Tammy Greene, also known as the “jazz diva,” is remembered as a local legend for carving out a place in Charlotte for jazz music and musicians. She died on Nov. 23 after years of battling metastatic breast cancer. She was 55 years old.
After relocating to Charlotte from her hometown of Philadelphia, Greene began booking talent for a local club called the Jazz Cafe as a way to connect to people and fuel her love for music.
This launched a fruitful career of presenting and promoting jazz artists and events across the Carolinas. Eventually, Greene started her own promotion company, Jazz Diva Entertainment. When Greene wasn’t promoting or hosting an event, she could be heard on Gaston College’s radio station, WSGE.
Greene taught finance classes at Central Piedmont Community College and computer operation classes at the Urban League of Central Carolinas. She also had a hand in producing numerous projects like the Carolina Jazz Concert Series at Central Piedmont and the Lowcountry Jazz Festival in Charleston, South Carolina.
Lonnie Davis, the president and co-founder of JazzArts Charlotte, often crossed paths with Greene. She described her as inspiring, hard-working and passionate.
"She played a very prominent role in bringing some very high caliber musicians in that genre to our area," Davis said. "And that made a lot of audiences happy."
A 2009 post from Greene’s blog said she was “dedicated to the perpetuation of all forms of jazz through the presentation of jazz performances and jazz education.”