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Helen Humes
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Helen Humes hailed from Louisville, Kentucky, she came from a happy, close-knit musical family and learned to play trumpet and piano when she was young. As a child she sang with the local Sunday school band, which boasted future jazz stars such as Dicky Wells and Jonah Jones. In 1927 she made her first records for the OKeh label in St. Louis. Humes then went to New York where she recorded again, this time accompanied by stride pianist James P. Johnson, and worked for several years with the orchestra led by Vernon Andrade, star of Harlem's Renaissance Ballroom.
She also recorded with Harry James and in 1937, was offered a job by Count Basie but turned it down because the pay was not enough. The following year she changed her mind and signed up, replacing Billie Holiday. Her recordings at this time mixed attractive performances of poor-quality songs and marvelous versions of the better material she was given. She left Basie in 1941 to freelance, and by 1944 was working on the West Coast. She had moved into the then popular R&B field. Humes had a big hit with “Be-Baba-Leba,” recorded with Bill Doggett and on a 1947 session in New York, supervised by John Hammond Jr., she made some excellent mainstream jazz records with Buck Clayton and Teddy Wilson.
Out to Lunch Tribute, Nancy Wilson, Ella Fitzgerald
by David Brown
This week we celebrate the recording anniversary of Eric Dolphy's Out to Lunch. We'll pay tribute by playing tracks from the LP as recorded by Vandermark 5, Orchestre National De Jazz, James Newton, The Lounge Lizards and Eric Dolphy himself. A vocal set will follow featuring big band era vocalists Antia O'Day, Helen Humes and Ella ...
Carol Sloane on Singers and Songs: A Blindfold Test
by Mathew Bahl
Tell Carol Sloane you like one of her records and you will probably get the same reaction every time. She will smile graciously, thank you sincerely and then proceed politely to explain how she could have done the song better. Given her own exacting standards, not to mention her experience as a disc jockey and as ...
International Sweethearts of Rhythm: una big band di donne afroamericane nella società sessista degli anni Quaranta.
by Maurizio Zerbo
Il genio creativo di Mary Lou Williams nell'era dello swing costituisce la punta di diamante della creatività jazzistica femminile, la cui storia è tutta da riscrivere. La presunta mancanza di forza fisica, abilità strumentale, senso dello swing fu alla base sello scetticismo della comunità jazzistica nei confronti delle donne, relegate al ruolo di vocalist in brani ...
Phineas Newborn Jr. and Miles Davis
by Joe Dimino
To commemorate the 600th full episode of Neon Jazz outta Kansas City, we focus on the life of Memphis-born bass cat Jamil Nasser. His son, Muneer, penned his biography and it's called Upright Bass: The Musical Life & Legacy of Jamil Nasser. George Joyner, Jamil Sulieman, and Jamil Nasser are three names that appear on the ...
Phineas Newborn Jr. and Oscar Dennard
by Joe Dimino
To commemorate the 600th full episode of Neon Jazz outta jny: Kansas City, we focus on the life of Memphis-born bass cat Jamil Nasser. His son, Muneer, penned his biography and it's called Upright Bass: The Musical Life & Legacy of Jamil Nasser. George Joyner, Jamil Sulieman, and Jamil Nasser are three names that appear on ...
Joe Smith & The Spicy Pickles: Gin & Moonlight
by James Nadal
Long before jazz became a spectator event, it was dance music. The big bands that played swing made their reputations on being able to flood the floor with dancers. Joe Smith & The Spicy Pickles are on a mission to bring back those days, and Gin & Moonlight has them on the right track. Formed in ...
Champian Fulton: After Dark
by Edward Blanco
Veteran New York pianist and vocalist Champian Fulton offers another recording of time-honored standards on After Dark, except this particular effort focuses on the music of the Queen of the Blues, the music of the great Dinah Washington, who was her first major vocalist influence early on in her life. Though she grew up listening to ...
Wardell Gray, "Forgotten Tenor:" An Interview with Filmmaker Abraham Ravett
by Victor L. Schermer
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 [This is one of two interviews and an article intended to bring readers' attention to the revered but neglected tenor saxophonist, Wardell Gray, whose brief career spanned the transition from swing to bebop and whose life was cut short by sudden and tragic circumstances.]
Red Norvo: Four Classic Albums
by David Rickert
Red Norvo played the vibes while leading his own band during the swing era and grew into smaller groups in the forties and fifites once the practicality of leading a large ensemble became too much. He was one of the first to specialize of what has always been somewhat of an unusual instrument for jazz, but ...
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