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Nu Shooz
Nu Shooz
American band
1
Mamie Smith
Mamie Smith
American vaudeville singer and actress (1883-1946)
2
Mike Miller
Mike Miller
American musician
3
Anita O'Day
Anita O'Day
American jazz singer
4
Esperanza Spalding
Esperanza Spalding
American jazz bassist and singer
5
Storm Large
Storm Large
American actress and singer
6
Teresa Brewer
Teresa Brewer
US pop singer
7
Ernestine Anderson
Ernestine Anderson
American jazz and blues singer
8
Carmen Lundy
Carmen Lundy
Jazz singer
9
Cleo Laine
Cleo Laine
English jazz singer and actress
10
Tom Grant
Tom Grant
American smooth jazz/jazz fusion pianist and vocalist
11
Norah Jones
Norah Jones
American singer, songwriter and pianist
12
Crazy 8s
Crazy 8s
band
13
Billie Holiday
Billie Holiday
American jazz singer
14
Patrice Rushen
Patrice Rushen
American musician
15
Pamela Williams
Pamela Williams
American musician
16
Tommy Dorsey
Tommy Dorsey
American big band leader and musician
17
Jasmine Ash
Jasmine Ash
American singer-songwriter
18
Jane Wang
Jane Wang
American composer
19
Sophie Ellis-Bextor
Sophie Ellis-Bextor
English singer
20
Janice Scroggins
Janice Scroggins
American musician, jazz pianist and instructor
21
Shannon Bex
Shannon Bex
American musician
22
Count Basie
Count Basie
American jazz musician, bandleader, and composer (1904-1984)
23
Natalie Cole
Natalie Cole
American singer and songwriter
24
Cynthia Rhodes
Cynthia Rhodes
American actress, singer and dancer
Valerie Day
American singer

Valerie Day

Intro
American singer
Genres
Music

Valerie Day (born November 20, 1959) is an American pop and jazz singer. Born in Portland, Oregon, United States, she is a fourth-generation Oregonian, and grew up in a musical family. She was the lead singer and a founding member of the 1980s dance band Nu Shooz, along with her husband John Smith.

Day's performances with Nu Shooz had mixed reviews. She and Smith were credited with "rewriting the book" on Portland's R&B sound. One reviewer at the Seattle Times described her as having a "tough but perky wholesome image," and praised her dancing and conga playing, but opined that she over-used a certain vocal hook, and was reluctant to step out as the star of the group.

More recently, Day has taken on other musical genres. In the late 1990s she was a featured singer in the Woody Hite Big Band. She recorded an album of duets with pianist Tom Grant in 2005.

Also in 2005, Day won a contest to have an image of her lips used in the new corporate logo for Portland's Hot Lips Pizza, as part of the company's 21st anniversary.

From 2010 to 2014, Day was an adjunct professor at Portland State University where she taught Contemporary/Jazz Voice.