Helen Humes

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Helen Humes

Helen Humes (born June 23, 1913 in Louisville , Kentucky , † September 9, 1981 in Santa Monica , California ) was an American jazz and blues singer.

Live and act

Helen Humes inherited her talent from her parents, who often sang in duets in her parish. In 1927 she accompanied Sylvester Weaver on some of his last recordings. In 1937 she moved to Albany and was a singer in the Big Band of Harry James . With him she recorded the titles Jubilee , I Can Dream Can't I and That's The Dreamer In Me, among others . She also worked in the late 1930s with big band leader Count Basie , who discovered her at the Cotton Club in Cincinnati . He invited her to succeed Billie Holiday in his band. One of her greatest hits from this period was Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea .

In the 1940s and 1950s, now in California, Helen Humes worked with various bands and other blues and jazz interpreters, including Nat King Cole, and recorded some records for Discovery . One of her successes from this period is Be-baba-leba ; the song hit # 7 on the Race Record chart . In 1950 Hume's Benny Carter sang Rock Me to Sleep and managed to build a bridge between the "Big Band Jazz Swing" and the rhythm and blues .

When Hume's mother died in 1973, she sold all of her records and piano and no longer wanted to sing. Stanley Dance, a music critic, persuaded her to perform with Count Basie at the 1973 Newport Jazz Festival . But it wasn't until the late 1970s that she continued her career, u. a. with performances at the New York jazz club Cookery . She lived in Hawaii and Australia for some time before moving to Santa Monica, California, where she died in 1981.

Discography

  • Helen Humes , 1959
  • Tain't nobody's biz-ness if I do , 1959
  • Songs I like to sing , 1960
  • Swingin 'with Humes , 1961
  • Helen comes back , 1973
  • Let the good times roll , 1973
  • Sneakin 'around , 1974
  • On the sunny side of the street (live) , 1974
  • Helen Humes , 1974
  • Talk of the town , 1975
  • Helen Humes with Red Norvo and his orchestra , 1975
  • Deed I do (live) , 1976
  • Helen Humes and the Muse All Stars , 1979
  • Helen , 1980
  • The New Year's Eve , 1980

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Humes, Helen
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American jazz and blues singer
DATE OF BIRTH June 23, 1913
PLACE OF BIRTH Louisville , Kentucky
DATE OF DEATH September 9, 1981
Place of death Santa Monica , California