Juanita Brooks

Juanita Brooks, a jazz and gospel singer from New Orleans, USA, perhaps best known for her stint in the extremely popular stage production, “One Mo’ Time”, died unexpectedly September 9, 2009 of complications from back surgery. She was 55. Born in 1954, she grew up in the Ninth Ward and Mid-City, with most members of her family involved in music. Initially she sang spirituals, but after graduating from U.N.O., she began her musical career singing R&B with Eddie Bo. In 1982, she joined the cast of “One Mo’ Time,” which was enjoying a long run at the Toulouse Theater. Brooks went on to tour with the show’s Australian company and appeared in a performance of the show for German television. Brooks starred in a musical that Bagneris co-wrote with Allen Toussaint in 1986, “Staggerlee,” which ran off-Broadway. In 1999, she starred in another stage production, “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom,” which ran at La Petite Theatre. She also performed as a jazz vocalist at Donna’s, Cafe Brazil and Sweet Lorraine’s with area musicians including Bob and George French.