OPEN POST: Manor Music Monday With The Marvelous Morgana King!

Greetings music vixens, and welcome to another edition of Music Manor Monday, today with a little Italiano flair, va bene? Tonight, you can find out what this means by moseying on over to Pompino Club and Winery, where DJ Li'l Cat will be playing some tunes from a very special singing principessa. Quick, which jazz luminary also worked as a featured actress in "The Godfather" and "The Godfather II?" There's only one.

If you guessed Morgana King, you're right! She played Carmela Corleone, the wife of Don Vito Corleone, or Marlon Brando, in both movies. Interesting side note: the character's first name is never mentioned in either movie, and because she's played by Morgana, she gets to sing a small bit from "Luna Mezz'o Mare" during the wedding reception scene.

The scrappy daughter of Sicilian immigrants, Morgana thrilled audiences from a young age. At 16 years old, she was embraced by New Orleans’ Black audiences at Bohemian Caverns. At first, she told the club owners that she was Creole, since few white performers worked at Black clubs in the 1940s. The didn't believe her, but they loved her voice, so when she admitted that she was Italian, they said, "good enough." Next performing in Washington DC, she met Dinah Washington, who became her mentor and lifelong friend. 

Happily, after toiling on the road, she was discovered by recording executives in her early-twenties while performing at New York City's Basin Street East. From there, she rarely stopped working. Why? Because of her heart-stopping sense of rhythm and her soaring, four-octave range, both of which she used to create "tapestries of sound that float in the air," according to The New York Times. It's a good thing she received praise in her early years, because her long-widowed, conservative mother never once came to see her perform "because of the kinds of people she thought were out on the streets at night," Morgana noted in later years.

In 1965, she was nominated for a Grammy for "Best New Artist." She lost, as you may know, to The Beatles, a harbinger of things to come - or rather, not to come, since vocal jazz would soon be relegated to the Grammy sidelines. But she continued undaunted, and her loyal fans were always with her. Her 1978 LP, "Stretchin' Out," is a sleek masterpiece of vocal jazz cool.

In later years, she lightly pursued an acting career, but gave preference to her near non-stop club dates, from New York City to Europe to Australia and just about any continent you can think of. And, oh, yes, she also recorded over 30, count 'em, 30, critically-acclaimed LPs. Her 1966 LP, "Wild Is Love," is a lush swing set with a full orchestra and Morgana at her best. If you click-through the video below, you can hear the entire album. You won't be disappointed, I promise.

What are you listening to this week? DJ Li'l Scratch wants to know.
Till next time...purr, bitches, purr! 🐾

Photo Credits: Getty Images/Washington Post