcome to The State Theatre". Thestatetheatre.com. Retrieved 2014-05-17.
  15. ↑ "Motorcycle event | Blues Festival | Elizabethtown, Kentucky". Bbqbluesfest.com. Archived from the original on 2014-05-16. Retrieved 2014-05-17.
  16. ↑ "Houston Blues & Jazz Festival". Houston.culturemap.com. 18 September 2022. Retrieved 2022-09-25.
  17. ↑ "Diunna Greenleaf & Blue Mercy | "Crazy" But Live in Houston". Cdbaby.com. Retrieved 2014-05-17.
  18. ↑ "Cotton Field to Coffee House – Blue Mercy,Diunna Greenleaf". AllMusic. Retrieved 2014-05-17.
  19. ↑ "Trying to Hold On – Diunna Greenleaf | Songs, Reviews, Credits, Awards". AllMusic. Retrieved 2014-05-17.
  20. ↑ "I Ain't Playin' – Diunna Greenleaf". Little Village Foundation. 19 May 2022. Retrieved 2022-06-06.


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