Lovie austin biography of abraham lincoln
Lovie Austin
American bandleader, musician, composer, and singer
For the American civil rights activist, see Cora Catherine Calhoun Horne.
Lovie Austin | |
---|---|
Birth name | Cora Taylor |
Also known as | Cora Calhoun Cora Austin |
Born | ()September 19, Chattanooga, Tennessee, United States |
Died | July 8, () (aged84) Chicago, Illinois, United States |
Genres | Jazz, Jazz blues |
Occupation(s) | Musician Composer Bandleader |
Instrument | Piano |
Years active | s |
Labels | Paramount |
Musical artist
Cora "Lovie" Austin (September 19, – July 8, )[1][2] was an American Chicago bandleader, session musician, composer, singer, and arranger during the s classic blues era.[3] She and Lil Hardin Armstrong are often ranked as two of the best female jazz blues piano players of the period.[4]
Life and career
She was born Cora Taylor in Chattanooga, Tennessee.[1] Lovie grew up with eight brothers and sisters.
She took the name Cora Calhoun in her teens from an early marriage;[1] she was married for a short time to a movie house operator in Detroit and then later married a vaudeville performer, Phillip Austin.[5] She studied music theory at Roger Williams University in Nashville, and Knoxville College in Knoxville, Tennessee, which was uncommon for African American women and jazz musicians alike during the time.[4]
In , Lovie Austin decided to make Chicago her home, and she lived and worked there for the rest of her life.
She was often seen racing around town in her Stutz Bearcat with leopard skin upholstery, dressed to the teeth.
Her early career was in vaudeville, where she played piano and performed in variety acts.[6] Accompanying blues singers was Lovie's specialty, and can be heard on recordings by Ma Rainey ("Moonshine Blues"), Ida Cox ("Wild Women Don't Have the Blues"), Ethel Waters ("Craving Blues"), and Alberta Hunter ("Sad 'n' Lonely Blues").[7]
She led her own band, the Blues Serenaders, which usually included trumpeters Tommy Ladnier, Bob Shoffner, Natty Dominique, or Shirley Clay on cornet, Kid Ory or Albert Wynn on trombone, and Jimmy O'Bryant or Johnny Dodds on clarinet, along with banjo and occasional drums.
The Blues Serenaders developed their own unique sound within the jazz genre. They strayed away from the typical jazz band paradigm.[8] Austin worked with many other top jazz musicians of the s, including Louis Armstrong, with whom she worked on the song "Heebie Jeebies". Austin's skills as songwriter can be heard in the classic "Down Hearted Blues", a tune she co-wrote with Alberta Hunter.
The lament of a woman with a broken heart, the song describes how the man she loved "wrecked her life."[9] Singer Bessie Smith turned the song into a hit in [10] Austin was also a session musician for Paramount Records.
Biography of abraham lincoln books Cora "Lovie" Austin September 19, — July 8, was an American Chicago bandleader, session musician, composer, singer, and arranger during the s classic blues era. Lovie grew up with eight brothers and sisters. References [ edit ]. Austin, Joe AlanAustin and the Blues Serenaders recorded with Paramount Records during their temporary shift from New York to Chicago in [11]
When the classic blues craze began to wane in the early s, Austin settled into the position of musical director for the Monogram Theater, at South State Street in Chicago where all the T.O.B.A.
acts played. She worked there for 20 years. During wartime, many jazz musicians had to find other forms of work to support themselves and Austin was reported to be working as a security guard at a defense plant.
After World War II she became a pianist at Jimmy Payne's Dancing School at Penthouse Studios, and performed and recorded occasionally.[12] In as interest in her early career grew she made a significant recording with Alberta Hunter in Chicago.[13]
Austin died on July 8, , in Chicago.[1]
Influence
Mary Lou Williams, a pianist born in Atlanta, Georgia,[14] claimed that Lovie Austin is her greatest influence.
Williams refers to Austin as, "a fabulous woman and a fabulous musician too. I don't believe there's a woman around now who could compete with her. She was a greater talent than many of the men of this period."[15] With her performances and compositions, Lovie enriched the lives of black female artists during the Harlem Renaissance.[5]
Discography
Year | Title | Genre | Label |
---|---|---|---|
Jazz blues | Classic | ||
Alberta Hunter with Lovie Austin's Blues Serenaders | Jazz | Allegro Corporation |
References
- ^ abcdEagle, Bob; LeBlanc, Eric S.
(). Blues - A Regional Experience. Santa Barbara: Praeger Publishers. p. ISBN.
- ^Kenney, William Holland (May 13, ). Chicago Jazz: A Cultural History, . Oxford Paperbacks.
- ^Cook, Richard (). Richard Cook's Jazz Encyclopedia.Lovie austin biography of abraham lincoln author Austin, Hon. Bush Barack Obama Donald J. She worked there for 20 years. July 8, aged 84 Chicago, Illinois , United States.
London: Penguin Books. p. ISBN.
- ^ abSantelli, Robert. The Big Book of Blues, Penguin Books, pg. 20, (); ISBN
- ^ abSmith, Jessie Carney. Black Women of the Harlem Renaissance Era. Rowman and Littlefield.
- ^Zieff, Bob.
Lovie Austin. in Kernfeld, Barry, ed., The New Grove Dictionary of Jazz, 2nd Edition, Vol. 1.
Lovie austin biography of abraham lincoln Lincoln thought secession illegal, and was willing to use force to defend Federal law and the Union. Austin, Sarah — The Civil War had begun. Lincoln never let the world forget that the Civil War involved an even larger issue.London: MacMillan, p. 93 ().
- ^Laird, Ross, Moanin' Low: A Discography of Female Popular Vocal Recordings, , Greenwood Press, p. (); ISBN]
- ^William, Kenney. Chicago Jazz: A Cultural History, . Oxford Paperbacks.
- ^"Bessie Smith - Downhearted Blues Lyrics | SongMeanings".
SongMeanings. Retrieved
- ^Cullen, Frank. Vaudeville, Old and New: An Encyclopedia of Variety Performers in America, Routledge, p. 48 (); ISBN
- ^" - Wabash Rag: Paramount's Chicago Studios by Alex Van Der Tuuk".Lovie austin biography of abraham lincoln for kids Swing replaced blues as the popular craze, and new jazz stars emerged as the public appetite for classic blues faded. Austin, Lynn N. Austin, Denise In , Lovie Austin decided to make Chicago her home, and she lived and worked there for the rest of her life.
. Retrieved
- ^"Lovie Austin". Red Hot Jazz Archive. 4 April Retrieved
- ^"Lovie Austin:The Hidden Blues Queen who Inspired Swing Kingmakers".
Lovie austin biography of abraham lincoln book: Eisenhower John F. Archived from the original on Austin, Tracy —. Austin, Mary Hunter —
The Syncopated Times. 26 August Retrieved
- ^"Mary Lou Williams Biography". Archived from the original on Retrieved
- ^"Lovie Austin All About Jazz". All About Jazz. Retrieved