Jeanie Bryson

Bryson is the daughter of composer Connie Bryson and trumpeter Dizzy Gillespie.^[1][2] Her paternity was kept a secret until after Gillespie's death because he was married, but she occasionally saw him growing up.^[3] In 1998 Bryson filed a lawsuit against his widow, Lorraine Willis Gillespie, after her lawyer found court records from 1965 in which Gillespie admitted he was her father. She reached a settlement with his estate.^[4] When describing her father, Bryson once stated: "He was not the traditional dad, not at all. Let’s just put it this way: I remember being 18, going to see him in a club, going out to a van that was parked outside, and sharing a joint with him."

Bryson grew up in East Brunswick, New Jersey.^[3] She began playing instruments at a young age, piano in first grade and then flute in fifth grade.^[3] Bryson attended East Brunswick High School.^[5] She studied anthropology and ethnomusicology at Livingston College, Rutgers University, graduating in 1981.^[3][1] That year, she performed with her father in Salem County, singing "God Bless the Child" by Billie Holiday.^[3] After college she worked in a post office during the week and sang on weekends, by the end of the 1980s she was singing full-time.^[3] Bryson released her debut album, I Love Being Here with You, on Telarc in 1993. Her mother contributed the lyrics to two songs on the album.^[3] Bryson also sang on an album by Terence Blanchard devoted to Billie Holiday songs.^[1]

Bryson has a son, Radji Birks Bryson-Barrett, from the first of her three marriages.^[3] Her husband, guitarist Coleman Mellett (married 2004) died in the February 2009 crash of Colgan Air Flight 3407.^[6] The couple lived in East Brunswick, New Jersey.