
Who was Canada’s First Lady of Blues?
Ms. Bey, known as “Canada’s first lady of the blues,” broke ground in her adopted country by creating opportunities for Black people in the theater. Salome Bey in 1973. She found success as a singer and actress, but her passion was providing opportunities to other Black performers. Credit...
How many answers to 'Canada's First Lady of the Blues' 2 WDS'?
The Crossword Solver found 20 answers to "'canada's first lady of the blues' 2 wds.", 9 letters crossword clue. The Crossword Solver finds answers to classic crosswords and cryptic crossword puzzles. Enter the length or pattern for better results. Click the answer to find similar crossword clues . ???? Use any punctuation for ?
Who is known as the mother of the Blues?
Gertrude “Ma” Rainey (1886–1939), known as "The Mother of the Blues”, is credited as the first to perform the blues on stage as popular entertainment when she began incorporating blues into her act of show songs and comedy around 1902.
Who was the first singer to play blues?
Classic blues were performed by female singers accompanied by pianists or small jazz ensembles and were the first blues to be recorded. Ma Rainey , Bessie Smith , Ethel Waters , and the other singers in this genre were instrumental in spreading the popularity of the blues.

Who was the first person to sing the blues?
It's impossible to trace a first blues singer, but the first recorded blues musician, within the genre which today is recognized as blues, was probably Sylvester “Curly” Weaver, when he recorded Guitar Blues and Guitar Rag in 1923.
Who was the first African American woman to record the blues?
Mamie SmithMamie Smith was the first black vocalist to record the blues. The song was "Crazy Blues," and it became a hit. But it happened almost by accident.
Is Salome Bey still alive?
August 8, 2020Salome Bey / Date of death
What was the blues first song?
Having always immersed himself in the African American music of his era, Handy eventually began writing songs describing the hardships he had experienced. In 1912 he published “Memphis Blues,” now considered the first blues song.
Who is the best female blues singer?
15 Of The Greatest And Most Famous Female Blues Singers Of All...Bessie Smith.Koko Taylor.Aretha Franklin.Ma Rainey.Sister Rosetta Tharpe.Janis Joplin.Bonnie Raitt.Big Mama Thornton.More items...•
Who was the first female Black singer?
Mamie SmithOn Valentine's Day 1920, a little over a century ago, a 28-year-old singer named Mamie Smith walked into a recording studio in New York City and made history. Six months later, she did it again.
Why is Salome Bey important?
Salome Bey was born in Newark New Jersey in 1933. Salome formed a jazz trio with her sister Geraldine and her brother Andy, and became successful jazz performers under the name Andy and the Bey Sisters. After playing local clubs they had their first major breakthrough touring Europe.
What awards did Salome Bey win?
Obie Award for PerformanceSalome Bey / Awards
What is Salome Bey known for?
Salome Bey was known widely as 'Canada's First Lady of the Blues. ' The Grammy-nominated Bey was a multi-disciplinary performer and honorary member of the Order of Canada who achieved legendary status during her life due to contributions in both music and theatre.
Who is the father of blues?
For his efforts in making Blues famous, W.C. Handy is known as the “Father of the Blues.”
Who is known as the Mother of the Blues?
You sing 'cause that's a way of understanding life.” In honor of the upcoming film, here are 20 fascinating facts about the woman they call the Mother of the Blues. Ma Rainey was born Gertrude Pridgett in Columbus, Georgia on April 26th, 1886 — or so she claimed.
Who made blues famous?
Bessie Smith and Robert Johnson made the blues style very popular in the 1920s. By the 1940s and 50s, the style had developed further and included a range of other instruments. This style was called rhythm and blues, r'n'b, and was usually played on electric guitar and bass.
Who was the first black female vocalist to record the blues apex?
How blues great Mamie Smith paved the way for Black female musicians and their fans. In 1920, jazz singer Mamie Smith released a record called “Crazy Blues.” She was the first Black female singer to record and release a blues song.
Who was the first African American vocalist to sing with a white orchestra?
Billie Holiday was one of the first African American singers to sing in public with a white orchestra.
Who was a famous female singer in the 1920s?
Bessie Smith (c. 1892–1937), Mamie Smith (1893–1946), and Gertrude "Ma" Rainey (1886–1939) are perhaps the most recognizable names of women blues singers of the 1920s.
Who started the blues?
The origins of the blues are poorly documented, but it is believed that after the American Civil War (1861–65), formerly enslaved African Americans and their descendants created this genre while working on Southern plantations, taking inspiration from hymns, minstrel show music, work songs and field hollers, ragtime, ...
Who were the female blues singers?
They were also instrumental in popularizing the 12-bar blues throughout the United States. Mahalia Jackson and Janis Joplin are among those who named Bessie Smith as an influence. According to LeRoi Jones, phonograph recordings of the classic blues singers "affected the existing folk tradition and created another kind of tradition that was unlike any other in the past".
Who was the first black woman to record blues?
Smith returned to the studio on August 10 and recorded " Crazy Blues ", the first blues recorded by a black woman. The record sold over 75,000 copies in its first month, an extraordinary figure for the time. Smith became known as “America’s First Lady of the Blues”.
What did the blues women do?
The blues women thus effected changes in other types of popular singing that had spin-offs in jazz, Broadway musicals, torch songs of the 1930s and 1940s, gospel, rhythm and blues, and eventually rock and roll."
What was the blues marketed to?
Blues recordings were marketed exclusively to African Americans, largely by advertisements in black newspapers such as the Chicago Defender and the Pittsburgh Courier, and were typically labeled " race records " to distinguish them from records marketed to white audiences. However, the recordings of some of the classic female blues singers were ...
Where did blues originate?
Origin. Blues, a type of black folk music originating in the American South, were mainly in the form of work songs until about 1900. Gertrude “Ma” Rainey (1886–1939), known as "The Mother of the Blues”, is credited as the first to perform the blues on stage as popular entertainment when she began incorporating blues into her act ...
Who is the author of Ma Rainey and the Classic Blues Singers?
Stewart-Baxter, Derrick (1970). Ma Rainey and the Classic Blues Singers. New York: Stein & Day. ISBN 0-8128-1321-9.
When did swing blues start?
With the downturn in the popularity of female blues singers, beginning about 1933 and 1934, some of these artists began performing and recording what became swing blues. Singers like Lil Johnson and Lucille Bogan started recording for the ARC group of cheaper labels and for Decca Records (after late 1934).