Every once in a while a special someone defies the odds and manages to make his or her talent shine again and again, in different venues, on stages and bandstands, in recording studios or on tour.
Such a person is Melba Joyce. Her long and impressive career has spanned three decades in the company of and sharing top billing with such giants of the music world as Louis Armstrong, Sarah Vaughn, Louis Jordan, Lionel Hampton, Tony Bennett, Joe Williams, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson and so many others.
A graduate of Antioch University West in Los Angeles, California, Melba Joyce was born in Dallas, Texas. She grew up under the warm and instructive musical influence of her mother and grand parents. Her father, Melvin Moore, a prominent vocalist with the jazz and swing bands of his era -- including Dizzy Gillespie, with whom he toured and recorded -- was also one of Melba's influences. After her family moved to Los Angeles, Melba was immediately noticed by musicians and soon found herself opening for such renowned artists as Miles Davis, Freddy Hubbard and Smokey Robinson & the Miracles.
In addition to her jazz vocal appearances, Melba appeared in the hit show "Black and Blue" on Broadway in New York City, where she not only understudied all three principal characters: Linda Hopkins, Ruth Brown and Carrie Smith, she starred in the launching of that show's successful tour. Melba appeared in just about every major (and some minor) cities in the world from Amsterdam to Beijing, London and Bordeaux; to New York, Dallas, Beverly Hills, and Little Rock Arkansas.
Melba Joyce tirelessly toured the war-torn fields of Vietnam to entertain the troops at the height of that horrid conflict, an experience that raised her social conscience to new heights. When Melba returned, she was appointed panelist for the Congressional Black Caucus of Women in Jazz Forum. She produced the first Women in Jazz Festival at Harlem's Schomburg Center for Black Culture; and became a principal in the Day of the Child Series for UNICEF. With funding from the National Endowment For The Arts, Ms Joyce produced Jazz For Special People, a musical education series for the handicapped.
In 1998 Melba traveled overseas as part of the 1998 Kennedy Center-USIA Jazz Ambassadors program for a tour of several African countries for six weeks, with a special performance at The Kennedy Center as part of the program.
Melba was the first to be honored by the Jazz Museum in Harlem, in their "HARLEM SPEAKS" series" in May 2004. Launched to honor persons keeping the flame of jazz alive in Harlem, it was "....a tribute to the work of one of Harlem's treasures, Melba Joyce....."
In August 2005, Melba Joyce joined the great Count Basie Orchestra as featured vocalist.
