Midge Williams

Midge Williams (born May 27, 1915 in Portland (Oregon) as Virginia Louise Williams , † January 9, 1952 in San Francisco ) was an American jazz singer .

Williams was a singer in the 1930s and 1940s with her formation Midge Williams and Her Jazz Jesters , who recorded a number of 78s for Vocalion in the late 1930s . Midge Williams was nicknamed "Midge" early on to distinguish her from her mother, who was also called Virginia Louise. She grew up in the African American rural community of Allensworth, California in Tulare County . Her grandfather Joshua Singleton, son of the black separatist leader Benjamin "Pap" Singleton, moved with his family to the colony founded in 1909, where the Singletons were well-known parishioners. Midge Williams and three of her brothers performed early on as singing and dancing Williams quartets in churches and theaters in the San Francisco Bay Area . In the early 1930s, Roger Seguire took over management of the group; In 1933 he had the Williams Quartet perform in Shanghai ; from there the group toured Japan, where they performed in clubs and dance halls. Midge Williams' first recordings were made in Japan in 1934 when she recorded songs in Japanese and English.

In August 1934, the Williams Quartet returned to California; shortly thereafter, Midge's brother Charles died in a gun accident. With the end of the quartet, Midge Williams began her solo career, settled in Berkeley and had a regular radio program, Blue Monday Jamboree , from mid-1935 . In early 1936 she met Al Jolson and sang on his radio program Shell Chateau . She then moved to Chicago and worked with musicians such as Miff Mole , Fats Waller , Teddy Wilson and Frank Froeba . Recordings under his own name were made both for Vocalion and with the band of John Kirby . In mid-1936 she moved to New York and appeared several times on Rudy Vallées radio show. In early 1937 she sang on NBC's Red Network .

During her time in New York, Williams appeared on various radio programs such as RCA Magic Key , the Studebaker Champions Show and Ben Bernie's Show . From mid-1936 he made recordings for various labels, from 1937 with her accompanying group Midge Williams and Her Jazz Jesters ; which included musicians like Raymond Scott , Frankie Newton , Buster Bailey and Charlie Shavers . She has also performed in popular New York City venues such as the Harlem Apollo Theater and the Savoy Ballroom ; she also had joint appearances with Lil Armstrong , Bunny Berigan , Harry James , John Kirby, Glenn Miller , Ben Webster and Teddy Wilson.

In 1938 Midge Williams became a band singer with the Louis Armstrong Orchestra and toured the United States with him; however, no recordings were made. In 1941 Midge Williams left the Armstrong Orchestra and had to go to a hospital in Detroit, which practically ended her career. She then only appeared again in 1946 on the Jack Webb radio show with the Cow Cow Boogie and was then forgotten. She died of tuberculosis in May 1952 .

Discographic notes

Midge Williams 1937-1938 ( Classics )
The Complete Midge Williams Vol. 1 & 2 (Swing Time Productions)

swell

Arnold, Bob. "A Brief Biography of" Midge "Williams." Liner Notes in The Complete Midge Williams , vol. 1 & vol. 2. (Audio CDs) Hollis, NH: Swing Time Records, 2001.
Kernfeld, Barry, ed. The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz , vol. 3. London: Macmillan Publishers, Ltd., 2002.
Larkin, Colin, ed. The Encyclopedia of Popular Music , vol. 8. London: Macmillan Reference, Ltd., 1998.

Web links

personal data
SURNAME	Williams, Midge
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Williams, Virginia Louise
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	American jazz singer
DATE OF BIRTH	May 27, 1915
PLACE OF BIRTH	Portland, Oregon
DATE OF DEATH	January 9, 1952
Place of death	San Francisco