Jeanne Lee

American vocalist, poet, composer, choreographer, and artist.
Born January 29, 1939 in New York City, New York, USA.
Died October 25, 2000 in Tijuana, Mexico (aged 61).
Lee graduated from Bard College with a focus on child psychology, literature, and dance choreography. During the mid-1960s, she adopted Fluxus-influenced multidisciplinarity and composed music for California-based sound poets Dr David Hazelton, Dick Higgins, and Alison Knowles. Hazelton was her first husband; the couple had a daughter, Naima Hazelton.

In the late 1960s, she returned to the east coast jazz scene and started performing and recording. Lee had a major role in Carla Bley's magnum opus, "Escalator Over The Hill" (1971), and recorded albums with musicians including Anthony Braxton, Archie Shepp, and Marion Brown.

In 1967, while in Europe, Lee began a long association with vibraphonist and composer Gunter Hampel, whom she eventually married. With Hampel, her second husband, she had two children; son Ruomi Lee-Hampel (dancer), and daughter Cavana Lee Hampel (vocalist). She was a core member of Hampel's Galaxie Dream Band. Other artists Lee collaborated with include Ran Blake, Andrew Cyrille, and Mal Waldron.