Toni Lynn Washington’s 60-plus-year musical career has taken her across the planet, with multiple tours of the US, Canada and Europe. Despite such globetrotting and extended periods living outside New England, she’s widely associated with Boston because she moved to the city in the ‘50s and has been a prominent figure on its blues scene since the ‘80s, earning the nickname “Boston’s Queen of Soul and Blues.” Much like the late jazz vocalists Rebecca Parris and Carol Sloane, she is able to turn practically anything she sings into something sublime.
Toni Lynn recorded her first-ever single, “Dear Diary”, for the New Orleans-based Kon-Ti Records label which cracked the top 50 in the Billboard Hot 100 in 1966. Following the success of the single, she toured with Sam & Dave, Jackie Wilson and other R&B greats, which led to more opportunities including one with Los Angeles-based group Sound 70. In the early ‘70s, she was invited to perform for US troops in Vietnam and other parts of Southeast Asia as part of the “Bob Hope Presents” showcase, and after the end of the war in ‘75 she joined a quartet of former Raelettes (Ray Charles’s backup singers), performing on the West Coast and in Las Vegas.
She’s been nominated seven times for W.C. Handy National Blues Awards, is the recipient of Boston Blues Festival Lifetime Achievement Award and a Certificate of Special Congressional Recognition and has been featured in regional and national publications including Boston, The Boston Herald, The Boston Phoenix, The Chicago Sun-Times, The Ottawa Citizen, Essence, Living Blues, Blues Revue, Big City Blues, Jazziz and DownBeat. In 2023, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu proclaimed December 6th “Toni Lynn Washington Day.”
She is a favorite with Swing dancers right here in New England. Toni is an amazing singer reminiscent of all the female greats from the early days of Swing. She loves singing for dancers and we are excited and honored to have her joining us at Beantown this year!
Taryn Newborn will be joining Toni Lynn as a featured vocalist. Born in Memphis and raised in Atlanta, she is rooted deeply in the soil of a rich musical heritage. She has often said that she loves music so much, it hurts her feelings. After years of dancing in her local Lindy Hop scene, one of the major organizers suggested that Taryn put her own group together for dances. Taryn Newborne and The Real Deal was born. She’d finally found her home, situated between her love of singing and Lindy Hop. Since becoming a regular in her home scene, Taryn has had the opportunity to make guest appearances with Falty and the Defects, Ben Polcer, Jonathan Stout and Gordon Webster.