Alberta Hunter

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Alberta Hunter (born April 1, 1895 in Memphis , Tennessee , † October 17, 1984 in New York City , New York ) was an Afro-American blues and jazz singer and songwriter .

Life

Alberta Hunter moved to Chicago when he was 12 ; According to various sources, she either ran away from home or her family moved. She survived with jobs like peeling potatoes, but was determined to become a singer. After starting out in cheap establishments, she worked with pianist Tony Jackson at Elite Cafe # 1 . After working at the Panama Cafe in 1915, she got a job in one of the hippest clubs, the Dreamland Café .

She experienced the greatest successes of her career as a singer and songwriter in the 1920s and 1930s. She performed in clubs and on stages in New York City and London . Her best-known songs include the slippery ballad "(My Man is Such a) Handy Man"; with Lovie Austin she wrote the " Down Hearted Blues ", made famous in 1923 by Bessie Smith . From 1921 she played records, initially accompanied by the band of Fletcher Henderson . Between 1922 and 1927 she went to the recording studio several times with Perry Bradford ; In 1923 she recorded with the Original Memphis Five and in 1924 with Clarence Williams and Louis Armstrong . Her only chart success was WC Handys " Beale Street Blues ", in which she accompanied Fats Waller on the organ; it reached # 16 on the Billboard Top 30 .

During the Second World War and the Korean War , Hunter was active in troop entertainment. In the mid-1950s, after the death of her mother, she gave up music entirely. With a false age and a fake high school diploma, she began training as a nurse before working at New York's Goldwater Memorial Hospital . After eleven years of abstinence from the studio, producer Chris Albertson was able to persuade her to make new recordings in 1961. She was in the studio with Lil Armstrong and Lovie Austin, with whom she had performed in the 1920s. Alberta Hunter enjoyed singing but wanted to continue working as a nurse. However, in 1977, at the age of 81, she was retired.

In 1978, at the age of 82, she recorded the album The Amtrak Blues and began performing again. A two-week engagement at Cookery , a small club in New York's Greenwich Village , was extended indefinitely because of the unexpected success. This was followed by new recordings, television appearances, invitations from all over the world (e.g. Berlin Jazz Days 1982 with live TV broadcast by ARD), tours and an appearance in the White House . She wrote music for Robert Altman for the film Remember My Name .

Alberta Hunter performed until shortly before her death on October 17, 1984. Her life was the basis for the musical Cookin 'in the Cookery . In 2009 her album Amtrak Blues was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame of the Blues Foundation, in 2011 the artist herself.

Discography

Albums

  • Alberta Hunter with Lovie Austin and her Blues Serenaders (1962)
  • Amtrak Blues (1978)
  • Legendary Alberta Hunter: '34 London Sessions (1981)
  • The Glory of Alberta Hunter (1981)
  • Classic Alberta Hunter: The Thirties (1981)
  • Young Alberta Hunter: The Twenties (1981)
  • Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 1 (1921-1923) (1996)
  • Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 2 (1923-24) (1996)
  • Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 3 (1924-27) (1996)
  • Complete Recorded Works, Vol. 4 (1927-46) (1996)
  • Downhearted Blues: Live at the Cookery (2001)
  • Songs We Taught Your Mother reissue Original 1961 (2003)

DVD

  • Alberta Hunter - Jazz at the Smithsonian live video (1991)
  • Alberta Hunter - My Castle's Rockin 'DVD (1992)
  • Alberta Hunter - Jazz Master's Series DVD (2005)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ In some cases, 1897 is also given as the year of birth.
  2. ↑ Kunzler Jazzlexikon 2002 states October 18.
  3. ↑ She was the first African American singer to be accompanied by a white band.
  4. ^ The Blues Music Awards. Accessed December 30, 2019 .
  5. ↑ Amazon.de; CD Universe; All Music Guide
personal data
SURNAME Hunter, Alberta
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American blues and jazz singer
DATE OF BIRTH April 1, 1895
PLACE OF BIRTH Memphis , Tennessee
DATE OF DEATH 17th October 1984
Place of death New York City , New York