Martha Veléz
Encyclopedia
Martha Carmen Josephine Hernandéz Rosario de Veléz (born August 25, 1945 in New York City
) is an American singer and actress of Puerto Rican descent. Veléz is the former wife of famous trumpet player Keith Johnson. Her son is performance artist,writer/poet, singer, Taj Johnson. Taj appeared as series regular for two years on Parker Lewis Can't Lose
. Her brother is the famous percussionist, Gerardo Velez
, who has worked with Spyro Gyra
, Patti LaBelle
, Jimi Hendrix
and Van Morrison
.
in New York City
. She holds a Masters Degree from Antioch University
in Clinical Psychology and a Ph.D. from Pacifica Graduate Institute in Cultural Mythology and Depth Psychology. She is a founding Fellow of the Imaginal Institute of Ojai, California. As a playwright, she wrote the award-winning play, Power of the Powerless. She continues to use her brilliant voice as a singer for good will and social change.
She began her recording career with the prominent folk singing group The Gaslight Singers on Mercury Records
. She was the female singer with Earl Mann, Al Alcabes and Jeff Hyman.
Veléz released her debut blues/rock album Fiends And Angels on the Sire/Blue Horizon Records label in 1969; the album also features Eric Clapton
. Christine McVie
, pianist (Fleetwood Mac
) guitarist Al Anderson also worked with her. In May 1975 she travelled to Jamaica
for three weeks to record with reggae star Bob Marley
. She is the only American artist for whom Marley functioned as musical producer - the results were "Escape From Babylon." Also, producer Craig Leon
greatly contributed to this association. He asked Marley about doing the music with her; Marley listened to her composition, "Living Outside the Law" from her 1972 album, "Hypnotized", on the strength of having a philosophical kinship with her along with her extraordinary voice. Marley's very positive response took them into the studio with his earlier producer Lee "Scratch" Perry to work on producing Veléz's album Escape From Babylon in 1976. The album also featured two Marley covers (Bend Down Low, Get Up, Stand Up
) and a Veléz-Marley composing collaboration Disco Night. The songwriting credits were given to Rita Marley
because of Marley's dispute with his publishers at the time.
After Escape From Babylon Veléz released two further albums, American Heartbeat (1977) and the compilation Angels Of The Future Past (1989), which did not include any songs from American Heartbeat because the masters were missing at the time. She then resumed her career as an actress which began as the lead in Hair on Broadway. She moved on to movies and TV series. She was a series regular in the Norman Lear
sitcom AKA Pablo in 1984 and played a recurring role in Falcon Crest
(1986). In 1997 she acted in One Eight Seven
along with Samuel L. Jackson
. She also worked in films with Julianne Moore
(Safe
), Halle Berry
and Patrick Swayze
(Fatherhood), Dennis Hopper
(Nails),and played a lead role in the (Sundance
) winner Star Maps
directed by Miguel Arteta
produced by Mathew Greenfield.
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
) is an American singer and actress of Puerto Rican descent. Veléz is the former wife of famous trumpet player Keith Johnson. Her son is performance artist,writer/poet, singer, Taj Johnson. Taj appeared as series regular for two years on Parker Lewis Can't Lose
Parker Lewis Can't Lose
Parker Lewis Can't Lose is an American teen sitcom that originally aired on FOX from September 1990 to June 1993. During the last season, the series sported the simpler title Parker Lewis. The series was produced by Columbia Pictures Television and was strongly influenced by the feature film Ferris...
. Her brother is the famous percussionist, Gerardo Velez
Gerardo Velez
Gerardo "Jerry" Velez is a Puerto Rican musician. Best known for performing with American psychedelic rock musician Jimi Hendrix at Woodstock Festival in August 1969, Velez is a veteran percussionist and drummer who has performed with many artists covering a number of different genres of music...
, who has worked with Spyro Gyra
Spyro Gyra
Spyro Gyra is an American jazz fusion band that was originally formed in the mid-1970s in Buffalo, New York, USA. With over 25 albums released and 10 million copies sold, they are among the most prolific as well as commercially successful groups of the genre...
, Patti LaBelle
Patti LaBelle
Patricia Louise Holte-Edwards , better known under the stage name, Patti LaBelle, is a Grammy Award winning American singer, author and actress who has spent over 50 years in the music industry...
, Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
and Van Morrison
Van Morrison
Van Morrison, OBE is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and musician. His live performances at their best are regarded as transcendental and inspired; while some of his recordings, such as the studio albums Astral Weeks and Moondance, and the live album It's Too Late to Stop Now, are widely...
.
Biography
Veléz started singing at 5 years old and won an opera scholarship at 12 years old, being a mezzo soprano. She studied for 3 years then went to the High School of Performing ArtsHigh School of Performing Arts
The High School of Performing Arts, more formally known as The School of Performing Arts: A Division of the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, informally known as "PA", was a public alternative high school in New York, New York, USA that existed from 1948 through...
in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. She holds a Masters Degree from Antioch University
Antioch University
Antioch University is an American university with five campuses located in four states. Campuses are located in Los Angeles, California; Santa Barbara, California; Keene, New Hampshire; Yellow Springs, Ohio; and Seattle, Washington. Additionally, Antioch University houses two institution-wide...
in Clinical Psychology and a Ph.D. from Pacifica Graduate Institute in Cultural Mythology and Depth Psychology. She is a founding Fellow of the Imaginal Institute of Ojai, California. As a playwright, she wrote the award-winning play, Power of the Powerless. She continues to use her brilliant voice as a singer for good will and social change.
She began her recording career with the prominent folk singing group The Gaslight Singers on Mercury Records
Mercury Records
Mercury Records is a record label operating as a standalone company in the UK and as part of the Island Def Jam Motown Music Group in the US; both are subsidiaries of Universal Music Group. There is also a Mercury Records in Australia, which is a local artist and repertoire division of Universal...
. She was the female singer with Earl Mann, Al Alcabes and Jeff Hyman.
Veléz released her debut blues/rock album Fiends And Angels on the Sire/Blue Horizon Records label in 1969; the album also features Eric Clapton
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton, CBE, is an English guitarist and singer-songwriter. Clapton is the only three-time inductee to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame: once as a solo artist, and separately as a member of The Yardbirds and Cream. Clapton has been referred to as one of the most important and...
. Christine McVie
Christine McVie
Christine McVie is an English rock singer, keyboardist, and songwriter. Her primary fame came as a member of the British/American rock band Fleetwood Mac, though she has also released three solo albums...
, pianist (Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac
Fleetwood Mac are a British–American rock band formed in 1967 in London.The only original member present in the band is its eponymous drummer, Mick Fleetwood...
) guitarist Al Anderson also worked with her. In May 1975 she travelled to Jamaica
Jamaica
Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length, up to in width and 10,990 square kilometres in area. It is situated in the Caribbean Sea, about south of Cuba, and west of Hispaniola, the island harbouring the nation-states Haiti and the Dominican Republic...
for three weeks to record with reggae star Bob Marley
Bob Marley
Robert Nesta "Bob" Marley, OM was a Jamaican singer-songwriter and musician. He was the rhythm guitarist and lead singer for the ska, rocksteady and reggae band Bob Marley & The Wailers...
. She is the only American artist for whom Marley functioned as musical producer - the results were "Escape From Babylon." Also, producer Craig Leon
Craig Leon
Craig Leon is an American born record producer, composer and arranger currently living in England. Leon was instrumental in launching the careers of many recording artists including The Ramones and Blondie...
greatly contributed to this association. He asked Marley about doing the music with her; Marley listened to her composition, "Living Outside the Law" from her 1972 album, "Hypnotized", on the strength of having a philosophical kinship with her along with her extraordinary voice. Marley's very positive response took them into the studio with his earlier producer Lee "Scratch" Perry to work on producing Veléz's album Escape From Babylon in 1976. The album also featured two Marley covers (Bend Down Low, Get Up, Stand Up
Get Up, Stand Up
"Get Up, Stand Up" is a reggae song written by Bob Marley and Peter Tosh.The song originally appeared on The Wailers' 1973 album Burnin. It was recorded and played live in numerous versions by The Wailers and Bob Marley & The Wailers, along with solo versions by Peter Tosh and Bunny Wailer...
) and a Veléz-Marley composing collaboration Disco Night. The songwriting credits were given to Rita Marley
Rita Marley
Alpharita Constantia Anderson , better known as Rita Marley, and sometimes called "Nana Rita", is the widow of reggae legend/musician Bob Marley, and a member of the trio the I Threes, Bob Marley's backup singers.-Biography:...
because of Marley's dispute with his publishers at the time.
After Escape From Babylon Veléz released two further albums, American Heartbeat (1977) and the compilation Angels Of The Future Past (1989), which did not include any songs from American Heartbeat because the masters were missing at the time. She then resumed her career as an actress which began as the lead in Hair on Broadway. She moved on to movies and TV series. She was a series regular in the Norman Lear
Norman Lear
Norman Milton Lear is an American television writer and producer who produced such 1970s sitcoms as All in the Family, Sanford and Son, One Day at a Time, The Jeffersons, Good Times and Maude...
sitcom AKA Pablo in 1984 and played a recurring role in Falcon Crest
Falcon Crest
Falcon Crest is an American primetime television soap opera which aired on the CBS network for nine seasons, from December 4, 1981 to May 17, 1990. A total of 227 episodes were produced....
(1986). In 1997 she acted in One Eight Seven
One Eight Seven
Music from the Motion Picture 187 is the soundtrack to the 1997 film, One Eight Seven. It was released on July 29, 1997 through Atlantic Records and unlike films like Dangerous Minds and The Substitute that dealt with similar subject matter, this soundtrack did not receive an Urban music...
along with Samuel L. Jackson
Samuel L. Jackson
Samuel Leroy Jackson is an American film and television actor and film producer. After becoming involved with the Civil Rights Movement, he moved on to acting in theater at Morehouse College, and then films. He had several small roles such as in the film Goodfellas before meeting his mentor,...
. She also worked in films with Julianne Moore
Julianne Moore
Julianne Moore is an American actress and a children's book author. Throughout her career, she has been nominated for four Oscars, six Golden Globes, three BAFTAs and nine Screen Actors Guild Awards....
(Safe
Safe
A safe is a secure lockable box used for securing valuable objects against theft or damage. A safe is usually a hollow cuboid or cylinder, with one face removable or hinged to form a door. The body and door may be cast from metal or formed out of plastic through blow molding...
), Halle Berry
Halle Berry
Halle Berry is an American actress and a former fashion model. Berry received an Emmy, Golden Globe, SAG, and an NAACP Image Award for Introducing Dorothy Dandridge and won an Academy Award for Best Actress and was nominated for a BAFTA Award in 2001 for her performance in Monster's Ball, becoming...
and Patrick Swayze
Patrick Swayze
Patrick Wayne Swayze was an American actor, dancer and singer-songwriter. He was best known for his tough-guy roles, as romantic leading men in the hit films Dirty Dancing and Ghost, and as Orry Main in the North and South television miniseries. He was named by People magazine as its "Sexiest...
(Fatherhood), Dennis Hopper
Dennis Hopper
Dennis Lee Hopper was an American actor, filmmaker and artist. As a young man, Hopper became interested in acting and eventually became a student of the Actors' Studio. He made his first television appearance in 1954 and appeared in two films featuring James Dean, Rebel Without a Cause and Giant...
(Nails),and played a lead role in the (Sundance
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
) winner Star Maps
Star Maps (film)
Star Maps , directed by Miguel Arteta, debuted at the Sundance Film Festival. It was a critical hit, receiving five Independent Spirit Award nominations, including Best First Feature and Best First Screenplay.-Cast:...
directed by Miguel Arteta
Miguel Arteta
Miguel Arteta is a Puerto Rican director of film and television, known for his independent film Chuck & Buck , for which he received the Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award.-Early life:...
produced by Mathew Greenfield.
Discography
- The Gaslight Singers (1963)
- Turning It On (1964)
- Fiends And Angels (1969)
- Hypnotized (1972)
- Matinée Weepers (1973)
- Escape From Babylon (1976)
- American Heartbeat (1977)
- Angels Of The Future Past (1989)
Filmography
- AKA Pablo (1984) (Norman Lear TV series)
- Shattered If Your Kid's On Drugs (1986)
- Falcon CrestFalcon CrestFalcon Crest is an American primetime television soap opera which aired on the CBS network for nine seasons, from December 4, 1981 to May 17, 1990. A total of 227 episodes were produced....
(1989) (TV series) - L.A. LawL.A. LawL.A. Law is a US television legal drama that ran on NBC from September 15, 1986 to May 19, 1994. L.A. Law reflected the social and cultural ideologies of the 1980s and early 1990s and many of the cases featured on the show dealt with hot topic issues such as abortion, racism, gay rights,...
(1989) - Tour of DutyTour of Duty (TV series)Tour of Duty is an American drama television series on CBS. It ran for three seasons from September 1987 to April 1990 as 58 one–hour episodes. The show was created by Steve Duncan and L. Travis Clark, and produced by Zev Braun....
(1990) (TV series) - Side OutSide OutSide Out is a 1990 film about a beach volleyball competition, featuring C. Thomas Howell, Peter Horton and Courtney Thorne-Smith.The term “side-out” refers to an obsolete rule in volleyball under which the winning point could only be scored by the serving team...
(1990) - Live! From Death Row (1992)
- Nails (1992) (television film)
- Father HoodFather HoodFather Hood is a 1993 comedy-drama film starring Patrick Swayze and Halle Berry and directed by Darrell Roodt.- Plot :The kids of small-time crook Jack Charles are put in a corrupt state-run home when their mother dies of cancer...
(1993) - Safe (1995)
- Star MapsStar Maps (film)Star Maps , directed by Miguel Arteta, debuted at the Sundance Film Festival. It was a critical hit, receiving five Independent Spirit Award nominations, including Best First Feature and Best First Screenplay.-Cast:...
(1997) - One Eight SevenOne Eight SevenMusic from the Motion Picture 187 is the soundtrack to the 1997 film, One Eight Seven. It was released on July 29, 1997 through Atlantic Records and unlike films like Dangerous Minds and The Substitute that dealt with similar subject matter, this soundtrack did not receive an Urban music...
(1997)
Theater
- Mata HariMata HariMata Hari was the stage name of Margaretha Geertruida "M'greet" Zelle , a Dutch exotic dancer, courtesan, and accused spy who was executed by firing squad in France under charges of espionage for Germany during World War I.-Early life:Margaretha Geertruida Zelle was born in Leeuwarden, Friesland,...
(1965)(Washington, D.C. National Theater) - I'm Solomon (1966)
- HairHairHair is a filamentous biomaterial, that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Found exclusively in mammals, hair is one of the defining characteristics of the mammalian class....
(1967)(Broadway - Biltmore Theater) - Comedy of Errors - Shakespeare (Los Angeles)
- Power of the Powerless (1994) (Los Angeles, CA)