Saturday, of natural causes, age 82.
Her version of “thou swell” on her self-titled album is one of my absolute favorite moments in recorded music. Rest in peace, Blossom.
Aw. I- like most people of a certain age- remember her childlike voice from her two pieces from Schoolhouse Rock written by the great Bob Dorough- “Figure Eight” and “Unpack Your Adjectives.” I see from her obituary that she was good friends with Dorough as well as Dave Frishberg, another frequent Schoolhouse contributor.
And her version of ‘Peel me a Grape’ is still by far and away the best, and always will be.
Rest in Peace, Blossom.
Man. For some reason I was thinking about her this weekend, and lamenting that I didn’t know her catalogue as well as I should.
–Cliffy
Not your normal jazz singer, for sure. Her obit said she roomed with Annie Ross when they were in Paris together. That must have been an education for both of them.
Weird, me too. I had checked on Saturday to see if she was still alive.
My wife and I saw her in 2005 in NYC. She was playing at a small cabaret. I was impressed by a few things: how professional and somewhat serious she was, despite the subject matter of her trademark songs. As well, she was terribly frail and old but performed like a trooper. At the intermission, I was talking with her Bass Player and mentioned that we were from Canada, and that there is great love for Blossom in Canada because she gets a lot of play on CBC radio (Jurgen Gothe’s Disc Drive). The Bass Player insisted that I tell that directly to Blossom, which I did while she was signing the CD’s I bought. Very memorable.
BTW, Blossom Dearie is the name she was born with, not a stage name.
I think my favourite Blossom Dearie song is her version of “When The World Was Young”. Wasn’t she something special? Also: “My New Celebrity Is You”.
I will miss her. And I, too, was introduced to Blossom by my beloved CBC radio.
I saw her perform several times in New York, a few decades ago. She’ll be missed.
Actually, it was Marguerite Blossom Dearie. Choosing to use her middle name was a smart move.
I had read that (her full name) before, but only on reading your post did it “click”.
When I saw this thread title, I instantly starting humming, “He was a hairy bear, he was a scary bear…”
One of the greatest songs ever!
I downloaded some of her non-SHR music recently. Very talented.
That never occurred to me, but it makes perfect sense.
I saw her at the Great American Music Hall about a decade ago and had an absolute blast. It was just her at the piano, but it was a long set and she was a consummate entertainer. Absolutely lovely.
Though her ballads (“Someone to Watch Over Me”) could break your heart and her love songs (“They Say It’s Spring”) are always warm and charming, it was her comedic numbers, with just the right amount of fizz & sass, that truly set her apart: “Rhode Island Is Famous for You”, “Everything I’ve Got”, “I’m Hip”, “Always True to You in My Fashion”, “My Attorney Bernie”–all fantastic stuff.
RIP. 
Just found that Marian McPartland’s “Piano Jazz” website has a 55 minute show with Blossom. Fun show.