Teddy Grace
Teddy Grace (born June 26, 1905 in Arcadia , Louisiana , † January 4, 1992 in La Mirada , California ) was an American jazz singer.
biography
Teddy Grace began her career as a singer in 1931 when she was broadcast on radio in the southern United States and then appeared with the bands of Al Katz (1933), Tommy Christian (1934) and Mal Hallett (1934-1937), with the she also had a small film role. From 1937 to 1940 she recorded for the Decca Records label under her own name; She was accompanied by Bobby Hackett , Jack Teagarden , Charlie Shavers , Buster Bailey , Pee Wee Russell , Max Kaminsky , Eddie Condon , Billy Kyle and Bud Freeman . The authors Richard Cook and Brian Morton especially emphasize the three sessions in 1939 with Shavers, Kyle and Buster Bailey, in which Grace sings blues material. In 1939/40 she also worked with the Mal Hallett, Lou Holden and the Bob Crosby Orchestra as a band singer; with Over the Rainbow , Crosby and Grace reached number 2 on the charts. Other well-known songs by Teddy Grace were I'll Never Let You Cry and Love Me or Leave Me .
In late 1940, she left the music business and shortly thereafter joined the Women's Army Corps ; During the Second World War, she sang at events of the war bond and troop entertainment. She lost her voice in the process and was unable to speak for a number of years. Most of her recordings for Decca were re-released in 1996 on Timeless Records .
Appreciation
The author Will Friedwald called Teddy Grace "a prime example of unrealized skills". In the Decca sessions in particular, she proved “that she is the blackest white singer who is closer to the blues than most of her colored colleagues of her time. If she hadn't disappeared in the early forties, and if Kay Starr hadn't made it big, Teddy Grace would undoubtedly be celebrated as the greatest white blues singer today. "
Discographic notes
- Turn On That Red Hot Head ( Hep Records , 1940) with the Bob Crosby Orchestra
- Teddy Gace, 1937-1940 ( Timeless Records , 1937-1940)
swell
- Richard Cook , Brian Morton : The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings . 8th edition. Penguin, London 2006, ISBN 0-14-102327-9 .
- Will Friedwald: Swinging Voices of America - A Compendium of Great Voices . Hannibal, St. Andrä-WIERT, 1992. ISBN 3-85445-075-3
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Quoted from W. Friedwald, p. 78.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Grace, teddy |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American jazz singer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | June 26, 1905 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Arcadia , Louisiana |
| DATE OF DEATH | 4th January 1992 |
| Place of death | La Mirada , California |