Lena Wilson
Encyclopedia
Lena Wilson was an American
blues
singer in the classic female blues
style. She recorded "Chiropractor Blues" and "Love Ain't Blind No More,".
, United States
. She was an adopted child. About 1918–1920 she sang with her brother Danny Wilson as a vaudeville act on the TOBA
circuit in the South. Together with Danny's wife, Edith Wilson
, they sometimes performed as a trio.
Her major recordings were made between 1922 and 1924, and in 1930. She variously worked with the Nubian Five, Perry Bradford
's Jazz Phools, Conaway's Rag Pickers, Fletcher Henderson
, Johnny Dunn
's Jazz Hounds, Danny Wilson and Edith Wilson
.. Additionally, she recorded under her own name with an ensemble called the Jazz Hounds, featuring Gus Aiken
on trumpet, Garvin Bushell
on clarinet, Herb Fleming
on trombone, John Mitchell on banjo, and Porter Grainger
and Cliff Jackson
on piano.
Wilson sang in many Harlem
musical revues throughout the 1920s. She married the violinist Shrimp Jones in the 1930s, and remained a regular performer in New York City
into the mid-1930s. She died, reportedly of pneumonia
, in New York in 1939.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
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 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. She recorded "Chiropractor Blues" and "Love Ain't Blind No More,".
Life and career
Wilson was born in Charlotte, North CarolinaCharlotte, North Carolina
Charlotte is the largest city in the U.S. state of North Carolina and the seat of Mecklenburg County. In 2010, Charlotte's population according to the US Census Bureau was 731,424, making it the 17th largest city in the United States based on population. The Charlotte metropolitan area had a 2009...
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. She was an adopted child. About 1918–1920 she sang with her brother Danny Wilson as a vaudeville act on the TOBA
Toba
Toba may refer to:In Geography:* Lake Toba, a lake in northern Sumatra, Indonesia, and site of the volcanic Toba eruption 75,000 years ago** Toba catastrophe theory, according to which modern human evolution was affected by the Toba eruption...
circuit in the South. Together with Danny's wife, Edith Wilson
Edith Wilson (singer)
Edith Wilson was an American blues singer and vaudeville performer.-Biography:Born Edith Goodall in Louisville, Kentucky, Wilson's first professional experience came in 1919 in Louisville's Park Theater. Lena Wilson and her brother, Danny, performed in Louisville; Edith married Danny and joined...
, they sometimes performed as a trio.
Her major recordings were made between 1922 and 1924, and in 1930. She variously worked with the Nubian Five, Perry Bradford
Perry Bradford
Perry Bradford was an African American composer, songwriter, and vaudeville performer....
's Jazz Phools, Conaway's Rag Pickers, Fletcher Henderson
Fletcher Henderson
James Fletcher Hamilton Henderson, Jr. was an American pianist, bandleader, arranger and composer, important in the development of big band jazz and swing music. His was one of the most prolific black orchestras and his influence was vast...
, Johnny Dunn
Johnny Dunn
Johnny Dunn was an American traditional jazz trumpeter and vaudeville performer, who was born in Memphis, Tennessee. He is probably best known for his work during the 1920s with musicians such as Perry Bradford or Noble Sissle. In 1928, Dunn recorded four tracks with Jelly Roll Morton, and two...
's Jazz Hounds, Danny Wilson and Edith Wilson
Edith Wilson (singer)
Edith Wilson was an American blues singer and vaudeville performer.-Biography:Born Edith Goodall in Louisville, Kentucky, Wilson's first professional experience came in 1919 in Louisville's Park Theater. Lena Wilson and her brother, Danny, performed in Louisville; Edith married Danny and joined...
.. Additionally, she recorded under her own name with an ensemble called the Jazz Hounds, featuring Gus Aiken
Gus Aiken
Augustus "Gus" Aiken was an early jazz trumpeter who also did blues. He started with the Jenkins Orphanage band....
on trumpet, 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...
on clarinet, Herb Fleming
Herb Flemming
Herb Flemming or Fleming was an American jazz trombonist and vocalist who played extensively in Europe.Flemming was born Nicolaiih El-Michelle, and was of North African descent...
on trombone, John Mitchell on banjo, and Porter Grainger
Porter Grainger
Porter Grainger was an African-American pianist, songwriter, playwright, and music publisher.-Biography:...
and Cliff Jackson
Cliff Jackson
Clifton Luther "Cliff" Jackson was an American jazz stride pianist.After playing in Atlantic City, Jackson moved to New York City in 1923, where he played with Lionel Howard's Musical Aces in 1924 and recorded with Bob Fuller and Elmer Snowden...
on piano.
Wilson sang in many Harlem
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, which since the 1920s has been a major African-American residential, cultural and business center. Originally a Dutch village, formally organized in 1658, it is named after the city of Haarlem in the Netherlands...
musical revues throughout the 1920s. She married the violinist Shrimp Jones in the 1930s, and remained a regular performer 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...
into the mid-1930s. She died, reportedly of pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
, in New York in 1939.