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Carol Lynn Maillard

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Carol Lynn Maillard
BornMarch 4, 1951
OriginPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania
Occupation(s)composer, singer, musician, actress
InstrumentVoice
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

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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

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Stage and Screen

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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

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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

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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

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  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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