A Memphis soul illuminating the world of jazz

How to explain the evolution of a unique vocal talent like Deborah Swiney? Like the lives of so many great singers, it begins with a Memphis childhood. Yet of the many Bluff City natives who went on to sing soul or pop, only some, like Swiney, fellow native Dee Dee Bridgewater, and a few others, have distinguished themselves in the world of jazz. And if only one of those singers is presently a household name, just wait a while: Swiney’s full length album, I Remember Rio, and her new single, a stellar take on Johnny Mercer and Hoagy Carmichael’s “Skylark,” will only grow her fan base as time goes by.

Yet, for Swiney, the path to jazz only came after a life steeped in the blues and gospel of the South Memphis neighborhood where she grew up. With her mother’s blues piano and the radio’s soul and R&B echoing through her childhood home, there were plenty of opportunities to sing when Deborah was young. When she joined the choir at the Greater Open Door Missionary Baptist Church on Florida Street, she was hooked on singing for good. And when she took piano lessons from the Julliard-trained Myrtle Tyus, who lived around the corner, it only strengthened her deep, intuitive grasp of music. Meanwhile, her brother Alvin became a serious bassoon player, eventually joining the Memphis Symphony Orchestra for a time before launching a career as a renowned double-reed instrument repairman.

Music was in the air. Even when adulthood came, music was always there, giving Deborah strength. “I ended up getting married, ” she remembers, “so I put the whole musical idea on the back burner, even though I still had it in my heart. I still sang in the choir. And towards the end of my marriage, I said, ‘Well, you know, things aren't going too well here. I think I'm going to start doing some things that I like to do.’” Dabbling in modeling on the side, she stepped up as the lead singer for a local R&B and pop band called Krazar and learned the art of performance in the clubs of Memphis, even winning an amateur blues competition. But her real leap forward came in 1992, when Deborah was hired as a background singer in Al Green’s touring band. There, she discovered how to make a song shine, sharing the stage with a master of the craft, and seeing other masters as she watched from the wings.

“We would go out on tour, and Al Green would headline, but we might have the Mighty Clouds of Joy open for us, or BeBe & CeCe Winans, or the Five Blind Boys. And we would be performing gospel music, but people would be hollering out ‘Love and Happiness!’ or ‘Let's Stay Together!’ Of course, he would end up singing those at the end. The longer I was in the band, each year we would do less gospel music. ”Meanwhile, Deborah was making things happen in Memphis: “I opened a store on South Main called The Nile in 1995.” As it turned out, that retail shop for gifts and décor became musical hub as well, especially when South Main became a party destination on Trolley Night. “Folks would come and sit in,” she recalls, “like Kelley Hurt and Chris Parker, and Gerard Harris, or John Williams, the bassist. Even Rufus Thomas and Carla Thomas would come in and hang out for a minute. So it was pretty cool.”

One visitor to The Nile, just before Deborah closed the store, was especially important. “I had been offered a lot of gigs while I had my store, but I was just kind of laying low on the music thing. But then, around 2004, Ed Finney walked into my store. ” The celebrated jazz guitarist had been making a name for himself ever since playing on Beale Street in its 1960s heyday. “He said, ‘Deb, would you like to sing in a blues quartet at the Peabody?’ That kind of caught me of guard, but he said, ‘Come on, Deb, you should think about it!’ and he kept coming down and asking until I said, ‘You know what? I'm gonna do this thing. ’ And we ended up playing the Corner Bar at the Peabody for like three and a half years!”

That was the turning point, and from that point on he schooled Deborah in the great standards of jazz. “Ed ended up being my mentor and my music director. He really was a big influence.” Even after the Peabody gig came to an end, they played as a duo and in other combinations. Their partnership came to its fullest fruition in 2017, when they recorded Deborah’s debut, I Remember Rio, with some of Memphis’ greatest players, including Tony Thomas, Sam Shoup, Tom Lonardo, and Lannie McMillan. Being an homage to Brazil, it also featured the percussive genius of Felix Hernandez and Ekpe Abioto. Deborah rose to the occasion with soulful, brassy vocals, while Finney, as musical director, created perfect settings for her voice, lending his own imaginative guitar lines as needed, and even contributing the title song.

Although her brother sadly passed away a week after its release, that album was a new high point in Deborah’s career, listed in the top ten most played records for local jazz station WUMR (now WYXR) for 19 weeks. Since then, with a break during the height of Covid, Deborah has gone from success to success. In one example, she boosted her international profile via her work with guitarist Nigel Mooney, “Ireland’s most popular jazz performer, ” according to The Irish Times, who featured “Me and the Mouse,” one of Deborah’s songs, on his album, Mooney’s Blues. She’ll be performing with him in Ireland in September of 2025.

Another of Deborah’s passion projects, the Sunset Jazz series at Court Square, reveals her deep commitment to supporting all jazz in the city. Having considered the square’s gazebo ideal for outdoor concerts for years, she finally made it a reality in 2018, and it’s now in its sixth year (after a two-year break during the worst of Covid), a free monthly series held every second Sunday, May through October. Indeed, it’s been so successful that she received a Downtown Memphis Mighty Light Vision Award from the city for her efforts. That, of course, was but one of many recognitions she’s garnered, which have also included the Memphis Black Arts Alliance’s Jazz A-Fire Living Legends Award in 2018, a W. C. Handy Heritage Award in 2024, a Women of Worth Award in 2019, WYXR’s Dowd Award (in honor of Nat D. Williams) in 2024, and the Jimmy Lunceford Legacy Award in 2025. “It makes me feel good that my city is recognizing me,” she says.

And now, on April 30th, 2025, she’ll drop her newest recording, a stellar version of “Skylark.” While Ed Finney has now moved away from Memphis, Deborah has another roster of Memphis’ best players to bring the song to life with her, led by her newest musical director and guitarist, Gerard Harris, the band also includes Sylvester Sample (bass), Dr. T.W. Sample (piano), and Terryl SaGold (drums). Look for it on all streaming services. Meanwhile, if you want the true sound of living tradition as it was meant to be heard, catch Deborah live every Thursday at The Cove from 6-9 p.m. (and in other venues) whenever you can — and savor one of Memphis’ greatest interpreters of jazz.