JasonB.
The Sandra Wright Band-Sandra Wright passes away
The amazing blues singer Sandra Wright, well known in Vermont, passed away January 12, 2010 of a blood clot, she was 61. My friend Grace called to tell me. I have so many good memories of being with Grace, Marion, Pauline, Kiff and John enjoying Sandra's amazingly powerful and soulful voice. People would stand outside the nightclub in any weather just to hear her voice. I always watched and listened to her up close and a few times I sat with her at a table at Nectars and talked with her. She was very kind and sweet but I remember one time these guys from Africa were tring to tell her how she SHOULD sing and I told them they were crazy and didn't know what they were talking about and to stop bothering her since she became somewhat annoyed with them. She seemed a little sad as if she missed someone she loved that night. She grew up in Memphis Tennessee and started singing at age 4 and later trained to be an opera singer at Tennessee State University. The blues legend "Memphis Slim" was her cousin. After college she toured with Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown and recorded a solo album for Stax records called "Wounded Woman." She started The Sandra Wright Band in Nashville and in 1992 the band moved to Vermont to be closer to the bands production company. She fell in love with Vermont and Vermont embraced her and she became Vermont's "Queen of the Blues" and became a regular on the music scene electrifying audiences and touring New England but she called Ludlow Vermont home. Her last performance was New Years Eve to a sold out crowd during Burlington's First Night celebrations. She was scheduled to perform Monday night January 11th, with several central Vermont musicians at a benefit for the Paramount Theater in Rutland VT. The musicians knew she had taken ill over the weekend and the concert program wished her a speedy recovery but she died early Tuesday January 12th at Dartmouth-Hitchcock medical center in Lebanon New Hampshire, she had a son and granddaughter. It is a very sad loss to everyone who loved her and had the privilege of hearing her live and being in her presence of greatness. She was without a doubt the real deal and fabulously talented. I can still hear her singing "Love and Happiness." Yes, that is what she gave us all and the people of Vermont loved her right back. As my friend Marion said "The angel has her wings." Thank you Sandra for the love and the happiness and blessing all of us with your voice.
Love,
JasonB
The Sandra Wright Band-Sandra Wright passes away
The amazing blues singer Sandra Wright, well known in Vermont, passed away January 12, 2010 of a blood clot, she was 61. My friend Grace called to tell me. I have so many good memories of being with Grace, Marion, Pauline, Kiff and John enjoying Sandra's amazingly powerful and soulful voice. People would stand outside the nightclub in any weather just to hear her voice. I always watched and listened to her up close and a few times I sat with her at a table at Nectars and talked with her. She was very kind and sweet but I remember one time these guys from Africa were tring to tell her how she SHOULD sing and I told them they were crazy and didn't know what they were talking about and to stop bothering her since she became somewhat annoyed with them. She seemed a little sad as if she missed someone she loved that night. She grew up in Memphis Tennessee and started singing at age 4 and later trained to be an opera singer at Tennessee State University. The blues legend "Memphis Slim" was her cousin. After college she toured with Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown and recorded a solo album for Stax records called "Wounded Woman." She started The Sandra Wright Band in Nashville and in 1992 the band moved to Vermont to be closer to the bands production company. She fell in love with Vermont and Vermont embraced her and she became Vermont's "Queen of the Blues" and became a regular on the music scene electrifying audiences and touring New England but she called Ludlow Vermont home. Her last performance was New Years Eve to a sold out crowd during Burlington's First Night celebrations. She was scheduled to perform Monday night January 11th, with several central Vermont musicians at a benefit for the Paramount Theater in Rutland VT. The musicians knew she had taken ill over the weekend and the concert program wished her a speedy recovery but she died early Tuesday January 12th at Dartmouth-Hitchcock medical center in Lebanon New Hampshire, she had a son and granddaughter. It is a very sad loss to everyone who loved her and had the privilege of hearing her live and being in her presence of greatness. She was without a doubt the real deal and fabulously talented. I can still hear her singing "Love and Happiness." Yes, that is what she gave us all and the people of Vermont loved her right back. As my friend Marion said "The angel has her wings." Thank you Sandra for the love and the happiness and blessing all of us with your voice.
Love,
JasonB