Carol Lynn Maillard
BornMarch 4, 1951
OriginPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania
Occupation(s)composer, singer, musician, actress
Instrument(s)Voice
Years active1973–present
LabelsAppleseed/Earthbeat/MFLP, Redwood Records, Flying Fish/Rounder, Rykodisc
Websitehttp://sweethoneyintherock.org

Carol Lynn Maillard (born 1951) is an American actress, singer, and composer. She is one of the founding members of the Grammy Award-winning a cappella ensemble Sweet Honey in the Rock.

Early life and education

Born and raised in Philadelphia, Maillard was a student of the GESU SCHOOL in Philadelphia and also graduated from John W. Hallahan Catholic Girls' High School. She graduated from The Catholic University of America with a major in theater in 1973.

Career

Stage and Screen

Maillard has acting credits that include roles on Broadway (Eubie!, Comin' Uptown, Beehive); Off-Broadway (in several Negro Ensemble Company productions like Zooman and the Sign, and in New York Shakespeare Festival productions); television (For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide When the Rainbow Is Enuf,[1] Hallelujah!); and film (Beloved, Thirty to Life). Much of her career has involved participating in works that are Afro-centric and steeped in African American orality, as well as uplift and support of Black culture[2]

Music

She is a founding member of the group Sweet Honey in the Rock, and has composed and arranged many of that group's songs.[3][4] Maillard has described the creation of that group as something connecting to the social movements of the time, but also equally inspired by contemporary experimental theater and contemporary popular music.[5][6] That group has been nominated for a Grammy multiple times, won a Grammy Award for their contribution to the Smithsonian Folkways A Vision Shared album, and have won multiple Washington Area Music Awards Wammies[7] Most of her solo compositions are published via 4 Jagelish Music.[8]

In addition to composing and performing with Sweet Honey in the Rock, she has also been a guest vocalist for other artists, including Horace Silver and Betty Buckley.

Personal life

Maillard has a son, Jordan Maillard, who is also a Los Angeles-based musician. He appears with her in the documentary Sweet Honey in the Rock: Raise Your Voice[9]

References

  1. O'Connor, John J. (1982-02-23). "TV: 'For Colored Girls' on 'American Playhouse'". New York Times.
  2. Boston, Taquiena; Katz, Vera (1983). "Witnesses to a Possibility: The Black Theater Movement in Washington, D. C., 1968-1976". Black American Literature Forum. 17 (1): 22–26. doi:10.2307/2904164. JSTOR 2904164.
  3. "Sweet Honey in the Rock Licensing and Permissions". Sweet Honey in the Rock Official Website. Retrieved 9 Mar 2017.
  4. Reagon, Bernice Johnson (1985). "Power of Communal Song". In Kahn, Douglas (ed.). Cultures in Contention. Seattle, WA: Real Comet Press. pp. 176–177. ISBN 9780941104067.
  5. Thomas, Sarah (17 July 2015). "When the Obamas are among your biggest fans it's just Sweet". The Age. Melbourne, Australia. p. 33.
  6. Reagon, Bernice Johnson; Sweet Honey in the Rock (1993). We Who Believe in Freedom: Sweet Honey in the Rock Still on the Journey. New York: Anchor Books. ISBN 9780385468619.
  7. Schreibman, Mike (5 Jul 2013). "Wammie Winners 1985 - 2012 Alphabetical List". Washington Area Music Association. Retrieved 10 Mar 2017.
  8. Maillard, Carol Lynn (2003). ""The Women Gather"". Sing Out!.
  9. Hayes, Eileen (2006). "Not Your Mother's Racial Uplift: Sweet Honey in the Rock, Journey, and Representation: Sweet Honey in the Rock: Raise Your Voice". Women Music. 10 (3): 71–79, 124. ISSN 1090-7505 via ProQuest LLC.
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