Ethel Waters  (1896 - 1977)

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Am I Blue? Ethel Waters

Ethel Waters is arguably the first woman jazz singer, with a gift for musical phrasing that immediately distinguished her from both the classic blues singers and the prevailing standards for popular singers. This CD surveys her recordings from 1925 to 1939, placing emphasis on jazz elements. Throughout, she's accompanied by an extraordinary collection of jazz musicians, and rare are the popular vocal records of the period where singers and jazz bands coexist so comfortably. Cornetist Joe Smith and clarinetist Don Redman are present on 1925's "Sweet Georgia Brown," and several musicians who appear as young sidemen on recordings from 1929 to '31--such as Jimmy and Tommy Dorsey and Benny Goodman--would become the leaders of celebrated swing bands a few years later. There's a superb rendition of "I Can't Give You Anything But Love" with Duke Ellington's great 1932 band, but Waters is just as dynamic on "Stormy Weather" and "Heat Wave." Waters possessed an exceptional talent for delivering lyrics, giving almost speechlike dimension to songs like "True Blue Lou" and tremendous drama to the mournful "Trav'lin' All Alone." The CD is a good introduction to a fascinating singer and an interesting chapter in the evolution of popular music. --Stuart Broomer  

1925-26 Ethel Waters

While Ethel Waters's years of fame as a singer coincided with those of Bessie Smith and the other classic blues singers, Waters's style and delivery were utterly different, even when she was singing similar material. Her voice was significantly lighter and more flexible, and there's an early grasp of jazz phrasing that often appears in these recordings from August 1925 to July 1926. It's particularly marked on "Dinah" and "Bring Your Greenbacks." Although Waters was an immensely popular and influential singer, she's better remembered today for the stage and film career of her later years. That theatrical gift is often apparent here. Along with her sophisticated jazz phrasing, Waters sings with superb diction, and she's far better at delivering narrative lyrics and the requisite comic banter than her contemporaries. Waters is accompanied here by a variety of pianists, including Pearl Wright, Fletcher Henderson, and Maceo Pinkard. Louis Hooper is particularly good on the blues of "Refrigeratin' Papa." Waters is sometimes joined by larger bands. Cornetist Joe Smith adds fine obbligatos and a solo to "I've Found a New Baby," joining with Henderson for the best jazz backing in the collection. A young Coleman Hawkins appears briefly as well, supplying bass lines on an unwieldy bass saxophone. --Stuart Broomer

Ethel Waters Biography

From the Red Hot Jazz Archive

Excerpt:

Ethel Waters was one of the most popular African American singers and actresses of the 1920s. She moved to New York in 1919 after touring in vaudeville shows as a singer and a dancer. She made her recording debut in 1921 on Cardinal records with "The New York Glide" and "At the New Jump Steady Ball", but switched over to African American owned Black Swan label, and recorded "Down Home Blues" and "Oh Daddy" the first Blues numbers for that company. She frequently sang with Fletcher Henderson during the early 1920s, but by the mid-1920s Waters had became more of a pop singer. She performed in a number of musical revues throughout the rest of the decade and appeared a couple of films, including "Check and Double Check" with Amos 'n' Andy and Duke Ellington. By the end of the 1930s she was a big star on Broadway. In 1949, she was nominated for an Oscar best supporting actress in the film "Pinky", and the next year she won the New York Drama Critics Award for best actress. Waters got religion in the late fifties and performed and toured with evangelist Billy Graham until her death in 1977...

Includes a Filmography.

Ethel Waters Biography

From the Blue Flame Cafe

Excerpt:

Ethel Waters had a long and distinguished career as a vocalist and actress, though the years she spent as a blues singer were limited to the early 1920s. With smooth, well-defined phrasing and a meticulous sense of timing, Waters' singing style rated with the best of the era's vocalists. Had she dedicated herself to solely singing the blues, Waters might well have been a great blues singer. But by the mid-'20s she began devoting most of her stage and recording time to vaudeville and pop tunes...

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