Marlena Shaw.
Photo: Jordi Vidal/Redferns
Marlena Shaw, the jazz and R&B singer well-known for her often-sampled discography, has died at the age of 81. Her daughter Marla announced the news in a video posted to Facebook, saying, “It’s with a very heavy heart for myself and my family I announce that our beloved mother, your beloved icon and artist Marlena Shaw has passed away…She went listening to some of her favorite songs.”
Shaw began her career playing jazz clubs in 1960s, until landing a gig performing at the Playboy Club in Chicago, which is where she was discovered by and signed with Chess Records. Her most famous song is perhaps her rendition of Ashford & Simpson’s “California Soul” — which was sampled in over 30 other songs and became a regular needle drop for film and television soundtracks. Her other hits include “Women of the Ghetto,” “Liberation Conversation,” and the theme song to 1977’s Looking for Mr. Goodbar, “Don’t Ask to Stay Until Tomorrow.”