8:14pm April 1, 2014

Gwen Avery Remembered

timdillingermusic:

Gwen Avery, singer/songwriter/musician, died on January 31, 2014.  Avery was best known for her composition “Sugar Mama”, which was featured on Olivia Records’ groundbreaking collection, Lesbian Concentrate, in 1977. Originally slated to release a solo album on Olivia, she toured with her labelmates Linda Tillery and Mary Watkins on the Varied Voices of Black Women Tour, which also featured poet Pat Parker and Vicki Randle providing supporting vocals and percussion. Her 2001 release, also titled Sugar Mama, won the Out Music Award for Outstanding New Recording the same year.

She spent the last decade of her life performing in the Bay Area’s Russian River region, bridging the gap between the blues and gospel, continuing to thrill audiences with her distinct interpretation of the rich heritage of black music.  She appeared at a local venue,  Main Street Station, regularly and was beloved by the community there.

Some of the greats in Women’s Music remember her:

“Gwen Avery was an authentic blues and gospel singer. She was raised in a juke joint, where from an early age, she heard first hand, the sounds of Black Troubadours weaving tales of love, passion, frustration and pleas to God - any god, for release from Jim Crow, segregation and the horrible legacy of racism in America.  Lesbian yes, Black woman yes, real deal soulful singer, yes. Yet I wonder how many people really understood her gift? You would have had to listen to Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey and Mahalia to recognize the "time stamp” that marked her unique style. She became the “Sugar Mama” of Women’s Music, no longer a prisoner of love denied but a champion of love out in the open - raw and unashamed. That was her gift to us all. I sincerely hope and pray that Gwen Avery is at Peace and her soul is rockin’ in the bosom of The Great Mother.“—Linda Tillery

“Gwen was a fireball.  Truly unique, powerful, always amazing!! And, yes, she was fragile, vulnerable and pure. There was nothing false about her.  Her song was her soul freely given, with-holding nothinger talent was enormous and her musical instincts, stellar. I am sad  that she is gone.”—Mary Watkins

"One of the truly great blues singers of our time. In the tradition of Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith a strong fearless woman with a soulful/  sexy message.  How crazy to try and critique Gwen Avery. She was as real and as brilliant as truly great artists are.  We will miss her."—Judy Dlugacz, Founder and President of Olivia

"Gwen was one of a kind… Her singing was and is a ringing eruption of the soul. ….Authentic to the bone. She will be dearly missed.”—Teresa Trull

“Gwen was an unstoppable powerhouse…from the moment she hit the stage…if you weren’t prepared…she just took you there anyway!—Jana Leal ,  Women’s Music Producer 

“Gwen was a part of the Varied Voices of Black Women tour that Olivia put together and sponsored in 1978. The tour also featured Linda Tillery, Mary Watkins and Pat Parker. This was a groundbreaking concert tour in many ways. Wherever possible, Olivia worked with local organizations and production companies of black women and the concept itself was designed to shine a light on these extraordinary artists while making the statement that “women’s music” included the blues, jazz, funk, R & B, and that feminism was not the preserve of white women. Gwen was an important part of the tour—she was largely unknown outside Northern California and she brought a unique energy to her music and performance.”—Ginny Berson, Founder of Olivia Records

“Gwen used to come to IMA to hang and rest her weary bones.  We’d laugh—a lot! Then we’d jam and she’d let me play bass.  She’d look at me and say ‘Wow! You can really play this!’ I didn’t even hear the blues until I was 19 or so, certainly not growing up in the Phillipines, but somewhere we met and knew without words.  It was strong and true.”—June Millington 

“She was a tough, fragile woman..an open book in a way, with such tender passion for music and life. Vulnerable, flawed, capable of singing all that complex, powerful feeling. Not easy for her, and what she gave us was unique.”—Rhiannon

“I met Gwen early on. It was her 3-piece suit and butch swagger that caught my eye. And how she took a hold of that grand piano and drove it home. She sang with her whole life showing, with a performance style that obliterated a listener’s resistance. RIP, Gwen. “—Margie Adam

“Gwen was bigger than life.  Well, maybe just bigger than my life.  I had never met anyone like her before. I had to fill up to my fullest self to meet her head on. She would bear hug me, her big laugh exploding in my ear and it was terrifying and terrific all at once. She laughed and poked fun and would catch my eye to make sure we were still good. We were. Teresa Trull and I and maybe others, I don’t remember, sang back up for her on her classic “Sugar Mama”. I don’t know if she used my part.  I was the wrong gal for the job.  But she wasn’t. ”Sugar Mama” is one of my all time favorites. Many years later, I went to hear Gwen at a dive out in the little river town of Guerneville, Ca. As I sat at a funky table sipping a beer, I wondered how she was going to pull it off. How do you sing to a talking, distracted, drinking crowd of old hippies, bikers and meth dealers.  But she started to sing and all that fell away. I don’t remember all those other people at all. Just Gwen singing. Singing “Sugar Mama” to me.“—Holly Near

"I saw Gwen Avery one time when I was around 14 years old. She was a part of the Varied Voices of Black Women tour produced by Amy Horowitz’s booking and production company Roadwork. I was always invited to see anything Roadwork produced.   Later I would be an intern and that is where I learned to produce concerts. I can not say too much how incredible it was for me to see a stage full of Black Women artist playing music together. That they were coming out of "Women’s Music” culture, which was a very new Idea for me, blew my mind. When Gwen Avery sang she took over the space. She played piano- and - her voice and spirit made a room inside a room.  She seem to say- “Now you at a show, and we can begin”- I am so lucky to have been a witness because that power informed my life. To this day I am great friends with Linda Tillery and Vicki Randle who were both on that tour. These women like Gwen, Vicki, Pat Parker, Mary Watkins,  helped to raise me up. Bless you Gwen on your Journey Home.”—Toshi Reagon

Flyer from the collection of Jana Leal

Gwen Avery was amazing.  I got to see her live once and it was one of the two best concerts I’ve attended in my entire life.  I later found out a good friend of mine used to play music with her back in the day.  She had an versatile, rich, complex voice and could make you feel every possible emotional nuance in a song, even when you couldn’t hear the words.  I was sad to hear she died recently, she’ll be missed.  Rest in peace.

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