Ma Rainey
One of the earliest blues singers, and one of the first to record, Georgia-born Ma Rainey pretty much created the template for vocal-oriented piano blues. She started making records towards the beginning of the recording era in the '20s, but she had in fact been performing since the first decade of the century. Rainey's style was more sophisticated than the Delta sound that dominated blues in the '30s. She was often accompanied by some of the finest early jazz musicians, including Louis Armstrong and Kid Ory, and her style owed as much to New Orleans jazz and ragtime as it did to what we think of as blues today. Hugely influential, she has been a key inspiration to generation upon generation of blues singers, both male and female.
Listen to Ma Rainey
at Finetune.
Albums
- (2007) Ma Rainey
- (1998) Mother of The Blues:1923-1928 (Import)
- (1996) The Complete 1928 Sessions...
- (1992) Ma Rainey
Top Tracks
- Runaway Blues
- See See Rider Blues
- Chain Gang Blues
- Ma Rainey's Black Bottom
- Hustlin' Blues
Related Artists
- Bessie Smith
- Sippie Wallace
- Alberta Hunter
- Victoria Spivey
- Billie Holiday
- Etta James
- Koko Taylor
- Ruth Brown
- Big Mama Thornton
- Shemekia Copeland
- Nina Simone
- Dinah Washington
- Bonnie Raitt
- Marcia Ball
- Francine Reed
- Memphis Minnie
- Mamie Smith
- Ida Cox
- Lucinda Williams
- Debbie Davies, Hubert Sumlin, Henry Gray, Calvin J
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