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Biography
Patty Waters is a jazz vocalist, best known for her free jazz recordings in the 1960s for the ESP Disk label. Although she has rarely recorded since then, she is more and more recognized as a vocal innovator whose influence extends beyond jazz. Fellow female vocalist pioneers Yoko Ono and Diamanda Galás, as well as rock singer-songwriter Patti Smith, have all named Patty Waters as an influence, while Thurston Moore of Sonic Youth has stated to be an admirer.
Patty Waters was born March 11, 1946 in Iowa. She started singing semi-professionally in high school. After school she sang for the Jerry Gray Hotel Jazz Band. Her family moved to Denver, Colorado where she started listening to Billie Holiday, whose life and singing had a profound influence on her.
