This history of jazz is more a primer on how to listen to it Nov 22, 2009
It s all here (albeit abbreviated), from Bessie Smith to Buddy Bolden to Louis Armstrong to Coleman Hawkins to Charlie Parker to John Coltrane to Jason Moran. The basic configurations of the jazz ensemble are examined and explained for the uninitiated. (Boston Globe)
Warsaw Village Band explores traditional sounds with modern twists Nov 6, 2009
One of Krzak s biggest US idols is Chicago electric blues master Buddy Guy, and Kleszcz admires the late Bessie Smith, the empress of the blues from the 1920s and 30s. With the addition of an electric bass to the band s repertoire, Kleszcz says Infinity also has a jazzier sound than previous albums. (Boston Globe)
African American portraits reflect a vast contribution Oct 27, 2009
And many of the subjects are even more famous: Frederick Douglass, Ray Charles, George Washington Carver, Bessie Smith, Joe Louis, Louis Armstrong, Toni Morrison, Richard Pryor. A nice sense of just how varied the sitters and their accomplishments can be, even within a single field, comes with a juxtaposition at the end of the show of Leontyne Price, the Supremes, and Sarah Vaughan. (Boston Globe)
Couple behind Clare and the Reasons use honesty and humor as their creative spark Oct 23, 2009
He used to send me great music in the mail, like a Bessie Smith box set, she says. Me being the little girl without a daddy, I latched onto that kind of stuff really hard. (Boston Globe)
In Pynchon’s tales, music is the backbeat Sep 20, 2009
A character praises the Greek singer Roza Eskenazi, comparing her pure soul to Bessie Smith s. Another character confesses to an obsession with Lawrence Welk s Champagne Lady, Norma Zimmer. In a nod to Verdi, a very bad seafood restaurant serves Eel Trovatore. (Boston Globe)
Hot off the skillet Sep 11, 2009
She says feisty 1920s blues queen Bessie Smith continues to serve as her biggest source of inspiration. When pressed for some more contemporary vocalists that do it for her, Smith lists "Sam Cooke, Solomon Burke, Etta Jones ..." What, no Beyonc. (San Francisco Chronicle -- Entertainment)
Review: Kim Nalley a joyful Billie Holiday Aug 23, 2009
A fine vocalist, she has the range - 3 1/2 octaves - to cover everyone from Bessie Smith, whose earthy tones infuse her version of a very, young Holiday on "'Taint Nobody's Business," to the vocal pyrotechnics of Ella Fitzgerald - as she does, hilariously, in her and Holiday's takes on "Fine and Mellow." And she performs with a generosity of spirit that embraces and energizes the entire audience. She's also a first-rate jazz historian, sketching the story of sexually abused child Eleanora... (San Francisco Chronicle)
Priceless black cultural artifacts to go on exhibit Aug 21, 2009
Those recordings, which include the earliest from Duke Ellington and Bessie Smith, will be moved to the library in coming months. Brother Renai is handling the sports memorabilia. (MSNBC -- Lifestyle)
Music: a guide to the week ahead Aug 6, 2009
MISS TESS & THE BON TON PARADE The Maryland-born, Boston-based singer and songwriter was named in these pages last year as a local on the verge for the smart, sassy amalgam of swing, blues, and folk/country she calls modern vintage, reminiscent of everyone from Bessie Smith to Peggy Lee to Tom Waits. 8 p.m. Aug. 7. (Boston Globe)
Second Cup Cafe: Madeleine Peyroux Aug 2, 2009
She's known for her amazing covers of songs associated with Bessie Smith, Billie Holiday, and Bob Dylan. Peyroux performs 'Instead. (CBS News)
A Song for Lady Day Jul 17, 2009
She had learned her craft from Louis Armstrong and Bessie Smith, desiring Armstrongs sense of time and his brilliant choice of notes as well as Smiths big sound. She did better with Armstrong than she did with Smith, whom Langston Hughes said one could hear out on the street when she was singing in a theater before microphones had been developed to the point that Armstrong, Holiday and Sinatra could make the most of them. (Slate)
Blues great Koko Taylor gets musical sendoff Jun 16, 2009
I would hear different records and things by Muddy Waters, Bessie Smith, Memphis Minnie, Sonnyboy Williams and all these people, you know, which I just loved. . (MSNBC -- Music)
Koko Taylor was always a beacon of strength Jun 6, 2009
"Koko Taylor" (1969) Her Chess Records debut introduced a howling new voice in Chicago's blues scene, a gale force who obviously admired previous greats Bessie Smith and Ma Rainey. Along with signature songs "Wang Dang Doodle" and "Don't Mess With the Messer," it includes "Insane Asylum," a terrific duet with Willie Dixon, the album's producer. (Boston Globe)
Blues queen Koko Taylor dies Jun 5, 2009
"I would hear different records and things by Muddy Waters, Bessie Smith, Memphis Minnie, Sonnyboy Williams and all these people, you know, which I just loved.". Although her father encouraged her to sing only gospel music, Cora and her siblings would sneak out back with their homemade instruments and play the blues. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Nashville's Hatch Show Print Jun 1, 2009
Hatch also began doing work for African-American jazz and blues stars such as Cab Calloway, Duke Ellington, Louis Armstrong and Bessie Smith. After Will s death in 1952, the shop struggled to keep up with the fast-changing advertising industry, but was able to hold on to faithful clients in the country music industry, while courting the stars of the developing rock and roll genre. (Suite101.com)
Full story..... May 29, 2009
Tina Turner, Bessie Smith, Janis Joplin and Robert Plant all wrapped up in a tiny but explosive package, says Rolling Stone Magazine. One of the finest new contemporary rock singers in America, says Billboard Magazine; female vocalist of the year, 2006-07 Austin Music Awards. (Alpine Avalanche, TX)
Pat Yankee Stars in a Special Jazz Concert June 14 in San Francisco - Her Tribute to Sophie Tucker May 28, 2009
SAN FRANCISCO, May 27 /PRNewswire/ -- Pat Yankee, the noted jazz singer who won a 1999 Bay Area Critic's Circle Award for her tribute to Bessie Smith, will perform a special concert, "Remembering Sophie Tucker," at 2 p.m., Sunday, June 14, at the First Unitarian Church Center, 1187 Franklin Street (at Geary) in San Francisco ... Ms. Yankee and Reilly, her creative partner, also collaborated on a tribute to jazz great Bessie Smith that played at festivals throughout the country before coming to... (Yahoo! Wire -- Entertainment News)
5 family-friendly music festivals May 2, 2009
More fun: On June 8, the Chattanooga-born Empress of the Blues is honored again at the annual Bessie Smith Strut, a free block party-style event, featuring barbecue and three music stages along Martin Luther King Boulevard. Drive time: 2 hours. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution -- Travel)
LETTER: Using Bible to denounce homosexuality is wrong Apr 29, 2009
The Question wrote on Apr 28, 2009 4:59 PM:" If you were to retroactively withdraw the accomplishments of gay people from history, you'd find yourself somewhere back in the Dark Ages, at least.Subtract the achievements of these: Alexander the Great, Socrates, Hadrian, Richard the Lionhearted, Edward II, Saladin, Francis Bacon, Frederick the Great, Byron, Walt Whitman, Oscar Wilde, Willa Cather, E.M. Forster, Tchaikovsky, Marcel Proust, Cole Porter, Leonard Bernstein, Julius Caesar, Pope Julius... (Mattoon Journal-Gazette, IL)
U.S. Census Bureau Daily Feature for April 7 Apr 7, 2009
Influential early blues singers Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith also have April birthdays. Another jazz notable born this month is Carmen McRae. (PR Newswire)
Plano: Concerts in the Park season kick-off Apr 3, 2009
Miss Marcy s musical style is derived from Divas Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey and Big Mama Thorton. Andrea Dawson is admired for her beautiful, commanding voice. (McKinney Courier-Gazette, TX)
Lucinda Williams Apr 3, 2009
"I listen to psychedelic blues, rock music, I listen to blues and jazz and Bessie Smith, Nina Simone, John Coltrane and the Doors, Muddy Waters," Williams once told me. "My music is a reflection of all the music that I listen to. It never occurs to me not to put on the same record a country song, a rock song, a folk song. I'd feel too stifled.". (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
Laureate league Apr 1, 2009
The collection includes a series of poems about the blues-singer Bessie Smith. Off Colour (1998) explores themes of sickness and health. (BBC News -- Entertainment)
Kylie and Judy left out of gay icon list Mar 28, 2009
Other icons include Princess Diana, Quentin Crisp and the bisexual blues singer Bessie Smith. Gay Icons will run at the National Portrait Gallery in London, from July 2 to October 18. (Sydney Morning Herald -- Entertainment)
Being Faithfull Mar 19, 2009
On the new album, Easy Come, Easy Go, Faithfull covers 18 songs by artists ranging from Billie Holiday, Bessie Smith and Ella Fitzgerald to Morrissey, Black Rebel Motorcycle Club and The Decemberists. Although they are other people's songs, Faithfull makes them sound so personal that it is hard not to apply some of the lines to her story. (BBC News -- Entertainment)
The new Shanghai Blue 1920 CLUB brings a glamorous nostalgia Feb 28, 2009
So modern jazz lovers, don't expect to hear today's tunes as your ears will be seduced by tracks from Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Bessie Smith, Nina Simone, Billie Holiday or Ella Fitzgerald. With the new concept, Shanghai Blue 1920 Club naturally are focusing on a wider target audience. (Jakarta Post, Indonesia -- Features)
The hottest spots were Underground Feb 8, 2009
Blues legend Bessie Smith, from the 1927 song Preachin the Blues. It s as if the Atlanta Board of Alderman saw the Seventies coming. (Atlanta Journal-Constitution -- Metro)
