Newsletter Archive

Related Topics

This is the first issue of our newsletter. We hope you will enjoy reading it and we welcome your ideas, suggestions and submissions for future issues.

JAZZ WOMEN

Get the whole story of how WOMEN IN JAZZ brought jazz music to the world.

Cartwright's book chronicles the lives of several women who were notable singers and instrumentalists in America and around the world.

Help Joan launch her book on April 19, 2007

BLUES WOMEN

Born in Columbus, Georgia, Gertrude "Ma" Rainey was the first Blues woman to record on Paramount Records. Her "race" records put that company on the map. Known as "The Mother of the Blues", Rainey was a singer and composer who popularized the blues. She was born, in 1886, into a showbiz family that performed in minstrel shows and first appeared, in 1900, singing and dancing in minstrel and vaudeville stage revues.  In 1902, she married William "Pa" Rainey. Together, they formed a song and dance act with Blues and popular songs. They toured the country, primarily the South, and were a popular attraction with Tolliver's Circus, The Musical Extravaganza and The Rabbit Foot Minstrels, where Rainey befriended a young Bessie Smith. In the 1920s, "Ma" Rainey was a solo star of the T.O.B.A. vaudeville circuit. In 1923, she signed a contract with Paramount, recording 100 songs by 1928. Louis Armstrong, Tommy Ladnier, Fletcher Henderson and Coleman Hawkins often accompanied her. In 1935, retired to her hometown, Columbus, Georgia, where she built and operated two theaters. She died in 1939.

Discography

CLIP THIS COUPON AND SAVE $5.00 OFF REGULAR PRICE FOR JOAN'S NEW BOOK
IN PURSUIT OF A MELODY, at book signing only.