Ann Burton
| Ann Burton | |
|---|---|
Ann Burton in 1961
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Johanna Rafalowicz |
| Also known as | Johanna de Paauw |
| Born |
March 4, 1933 Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Died | November 29, 1989 (aged 56) Amsterdam, Netherlands |
| Genres | Jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Years active | 1965–1989 |
| Website | www |
Ann Burton (March 4, 1933, Amsterdam – November 29, 1989, Amsterdam) is the pseudonym of Johanna Rafalowicz (between 1938 and 1971: Johanna de Paauw), a Dutch jazz singer.
In about 1930 the mother of Ann Burton (pseudonym of Johanna Rafalowicz) immigrated from Poland to The Netherlands. Three years after her birth in 1933 her mother married a diamond worker. In 1938 Johanna’s surname was changed to that of her stepfather and she became Johanna de Paauw, which was her official name until 1971, when she again changed it back to Rafalowicz. During World War II with the family facing Jewish persecution under German occupation, Johanna went into hiding while her mother and stepfather survived the Nazi concentration camps. However, the family became disrupted when her (step) parents were deprived of parental power. Johanna, who had Polish nationality, acquired Dutch nationality in 1957.
Johanna had never had singing lessons, but she had listened to American singers like Doris Day, Jo Stafford, Rosemary Clooney, Ella Fitzgerald and Sarah Vaughn. Later, Billie Holiday and Shirley Horn influenced her. She wanted to get into the music world and so in about 1955 she took the name Ann Burton inspired by the Welsh actor Richard Burton.
Ann Burton began her career as singer by a quintet in Luxemburg. She sang with bandleader Johnny Millstonford and performed in clubs with the orchestra of Ted Powder for American soldiers in Germany. In the summer of 1958 she sang in the quartet of pianist Pia Beck in Scheveningen and in 1960 they toured with saxophonist Piet Noordijk in Spain and Morocco. Back in the Netherlands she sang again in Scheveningen. In 1965, she made an EP for Decca Records with the Trio. Later she joined Ramses Shaffy's group Shaffy Chantant.
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