Terrie Odabi

JUL 28-31 | Blues Week

Jul 30, 2022

Joe Henderson Lab

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This page is an archive of a past production

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Original show description below.

Of all the accolades that Oakland singer and songwriter Terrie Odabi has received, perhaps the best sum-up of her immense talent came from San Francisco Chronicle and Living Blues contributing columnist Lee Hildebrand, who wrote, "She is easily the most dynamic blues and soul woman to have emerged in the Bay Area since Etta James came out of San Francisco’s Fillmore District in the Fifties. Terrie has a powerful set of pipes, writes terrific tunes, leads a kicking band, and has onstage movements that perfectly match the rhythms of her material. Surely stardom awaits her."

Raised in Oakland, Odabi had basically decided on a life path by 16, and her classical and jazz training included studies with opera singer Gwendoline Brown, renowned pianist and “The Jazz Professor” Dr. Bill Bell, and the late lyric tenor John Patton.

Odabi’s 2014 Bear Family Records debut, Evolution of the Blues, featured a host of Bay Area greats including guitarist Christoffer “Kid” Andersen, who was featured on the smoldering album-closing version of Elmore James’ classic “The Sky is Crying.”

Her 2016 follow-up, My Blue Soul, was ranked among Living Soul’s Top 50 Albums of the Year, and was nominated for a Blues Foundation Music Award. Odabi is a 2020 Blues Foundation Blues Music Award nominee for Female Soul Blues Artist.