Cleo Brown performed in the Chicago area during the late 1920s. In 1935, she replaced Fats Waller on his New York radio series on WABC, and soon began recording. Her version of "Pine Top's Boogie Woogie" was influential on pianists that came after her, and she is credited with being an early influence on Dave Brubeck, who played during the intermissions of her shows, and Marian McPartland, among others. Through the 1950s she worked frequently at that city's Three Deuces club, establishing a reputation as a two-fisted, driving pianist. Brown began to gain international renown for her work, and she continued to perform regularly in New York, Hollywood, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, and San Francisco until 1953, making records for Capitol Records and performing with the Decca All-Stars, among others.
Jerri Winters, born in 1930, was a singer from Terre Haute, Indiana. In 1948, she won top honours on Horace Heidt’s radio program and toured as a singer with the show. Later, she moved to Chicago, where she worked as a model and a dance instructor at Arthur Murray’s dance studio. In early 1952, she was selected from 500 contestants to join the Stan Kenton band, replacing June Christy. The search was sponsored by disc jockey Gene Norman in Hollywood. She recorded several songs with Stan Kenton, including "Adios", "All Because of You", and "She's a Comely Wench".
Lena Horne
Lena Calhoun Horne was born June 30, 1917, in Brooklyn, New York. In her biography she stated that, on the day she was born, her father was in the midst of a card game trying...
Swell Dames is a weekly radio show on 3mdr-97.1fm that celebrates female singers of the 1930s, 40s, & 50s.
Born and raised in the historic gold boom center of Ballarat in Western Victoria, Australian Cosmic Country Queen Freya Josephine Hollick has mined a rich alluvial songwriting vein across 3 full-length albums including The Unceremonious Junking Of Me (2015), 2018’s Feral Fusion and most recently 2022’s The Real World.
As a young child cherry picking her dad’s hip 70’s record collection, Freya was exposed to the cosmic sounds of outliers like Townes Van Zandt, The Band and Gene Clark, authentic storytellers with pioneering spirit. The resultant contact high imbued Freya’s spirit, solidifying her desire to deal in that same brand of raw, heartfelt writing. With a voice that demands attention, and a rapidly developing craft, Freya found her resolve and her reason.