Considered both "the queen of the black jukebox and the consummate musician's musician" because of her rare combination of critical, artistic and commercial success, Dinah Washington shines on this recording, even as she surrounds herself with stellar jazz cats as back-up.

Recorded in 1953 and 1954 (after hours, natch) this reissue provides and nearly 11-minute long unedited version of favorite Blue Skies.

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Artist/Band Information

Dinah Washington (August 29, 1924 – December 14, 1963), born Ruth Lee Jones, was a blues, R&B and jazz singer. She has been cited as "the most popular black female recording artist of the '50s", and called "The Queen of the Blues". She is a 1986 inductee of the Alabama Jazz Hall of Fame,Bogdanov et al. All Music Guide to the Blues: The Definitive Guide to the Blues p. 373. Backbeat Books. ISBN 0879307366 and was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1993.

Career

Ruth Jones was born in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and moved to Chicago as a child. She sang gospel music in church and played piano, directing her church choir in her teens and being a member of the Sallie Martin Gospel Singers. After winning a talent contest at the age of 15, she began performing in clubs. She appeared at the Garrick Bar in 1942, and was recommended as a vocalist to Lionel Hampton. Changing her stage name to Dinah Washington, she joined Hampton in 1943. She made her recording debut for the Keynote label that December with "Evil Gal Blues", written by Leonard Feather and backed by Hampton and musicians from his band, including Joe Morris (trumpet

This text has been derived from Dinah Washington on Wikipedia and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License 3.0