Booking details coming soon
BESSIE SMITH “EMPRESS OF THE BLUES”
Bessie Smith (April 15, 1894 – September 26, 1937) was an American blues singer. Nicknamed the Empress of the Blues, she was the most popular female blues singer of the 1920s and 1930s. She is often regarded as one of the greatest singers of her era and was a major influence on other jazz singers
Ma Bessie and her Blues Troupe perform to a narrated show, featuring music from the era and showcasing many of Bessie‘s songs. The production chronicles her life from a one-room shack in Blue Goose Hollow, through to becoming the highest-paid black entertainer of that time, to the tragic accident on Route 61 in September 1937 which resulted in her untimely death aged 43 years.
Line up:
Ma Bessie JULIA TITUS
MD/Piano DOM BARNETT
Drums SAM KELLY
Bass MARIANNE WINDHAM
Guitar TONY QUNTA
Sax/Clarinet CLARE HIRST/RICHARD EXALL
Trumpet CLAUDE DEPPA
Narrator ANDY WILKIN
Look out for a new variation on the show during 2021….. Ma Bessie “After Dark” featuring some of the more risque songs from Bessie Smith and her contemporaries that are, how shall we put it….. of a more dubious nature and definitely for the over 18s !!