Eden Brent

Eden Brent

Eden Brent performing at the Rawa Blues Festival in Poland, 2009
Background information
Origin Greenville, Mississippi, United States
Genres boogie-woogie
Occupation(s) Musician
Instruments Piano, Vocals
Years active 1994 - present
Labels Yellow Dog Records
Website edenbrent.com

Eden Brent (born 16 November 1965 in Greenville, Mississippi[1] is an award-winning American musician on the independent Yellow Dog Records label. A blues pianist and vocalist, she combines boogie-woogie with elements of blues, jazz, soul, gospel and pop. Her vocal style has been compared to Bessie Smith, Memphis Minnie and Aretha Franklin.[2][3] She took lessons from Abie "Boogaloo" Ames, a traditional blues and boogie woogie piano player and eventually earned the nickname "Little Boogaloo."[1]

In 2006, she won the Blues Foundation's International Blues Challenge.[4] Along with other awards, Brent garnered two 2009 Blues Music Awards - one for Acoustic Artist of the Year, the other for Acoustic Album of the Year (Mississippi Number One).[5] At The 14th Annual Independent Music Awards in 2015, Eden Brent won the award in the "Holiday Song" category for "Valentine".

History

Eden Brent was born in 1965 and raised in Greenville, Mississippi. Brent studied jazz and music at the University of North Texas, graduating with a Bachelor's degree in Music.[6]

When she was 16, Eden Brent met the late blues pioneer, Boogaloo Ames, and began to teach herself how to play his style. Brent has said,

"By the time I was 19, I’d nearly become sort of a groupie. I’d go hear him and request certain songs because I wanted to hear them and sort of watch over his shoulder a bit and watch the way he was playing. Sometimes I’d request the same thing over and over and then go home and try to learn it. Finally, after a few failures of not being able to pick it up on my own I was bold enough to ask him to teach me."[7]

In 1985, Ames took her under his wing for 16 years, nicknaming her Little Boogaloo.[8] This apprenticeship advanced Brent’s talents. She was featured alongside Ames in the 1999 PBS documentary, Boogaloo & Eden: Sustaining the Sound, and in the 2002 South African production Forty Days in the Delta.[9]

Brent has appeared around the country at venues and events such as the Kennedy Center, the 2000 Republican National Convention, the 2005 presidential inauguration (sharing the bill with B.B. King), the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel, the British Embassy, Portland’s Waterfront Blues Festival, the Edmonton Blues Festival, the annual B.B. King Homecoming, and aboard the Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise.[10]

Awards

Won
Nominated

Discography

References

  1. 1 2 Jordan, Charles. "Eden Brent: A Biography". Mississippi Writers and Musicians. Retrieved 2013-03-12.
  2. ↑ Tom Clarke (2008-06-01). "Elmore review". Retrieved 2009-06-05.
  3. ↑ Josh Hathaway (2008-04-15). "Music Review: Eden Brent - Mississippi Number One". Retrieved 2009-06-30.
  4. ↑ "2006 International Blues Challenge results". 2006-01-29. Retrieved 2009-05-08.
  5. ↑ "2009 Blues Awards recipients". 2009-05-09. Retrieved 2009-05-11.
  6. ↑ "Discography". EdenBrent.com. Retrieved 2013-03-12.
  7. ↑ Interview w/ Eden Brent, Americana Music Show episode 201, published 4 August 2014.
  8. ↑ Art Tipaldi (2009-02-01). "Blues Revue, Issue #116 New Women of The Blues". Retrieved 2009-06-30.
  9. ↑ Cypress Bend Productions and Mississippi Educational Television (2009-02-01). "Sustaining The Sound, public television documentary". Retrieved 2009-07-01.
  10. 1 2 "Bio". EdenBrent.com. Retrieved 2013-03-12.
  11. 1 2 "Eden Brent". Lowell Folk Festival. Retrieved 2013-03-12.
  12. ↑ Gordon, Keith. "Blues Music Awards 2012". About.com. Retrieved 2013-03-12.
  13. ↑ "Eden Brent". The Independent Music Awards. Retrieved 2013-03-12.

External links

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