Despite the prominent presence of celebrated blues artist Howlin' Wolf in her family tree (her cousin), singer Zora Young grew up singing not blues, but gospel.
Even when the Mississippi native shook off her roots at the age of seven to relocate withfamily to Chicago, she attended the Greater Harvest Baptist Church and continued to sing gospel. It wasn't until later that she switched over to R&B, and evolved into a powerhouse blues vocalist with three decades of experience behind her.
She has performed with a long list of artists, including Junior Wells, Jimmy Dawkins, Bobby Rush, Buddy Guy, Albert King, and B.B.King. Her recording credits include collaborations with Willie Dixon, Sunnyland Slim, Pinetop Perkins, Jerry Portnoy among others.
Her own recordings as a solo artist include releases from the labels Deluge and Delmark. She certainly is the finest and classiest female vocalist in the Blues world today. The Blues Encyclopedia (G. Herzhaft) describes her as a "mezzo soprano" singer who first came to Europe as a part of the "Blues with the girls" show (1981) alongside with Big Time Sarah and Bonnie Lee. Herzhaft writes Zora obviously stole the show "winning that pacific ladies battle thanks to her unique and "espiègle" presence on stage".
Her 2 latest recordings (on Delmark) show how wide her repertoire can be; From the magnificient Muddy Waters mississippi blues cover "2 trains running" to the heavy rocky Tina turner's "Nutbush city limits", Zora is also able to perform great powerful rythm'n'blues numbers such as her own "til the fat lady sings" or Chicago westside soul cover "love of mine".
But most of all, she knows how to gain the heart of any audience in the entire world.

official website :
>> www.zorayoung.com