A contribution to the history of the blues in particular and of Afro-American culture in general, new information about a remarkable set of assertive, creative women as well as new insights into the musical heritage they have left behind. Sippie Wallace, Edith Wilson, Victoria Spivey and Alberta Hunter are the collective focus of this work - four influential blues singers with diverse styles, who were big in the 1920s and were still performing in the 1980s. Writing from a firm black/feminist standpoint, Harrison shows the joys, trials, and heartbreaks in the lives of the first popular women blues artists.

So You Want to Sing the Blues: A Guide for Performers shines a light on the history and vibrant modern life of blues song. Eli Yamin explores those essential elements that make the blues sound authentic and guides readers of all backgrounds and levels through mastering this art form. He provides glimpses into the musical lives of the women and men who created the blues along with a listening tour of seminal recordings in the genre's history. The blues presents many unique challenges for singers, who must shout, slide, and serenade around the accompanying music. By offering concrete explanations and exercises of key blues elements, this book guides singers to create authentic self-expressions informed by the style's rich history and supported by strong technique. Teachers and singers of all levels will find this book a welcome guide to participating in this culturally diverse and uplifting style. The So You Want to Sing series is produced in partnership with the National Association of Teachers of Singing. Like all books in the series, So You Want to Sing the Blues features online supplemental material on the NATS website. Please visit www.nats.org to access style-specific exercises, audio and video files, and additional resources.

Born on Thursday Island in 1929, Seaman Dan didn't release his debut album, 'Follow the Sun', until his 70th birthday. In the next ten years he released five albums, showcasing traditional music from the Torres Strait, as well as those revealing his love of jazz and blues. Steady, Steady: The life and music of Seaman Dan is replete with Uncle Seaman's stories of his active and sometimes dangerous life in the islands in the heyday of pearl diving and other jobs, and his later development as a professional singer/musician. The book includes many evocative and previously unknown images sourced from family and friends and will include a CD of tracks reflecting important periods in the life of this national treasure. Listen to a sample of Seaman Dan's favourite songs

Ethel Waters overcame her disadvantaged childhood to become the most famous African American actress, singer, and entertainer of her time. Her critically acclaimed move to Broadway in the mid 1920s-after having first triumphed in Black vaudeville during the Harlem Renaissance-brought the startlingly innovative and subtle character of Black Theatre into the mainstream. Ethel transformed such songs as "Dinah," "Am I Blue?," "Stormy Weather," and Irving Berlin's "Heat Wave" into classics and inspired the next generation of Black female vocalists. She gave sophistication and class to the blues and American popular song, and she influenced countless singers including Judy Garland and Frank Sinatra. Tough, uncompromising, courageous, and ambitious, Ethel Waters became one of the first African American women to be given equal billing with white stars on the Broadway stage. In 1943, the film version of her Broadway success, Cabin in the Sky, established her as Hollywood's first Black-leading lady. In such plays as Mamba's Daughters and films including The Member of the Wedding, she shattered the myth that Black women could perform only as singers. For her work in Pinky, she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress, the second African American to be so honored. Although she was arguably the most influential female blues and jazz singer of the 1920s and 1930s, as well as a major Black figure in 20th century theatre, cinema, radio, and television, she is now the least remembered. In Ethel Waters: Stormy Weather, Stephen Bourne documents the career of this monumental figure in American popular culture, offering new insights into the work of this forgotten legend. Supplemented by fourteen photographs, this biography leaves little doubt as to why-for decades-no other Black star was held in such high regard.

W. C. Handy's blues, Memphis Blues," "Beale Street Blues," "St. Louis Blues",changed America's music forever. In Father of the Blues, Handy presents his own story: a vivid picture of American life now vanished. W. C. Handy (1873-1958) was a sensitive child who loved nature and music but not until he had won a reputation did his father, a preacher of stern Calvinist faith, forgive him for following the "devilish" calling of black music and theatre. Here Handy tells of this and other struggles: the lot of a black musician with entertainment groups in the turn-of-the-century South his days in minstrel shows, and then in his own band how he made his first 100 from "Memphis Blues" how his orchestra came to grief with the First World War his successful career in New York as publisher and song writer his association with the literati of the Harlem Renaissance.Handy's remarkable tale,pervaded with his unique personality and humour,reveals not only the career of the man who brought the blues to the world's attention, but the whole scope of American music, from the days of the old popular songs of the South, through ragtime to the great era of jazz.

"Contemporary Musicians provides comprehensive information on more than 2,000 musicians and groups from around the world. Entries include a detailed biographical essay, selected discographies, contact information and a list of sources. Features include e-mail addresses and online sources where available.

New Volume Students and other researchers will love this biographical and critical series covering performers and others in a wide variety of musical fields. Each volume covers more than 80 musicians and provides vital statistics, critical essays, photographs and more. Musician and subject indexes facilitate research. Look for:
-- Rap star 2Pac
-- Country sensation Shania Twain
-- Dance hitmakers Soul II Soul
-- Eclectic British rockers Blur
-- Punk-folk artist Ani DiFranco
-- Jazz bassist Christian McBride
-- And many others

New Volume Students and other researchers will love this biographical and critical series covering performers and others in a wide variety of musical fields. Each volume covers more than 80 musicians and provides vital statistics, critical essays, photographs and more. Musician and subject indexes facilitate research. Look for:
-- Rap star 2Pac
-- Country sensation Shania Twain
-- Dance hitmakers Soul II Soul
-- Eclectic British rockers Blur
-- Punk-folk artist Ani DiFranco
-- Jazz bassist Christian McBride
-- And many others

"Contemporary Musicians provides comprehensive information on more than 2,000 musicians and groups from around the world. Entries include a detailed biographical essay, selected discographies, contact information and a list of sources. Features include e-mail addresses and online sources where available.

New Volume Students and other researchers will love this biographical and critical series covering performers and others in a wide variety of musical fields. Each volume covers more than 80 musicians and provides vital statistics, critical essays, photographs and more. Musician and subject indexes facilitate research. Look for:
-- Rap star 2Pac
-- Country sensation Shania Twain
-- Dance hitmakers Soul II Soul
-- Eclectic British rockers Blur
-- Punk-folk artist Ani DiFranco
-- Jazz bassist Christian McBride
-- And many others