This is a R&B album with a touch of Blue and Blues Ballards,the musicians as well as Sugar Pie are veterans and the CD has that R&B sound to the bone.

14 MP3 Songs
URBAN/R&B: Rhythm & Blues, URBAN/R&B: Soul



Details:
Sugar Pie DeSanto Biography

Sugar Pie has been called a great R&B singer as you can hear on her soon to be released CD, âRefined Sugarâ on the Jasman Records label. Yet, DeSanto, born Umpeylia Marsema Balinton in San Francisco, who was dubbed âLittle Miss Sugar Pieâ by bandleader Johnny Otis when she made her recording debut with him for Federal Records in 1955, is far more than a great blues singer. Sheâs also a first-class soul singer, a commanding jazz stylist, an uproarious comedienne, show-stopping dancer and an expert tunesmith. She has made over twenty appearances at the Apollo in New York and appeared regularly at The Regal in Chicago and the Howard in Washington, D.C.
It was at the Apollo where she was spotted by James Brown and became his dynamic opening act for the next two years. In 1964 she was the only female act with the American Folk Blues Festival that toured Europe. Other headliners included Willie Dixon, John Henry Barbee, Sleepy John Estes, Clifton James, Sunnyland Slim, Herbert Sumlin, Lightnin Hopkins, Howling Wolf and the legendary Sonny Boy Williamson. The Lippmann and Rau production was publicized as âfeaturing the best Blues Artists of America.â
Over the years she has written more than 100 tunes two of which she recorded as a duo with Etta James (âDo I make Myself Clear?â and âIn the Basement,â reissued by MCA, the latter being included on the soundtrack of the movie âThe Hurricaneâ). Other songs of hers have been recorded by Billy Stewart, Little Milton, Fontella Bass, Bobby McClure, Minnie Riperton, Jesse James, The Dells and the Whispers, among others. With the exception of âBlues Hall of Fame,â written by blues great Jimmy McCracklin, and âDarkness to the Light,
co-written by Lonnie Hewitt and Paul Smith, all of the selection on âRefined Sugarâ were written in whole or in part by DeSanto.
While Sugar Pie has made some memorable records over the years such as âI Want to Know,â âSlippin Mulesâ and âSoulful Dress,â it is her live performance that people particularly never forget.
Her Set at the 1974 San Francisco Blues Festival prompted Living Blues magazine to call her âthe hit of the festival.â After an absence of over two decades, she returned to the 1998 Festival and, although her set was limited to only three songs, the S.F. Examiner reviewer wrote âthe 63-year-old Sugar Pie DeSanto dazzles the crowd with her singing.â
In 1995 she played the prestigious Blues Estafette in Utrecht, Netherlands where she made the cover of Block Magazine. She has also been featured in a number of other magazines including the U.K.âs Blues and Rhythm and Mohair Sweets as well as Roctober and Filipinas.
She performed at the 1997 St. Louis Blues and Heritage Festival where she received rave reviews in the St. Louis Post Dispatch.
In both 1997 and 1998 she received the award for âBest Female Live Blues Performerâ from Canadaâs Real Blues Magazine. In 1999 she received a BAMMIE for âOutstanding Blues Artist.â In May 2003 she was honoured as a Blues Legend by the California Music Awards (formerly BAMMIE).
She appeared at the Belgium Spring Blues Fest in May 2005, followed by successful engagements at the Le Meridien Hotel in Paris and show stopping performances at the Cognac Blues Festival.
Miss DeSanto is one of the contributors to the book,
âHarlem of the West â The San Francisco Fillmore Jazz Eraâ by Elizabeth Pepin and Lewis Watts to be released in February 2006.
Miss DeSanto was featured in an hour-long interview on House of Blues Radio which aired nationally. She is a frequent headliner in San Francisco at John Lee Hookerâs popular Boom-Boom Room.
Sugar Pie is a great songwriter and singer but as expressed by Rob Harvilla in the East Bay Express (Jan 2006), ââ¦DeSanto can only truly do herself justice in person, a rowdy, full-contact experienceâ¦â

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James C. Moore, Sr., Mgr.
Jasman Records
P. O. Box 19700, Oakland, CA 94619
(510)849-9420
Email: jasmanrecords@comcast.net

For booking: Lisa Walters
E U Booking
(415)945-0515
Email:eubooking@yahoo.com,