In
a dramatic scene reminiscent of the life story of many a
blues legend, Doña Oxford was born in a parking lot
in the back seat of an old Chevrolet. Although the event
perhaps falls short of qualifying as the stuff of fable (since
it occurred not in the Mississippi Delta, but outside a hospital
on New York City’s ritzy Upper West Side), Doña’s
impatience to enter the world was an early indication of
the guts, determination, heart and soul with which she imbues
her music.
After Oxford’s father, a trumpet playing Episcopal Priest,
died when Doña was only fifteen months old, Doña
and her mother, an ex-cabaret singer, moved to Upstate New York.
Inspired to play the piano after being given a one-octave toy piano
as a gift, Doña began taking lessons at school. Meanwhile,
Doña’s mother exposed the youngster to many types
of music, escorting her daughter to everything from punk rock shows
at CBGB’s to Tom Jones shows. By age seven Doña was
performing publicly and started formal classical training, which
she continued until sixteen.
Simultaneously, Doña developed a great love for musical
theater and began singing and acting extensively in both regional
and Off-Broadway plays. This experience led her to explore the
styles of legendary jazz and pop vocalists like Ella Fitzgerald,
Mel Torme, Dinah Washington and Judy Garland. She also became attracted
however, to the primal rock ‘n roll of Chuck Berry and Jerry
Lee Lewis. At 17, Doña applied and was accepted to New York
University’s prestigious Tisch School of the Arts, where
she studied drama.
While in college, Doña began working as a waitress at the
now-defunct Lone Star Café, a legendary New York City meeting
ground of the blues and roots music elite. Soon Oxford was sitting
in at open-mic nights. It was at one of those early informal jam
sessions that Doña met and became very close friends with
Arthur Neilson, a veteran guitarist who has played with everyone
from Cyndi Lauper to Otis Rush. The two formed a band called Oxford
Blues and began gigging regularly and touring the Northeast, eventually
releasing a self-produced CD which garnered reviews from such publications
as Living Blues and Keyboard.
In addition to leading her own band, Doña continued to sideman
and her reputation as a top-notch keyboardist and vocalist continued
to grow. Oxford has performed with such legendary performers as
Keith Richards, Buddy Guy, Levon Helm, Bob Weir, Hubert Sumlin,
Son Seals, Lonnie Brooks, Sam Lay, Jimmy Vivino, Kenny Neal, Shirley
Dixon, Shemekia Copeland,
Popa Chubby, Bernard Allison, Willie Kent, Jody Williams, Jimmy
Johnson, Willie “Big Eyes” Smith, Creed guitarist Mark
Tremonti, and her idol, former Chuck Berry sideman and Father of
Rock & Roll Piano, Johnnie Johnson!
Doña has toured all over the world, bringing her amazing
keyboard playing and vocals to devoted fans in Europe, Japan, Canada
and the United States. With this many accomplishments, one would
think that Doña Oxford must be satisfied. Not so! In addition
to playing around the world and indulging her diverse interests
(Doña is an accomplished drummer, graphic artist and auto
mechanic), she has performed on many Major Motion Picture soundtracks,
including Eddie Murphy’s Norbit,, Martin Lawrence’s
Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins and the very funny comedy, Senior Skip
Day.
Doña has also released Rowena Said…, her full-length
debut album , RAW her live sophomore release, and Step Up her latest
full length album, all nationally distributed under the FountainBleu
Records label. Now, calling Los Angeles her home, Doña continues
to impress audiences worldwide with her double fisted, high-energy
performance. It's all attitude, sultry good looks and a down and
dirty beat.
