Nan Blakstone

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Nan Blackstone (left) with Nat Gonella & the New Georgians (1930s)

Nan Blakstone or Nan Blackstone (actually Naomi Ewald , * 1905 in San Antonio ; † September 24, 1951 ) was an American singer and pianist who gained fame primarily through her performances on cabaret stages and in nightclubs . The jazz critic Will Friedwald described the interpreter of "ambiguous and humorous songs" as a "female contemporary of such dissolute, gender-breaking figures as Dwight Fiske and Ray Bourbon " and as the predecessor of female singers like Ruth Wallis or Ava Williams .

Live and act

Naomi Ewald studied at Oklahoma University and then attended the music college in Chicago. For her appearances she took the stage name Nan Blackstone , which she soon shortened to Nan Blakstone in order not to be confused with a wizard known at the time. She performed in New York cabarets during the prohibition period ; In 1926 she had an appearance in the musical The Far Cry at the Liberty Theater in New York . During her tours, such as her guest appearance at the Strand Theater in Lexington, Kentucky , she was announced as Queen of the Blues Songs - Broadway ’s Crooning Bluebird Singing the Latest Songs . On May 25, 1927, she played four tracks for Victor in Chicago, accompanying herself on the piano: Maybe You'll Be the One to Care , That's How I Know I Love You, Counting the Days and So Tired .

Trumpeter Nat Gonella and his band on tour in the Netherlands (1946)

Blakstone's next record session took place on April 10, 1929 for RCA-Victor at Church Building Studio in Camden, New Jersey , where they recorded four tracks for a Columbia Pictures musical film that was released under the title Snappy Co-eds . In it she sang a medley of the songs I Ain't Taken Orders from No One, That's My Weakness Now , She's Funny That Way and More Than Anybody . She was accompanied by the studio musicians Max Berger (trumpet), Louis Martin (saxophone), Billy Witkin (violin), Louis Spielman (piano), Dick Cherwin (double bass) and Harry Rosenberg (drums). In February 1930 she appeared in Ruth Selwyn's musical Nine-Fifteen Revue , which, however, had little success; in it she sang George Gershwin's Toddlin 'Along . by the end of the year she was involved in another Gaieties musical production, which ran at the Guild Theater (now the August Wilson Theater) and saw 158 performances. This was followed by engagements in the New York Club Argonaut with Jean Malin in the early 30s ; in June 1931 test recordings were made for Brunswick Records ( Queen Isabell / Hit or Miss ). At the end of 1931 she was in London. There she recorded the tracks I'll Putcha Pitcha in the Papers and All for the Sake of Love ( Oriole P-107) in December , accompanied by Nat Gonella , Stanley Black (piano) and Bill Harty (drums). From the end of January 1932 she had a successful engagement in the Monseigneur night club ; In the course of the year further recordings were made for Oriole, the tracks You are Too Beautiful and What Have We Got to Lose? (Oriole SP-492).

After her return to the United States, Blakstone appeared in October 1932 in the revue Forward March by Lew Brown , Ray Henderson and David Freedman ; In early 1933 she had engagements at Club Abbey on West 54th Street. In 1934 she traveled to England again with the Aquitania . On May 11, 1933, she recorded You're Getting to Be a Habit with Me and I'll Putcha Pitcha in the Paper , accompanied by pianist Austin "Ginger" Croome-Johnson (Parlophone R.1536). She returned to the USA in early 1934; On April 6, she performed with her own piano accompaniment in the ARC studios They were I Can't Find a Place to Do It and Modern Romeo , which were released on the record label Liberty Music Shop (L-161). That year she performed in various New York nightclubs such as Caveau Basque, Casino Town Club (with Bruz Fletcher ) and the Petit Palais before moving to Los Angeles. In October 1935 she married Heine Brand, who also produced her next record session, which took place in early 1936; In the Decca Studios she recorded six numbers during a guest appearance at the Colony Club , Isabella - the Queen, Myrtle Isn't Fertile Anymore, I'm Not in the Way of My Family (I'm Just in the Family Way), I've Got It Again, Stardust and Cole Porters I'm The Laziest Gal in Town . In his book Stardust Melodies, Will Friedwald described their version of Stardust as probably the strangest interpretation of the song.

The Club Carousel on New York's 52nd Street between the Famous Door and the Three Deuces . Photograph by William P. Gottlieb (around 1948)

After returning to New York in 1936, she made a guest appearance at the Yacht Club on 52nd Street, but soon had to interrupt her career because of a facial injury from a traffic accident and undergo cosmetic operations. She did not appear again until 1939, in the Little Eva Club on the west coast of the USA, in 1941 in the Moulin Rouge in New Orleans and in the Chase Hotel in St. Louis. In 1942 there were again recordings (Merchant Seaman's Voyage into Courage) for the music agent Stanford Zucker. At the end of May 1942 she made a guest appearance at the Onyx Club in New York. During this time she married her manager Ronald Aaron Gerard. This was followed by a tour of Canada, where she performed at Café Esquire in Montreal. In 1944 she ran her own nightclub for a short time, Club Carousel on West 52nd Street. In New York in early 1946, further recordings were made with the Artie Fields Orchestra for the small label Gala, which were released as a 78 album under the title The World's Greatest Interpreter of Sophisticated Song , including the songs The Laziest Girl in Town, Rears its Ugly Head (by Mort Greene ) and A Lady's a Lady No Matter What Cooks . Recordings in Detroit were followed by the titles Horse with a Buggy Behind and Lady Godiva and the Peeping Tom (Gala 1019). In 1947 she had an engagement at the Ruby Foo's Club in Montreal; in November she recorded six tracks at Universal Studios , Hollywood (Private Collection - Gems of Sophistication) , including The Throttle Murder Mystery and Blakstone's Frustration (Can't Find a Place to Do It) , followed by the albums Private Collection of Nan Blakstone and The Hush Hush album , which was later partially re-released by Jubilee Records (Tongue with Cheek) . The last recordings were made at the end of 1947; in June 1949, Nan Blakstone suffered a stroke from which she initially recovered. She died on September 24, 1951 of complications from an intracerebral hemorrhage .

Discographic notes

  • The Worlds Greatest Interpreter of Sophisticated Song (Gala, 1946)
  • The New Hush Hush Album (Jubilee, 1954)
  • Dwight Fiske, Nan Blakstone: Tongue with Cheek (compilation, Jubliee, 1959)

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Will Friedwald: Stardust Melodies: The Biography of Twelve of America's Most Popular Songs . 2008, p. 35
  2. Information from DAHR
  3. ^ Edwin M. Bradley: The First Hollywood Sound Shorts, 1926-1931 . 2005, p. 137
  4. Nan Blakstone in the Internet Movie Database (English)
  5. ^ Deena Rosenberg: Fascinating Rhythm: The Collaboration of George and Ira Gershwin . 1991, p. 465
  6. Harold Meyerson, Ernie Harburg: Who Put the Rainbow in the Wizard of Oz ?: Yip Harburg , Lyricist , 1994, p. 363
  7. ^ Information in the Broadway Database
  8. Tom Lord : The Jazz Discography (online, accessed January 14, 2017)
  9. See Comedy on record: the complete critical discography , ed. by Ronald L. Smith. Garland Publishing, Incorporated, 1988