![]() ![]() One of eight children, she was educated at Joseph S Clark Sr high school, opened in 1947 to educate Black children in the Tremé district. ![]() ![]() Her parents, Florence (nee Edwards) and Louis Caliste, had sung as a duo in the city’s clubs and theatres, and her father also kept a store. Knight was born Jean Caliste in New Orleans. With Floyd taking over the microphone, they recorded Groove Me on the same day. Quezergue devised the arrangement for the studio’s regular rhythm section and horn players, using typical New Orleans syncopations and playing the distinctive organ part himself. That was Mr Big Stuff, and soon a renowned local producer, Wardell Quezergue, was inviting her to travel with him to Malaco’s studio to record it properly. When a friend, Ralph Williams, asked her to sing on a rough demo of a song he had written with Carrol Washington and Joseph Broussard, her suggestions for improvements were cheerfully incorporated. Knight was unknown outside the tight-knit music community of her native New Orleans in Louisiana, having virtually given up on her hopes of a professional singing career after performing in clubs and recording without success for small local labels. Photograph: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images Mr Big Stuff earned her a Grammy nomination for best female R&B performance. ![]()
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