Sweet Claudette - Vocals, Songwriter, Bookings, Promoter
Sweet Claudette Biography:
'Sweet Claudette' Harrell-Manning has performed on the Willie King Freedom Creek festival for several years and the Magic City Blues Festival both in Alabama, as well as Veterans Haven Fundraiser, several centers for the Mentally and Physically Challenged Adults, Hot Blues & BBQ, Heatstock, Port Huron Jazz & Blues Festival, Selfridge Air Force Base’s Family Appreciation Day, to name a few. “Claudette is the epitome of Detroit finger-snapping party blues, but she’s also a master at the low down. “ --- Mark E. Gallo, BluesByte, June 2009. Sweet Claudette is one of the best creative ‘unsung’ songwriters in the Midwest. Sweet Claudette’s blues songs run the gamet of funky, country, jazzy, classic up-tempo and slow blues feel. “Sweet Claudette is a sultry, deep-voiced singer and songwriter ...”, writes reviewer, George Fish in the February 2009, Illinois Blues Blast E-Zine. Sweet Claudette fronts a five - six piece band with wonderful rich horns intertwined into her music. Dubbed 'Detroit's Matriach of the Blues', Sweet Claudette has achieved local, regional, national and international status while singing the blues to fans in bars, clubs and lounges from Michigan to Alabama and Windsor to Burlington, Ontario Canada. Sweet Claudette enjoys sharing her knowledge and experience with youngsters through a Math In Music Program she personally created, as part of the (B.I.T.S.) Blues In The Schools offering. Sweet Claudette has recorded thirty-six originals.
For further information, check out the websites at www.myspace.com/sweetclaudette or email sweetclaudett@aol.com or call (313) 404-0714.
"Sweet Claudette is to lyrics what Thelonious Monk was to the ivories - rich, eccentric and brilliant..." --(George Seedorf, writer) Big City Blues (national magazine)
"Sweet Claudette (Harrell) has an interesting voice ... low, breathy, but at the same time strong and clear. Like coffee or cigarettes, it's an acquired taste, but one which, once acquired, will have you hooked."
---(Barbara Scott) Blues Review (Detroit)
Sweet Claudette is "an in your face" performer.
Discography
1) Linament & Collard Greens, 1999, 6 originals, 4 covers
2) Aint Gonna Wash Your Dirty Clothes, 2001, 10 originals
3) Sending You To Man School, 2004, 9 originals, 1 endorsement
4) Live & Kickin', 2007, 1 original 13 party jazz, funk, blues, & rocking covers
5) That Man's Got To Go, 2009, 9 originals, 1 cover
Festivals:
-- Alabama Women Of The Blues artist (Tuscaloosa, AL) Jupiter Lounge
-- Willie King Freedom Creek Festival, Aliceville, Alabama
-- Little Willie's Lounge - Tuscaloosa, AL
-- Magic City Blues Festival, Birmingham, AL
-- Hot Blues & BBQ Festival, Oxford, MI
-- Pontiac Arts, Beats & Eats
-- Detroit Winter Blast, Downtown
-- Port Huron Jazz & Blues Fest
-- Woodward Avenue Dream Cruise