Jazzin’ The Blues – Ada Brown. Chippie Hill, Lizzie Miles, Mama Alberta Price, Ruby Smith; The Remaining Titles (1943-1952)

The great vaudeville blues singers who first emerged on record in 1920 with the recordings of Mamie Smith were a varied group in term of talent, technique, and repertoire. A number of them outlasted the vaudeville blues craze through their capabilities with a pop song, while others benefitted from the revival of interest in Dixieland jazz, and still others updated to a jazzier approach that fit in with the updated urban blues styles of the 1930s and 1940s. Of course, there were those artists who mixed these approaches in their work and, of course, performers who faded into obscurity due to an inability to update or a decision to retire.

Of the five artists featured on this compact disc, three had their recording debuts in 1920s. In addition, the CD provides us with some fine music, occasionally outstanding, a revealing and valuable later career look at some veterans of the vaudeville blues era.