Shirley Bunnie Foy

Shirley Bunnie Foy, also known as Bunny Foy (October 13, 1936 – November 24, 2016), was an American jazz singer, songwriter, and percussionist.

Shirley Bunnie Foy was born in Harlem, New York. She was raised in a family of musicians and during her childhood she discovered gospel music, spirituals, and blues. At the age of 17, she started her career touring the Atlantic coast and Canada with a rhythm and blues group called The Dell-Tones. The ensemble was formed by Della Griffin, Gloria Lynne, Sonny Til, and Slide Hampton.

Foy settled in Paris in 1959, and after an engagement at La Calvados, a jazz club near the Champs-Élysées, she toured with pianist Pierre Franzino (her future husband), in France, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, and North Africa. In 1960 she participated in the first Jazz Festival of Antibes/Juan-les-Pins. In 1965 she performed in New York with Archie Shepp. During the following years, she collaborated with trumpeter Charlie Shavers, bassist Arvell Shaw, drummer Jo Jones, and saxophonist Curtis Porter.

During her career, she worked in the U. S. with Johnny Griffin, drummer Art Blakey, pianist Randy Weston, organist Lou Bennett, vibraphonist Milton Jackson and in Italy with guitarists Franco Cerri and Bruno De Filippi, bassist/arranger Pino Presti, bassist Stefano Cerri, pianists Enrico Intra and Renato Sellani, drummers Gil Cuppini and Tullio De Piscopo, American clarinetist/arranger Tony Scott, and Jamaican pianist Sonny Taylor.

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