Mildred Bailey

Mildred Rinker Bailey ( Tekoa , February 27 1907 - Poughkeepsie , December 12 1951 ) was an American jazz singer from the swing era. She was popular in the thirties and had several No. 1 hits. She was the first white woman in jazz had success.

Mildred Bailey began her career as a teenager: she sang and played the piano in silent movies in theaters. After the breakdown of her marriage to Ted Bailey she kept his last name. Using her second husband, Benny Stafford, she became a successful jazz and blues -zangeres on the West Coast. In 1929 she was hired by bandleader Paul Whiteman and became the first female singer in a jazz band. She debuted in the popular radio show of Whiteman with "Moaning Low" and had immediate success. At Whiteman she would work until 1933 she left the band with her ​​third husband, the vibraphonist Red Norvo dispute over salary.

Success
Bailey made ​​in 1929, her first recording with the band of guitarist Eddie Lang . In 1932 she had her first hit with "Georgia on My Mind," written by Hoagy Carmichael . In 1932 she took the first "Rockin 'Chair", that also was a composition of Carmichael. It was her song-recognition: it was called the "Rockin 'Chair Lady'. In 1933 she was in the recording studio with the orchestra of the brothers Dorsey (released footage onto Brunswick ) and a year later she recorded with a group of Benny Goodman (including saxophonist Coleman Hawkins ).

In the second half of the thirties, she had a group of Red Norvo. The band performed at CBS radio, where the couple was announced as Mr. and Mrs. Swing. With the group she made ​​records for include Vocalion, but she was in the studio with members of the band of Count Basie . In 1938 she was twice in the first place of the US charts: with "Please Be Kind" and "Says My Heart", both songs with Norvo. After her divorce from Norvo would she still records with him. In 1940 she took first place with "Darn That Dream", with the orchestra of Benny Goodman.

During the Second World War, Bailey was in the studio with pianist Teddy Wilson and Louis Armstrong . Mid-forties, she had a radio show on CBS . Bailey had health problems (she was obese and had diabetes ) and took after the war but little. In 1951 she had to break off a tour and be admitted to the hospital, where she died of heart failure .

[Discography edit ]

 * Ms. Swing (recordings 1929-1947), Proper
 * First Lady of Swing Live (recorded December 1944), Mr. Music
 * Me and the Blues (recorded with Eddie Sauter and Ellis Larkins, 1946-1947), Savoy
 * Mildred Bailey 1943-1945, Classics
 * Mildred Bailey 1945-1947, Classics