Biography
Dodo Greene was a R&B-inflected jazz vocalist who only recorded a handful of dates during the early ’60s. Her one major record was My Hour of Need, a session she cut in 1962 with an impressive stable of Blue Note artists, including Ike Quebec, Grant Green, Herbie Lewis, Milt Hinton, Billy Higgins, and Al Harewood. Greene was the first vocalist Blue Note signed to an exclusive contract, and she was also one of the few vocalist’s the label signed during the ’60s, which suggests the lack of success the record achieved.
A native of Buffalo, NY, Greene began singing as a child. She continued to sing throughout her teens, although she was planning a career in medicine. Her first big break arrived when she filled in for a sick vocalist in Cozy Cole’s band. He asked her to join his group, but she refused. Eventually, she decided to pursue a career in music and began singing regularly at venues along the East Coast, as well as Chicago. Slowly, she built up a following among audiences and fellow vocalists like Ella Fitzgerald, Sarah Vaughan, and Dinah Washington, and was able to play venues in London and Germany.
Greene recorded her first album for Time Records shortly before she signed to Blue Note in 1962. In April, she recorded the material that comprised My Hour of Need. Five months later, she returned to the studios to cut a follow-up session. Evidently, My Hour of Need was not a success since those recordings, along with a session she recorded in November, remained unreleased until the 1996 CD reissue of My Hour of Need. Greene faded away from the spotlight in the years following the release of her lone Blue Note album. There is no apparent record of her recording again, but she did continue to perform into the early 2000s, mostly at the Anchor Bar — home of the original Buffalo wing — in Buffalo, NY. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine
