Tammy Greene, a Charlotte promoter of jazz concerts and entertainment,  has died after battling metastatic breast cancer.

Greene was owner of Jazz Diva Entertainment and hosted jazz events locally and in the greater Charlotte area.

Originally from Philadelphia, she moved to Charlotte to become a finance teacher at Central Piedmont Community College. But nearing the age of 40, she decided that she would rather pursue a career promoting jazz events.

When some of Greene’s friends opened a jazz venue, she began booking entertainment for them. And at a time when Charlotte had far fewer options for jazz music than it does today, she became known as “the Jazz Diva.”

Greene promoted the Uptown Jazz Festival and produced the Carolina Jazz Concert Series at CPCC and a weekly smooth jazz mixer at Sydney’s in Uptown. She also helped produce the Low Country Jazz Festival in Charleston, S.C.

Jerry Hopper met Greene 16 years ago when he was working as a DJ at radio station WSGE (91.7-FM) in Dallas, N.C. He said the two would often discuss music. Then one day, she recruited him to join her promotion company.

“I bumped into her, and she asks me when I was going to come and do some things with her,” he he recalled. 

Hopper said his professional association with Greene lasted for 15 years, during which time he worked as a production assistant for Jazz Diva Entertainment. He said her work brought exposure to Jazz music in Charlotte.

“She was a lover of Jazz music and tried to bring those cultural events to the area,” he said.

In one of Greene’s final posts to her Facebook page, on Oct. 31, she re-shared a post from two year prior in which she wrote about the physical struggles of going through cancer treatment.

“I may look normal, but my body fights every day … every single day,” she wrote. “Today is the last day of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. All of the energy around breast cancer will slow down drastically….but for me, my fight is 365 days a year.”

Green ended the post by saying she was “blessed beyond measure” to have friends who encouraged her.





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