Daisy Martin
Encyclopedia
Daisy Martin was an African American
actress and blues
singer. who performed in the classic female blues
style that was popular during the 1920s.
She toured America's eastern and midwestern states in black
vaudeville
in the 1910s and early 1920s. In 1914 she appeared in the revue
My Friend From Kentucky at the National Theater in Chicago
, Illinois
. In 1917 she performed in the musical comedy My People, which also featured Sam Gray and Julia Moody. In 1920 she appeared at the Strand Theatre in Chicago in the revue Hello 1919.
Martin was one of the first black women to sing blues on recordings when she recorded for the Gennett
and Okeh
labels in April 1921. On her first sides, "Royal Garden Blues
" and "Spread Yo' Stuff", she was accompanied by the Five Jazz Bell Hops, whose identities are unknown. In total she recorded 16 sides, ending with her final session in July 1923.
On January 20, 1922 she competed against Lucille Hegamin
, Alice Leslie Carter
and the eventual winner Trixie Smith
in a blues-singing contest at the Manhattan Casino in New York City
. For this contest, which was a highlight of the Fifteenth Infantry's First Band Concert and Dance, Noble Sissle
was master of ceremonies, and Fiorello la Guardia served as one of the judges.
Blues writer Steve Tracy wrote in 1997 that "Martin is really not one of the better vaudeville blues singers, possessed as she is of a soprano voice with a very stilted vibrato effect". Few of the players who accompanied her on record have been identified, but the band for one of her sessions included Gus Aiken
, Jake Frazier, and Garvin Bushell
.
In 1997, Daisy Martin's complete recordings were reissued in CD
format by Document Records
on Daisy Martin & Ozie McPherson: Complete Recorded Works 1921–1926 In Chronological Order (DODC-5522).
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
actress and blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
singer. who performed in the classic female blues
Classic female blues
Classic female blues was an early form of blues music, popular in the 1920s. An amalgam of traditional folk blues and urban theater music, the style is also known as vaudeville blues. Classic blues were performed by female vocalists accompanied by pianists or small jazz ensembles, and were the...
style that was popular during the 1920s.
She toured America's eastern and midwestern states in black
Black people
The term black people is used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups.Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as "black", and often social variables such as class, socio-economic status also plays a...
vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
in the 1910s and early 1920s. In 1914 she appeared in the revue
Revue
A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance and sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century American popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural presence of its own during its golden years from 1916 to 1932...
My Friend From Kentucky at the National Theater in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois
Illinois
Illinois is the fifth-most populous state of the United States of America, and is often noted for being a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal,...
. In 1917 she performed in the musical comedy My People, which also featured Sam Gray and Julia Moody. In 1920 she appeared at the Strand Theatre in Chicago in the revue Hello 1919.
Martin was one of the first black women to sing blues on recordings when she recorded for the Gennett
Gennett Records
Gennett was a United States based record label which flourished in the 1920s.-Label history:Gennett records was founded in Richmond, Indiana by the Starr Piano Company, and released its first records in October 1917. The company took its name from its top managers: Harry, Fred and Clarence Gennett....
and Okeh
Okeh Records
Okeh Records began as an independent record label based in the United States of America in 1918. From 1926 on, it was a subsidiary of Columbia Records.-History:...
labels in April 1921. On her first sides, "Royal Garden Blues
Royal Garden Blues
"Royal Garden Blues" is a blues song composed by Clarence and Spencer Williams in 1919. Popularized in jazz by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band, it has since been recorded by numerous artists and has become a jazz standard...
" and "Spread Yo' Stuff", she was accompanied by the Five Jazz Bell Hops, whose identities are unknown. In total she recorded 16 sides, ending with her final session in July 1923.
On January 20, 1922 she competed against Lucille Hegamin
Lucille Hegamin
Lucille Nelson Hegamin was an American singer and entertainer, and a pioneer African American blues recording artist.-Life and career:...
, Alice Leslie Carter
Alice Leslie Carter
Alice Leslie Carter was an American classic female blues singer. She was active as a recording artist in the early 1920s, and her best known tracks were "Decatur Street Blues", and "Aunt Hagar's Children Blues." Although Carter was a contemporary of better known recording artists of the time, such...
and the eventual winner Trixie Smith
Trixie Smith
Trixie Smith was an African American blues singer, recording artist, vaudeville entertainer, and actress. She made four dozen recordings.-Biography:...
in a blues-singing contest at the Manhattan Casino in New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
. For this contest, which was a highlight of the Fifteenth Infantry's First Band Concert and Dance, Noble Sissle
Noble Sissle
Noble Sissle was an American jazz composer, lyricist, bandleader, singer and playwright.-Early life:...
was master of ceremonies, and Fiorello la Guardia served as one of the judges.
Blues writer Steve Tracy wrote in 1997 that "Martin is really not one of the better vaudeville blues singers, possessed as she is of a soprano voice with a very stilted vibrato effect". Few of the players who accompanied her on record have been identified, but the band for one of her sessions included Gus Aiken
Gus Aiken
Augustus "Gus" Aiken was an early jazz trumpeter who also did blues. He started with the Jenkins Orphanage band....
, Jake Frazier, and Garvin Bushell
Garvin Bushell
Garvin Bushell was an American woodwind multi-instrumentalist.Though never a major name in jazz, Bushell had a lengthy career from the music's early era, to the avant garde of the 1960s.-Biography:Bushell was born in Springfield, Ohio...
.
In 1997, Daisy Martin's complete recordings were reissued in CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
format by Document Records
Document Records
Document Records is a British record label that specializes in early American blues, bluegrass, gospel, spirituals jazz, and other rural American genres , generally made between 1900 and 1945...
on Daisy Martin & Ozie McPherson: Complete Recorded Works 1921–1926 In Chronological Order (DODC-5522).