The Classic Blues style was recorded, defined and spread during the 1920-30s by its two foremost proponents, singers and songwriters Bessie Smith, “The Empress of the Blues,” and Ma Rainey ... of ...

While there were Black artists like Lead Belly and Josh White at the time, there weren’t many Black women representing the genre except blues and jazz singers like Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith ...

Welcome to the 1920s, a decade of spirited spending, luminous electric lights and a newfound sense of liberation in the wake ...

Masekela had been greatly moved by the music he heard on the 78 RPM gramophone records of Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, Chick Webb, Ella Fitzgerald, Sy Oliver ...

Arts Centric is taking their turn at bat with a presentation of Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom now playing through April 27th, 2025 ...

Viola Davis, like the rest of the world, had no idea Chadwick Boseman was dying of cancer when they filmed their 2020 movie “Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom.” In an interview with the Times ...

Set in a Chicago recording studio, Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom chronicles a day in the life of the legendary blues singer Ma Rainey and her band as they navigate the racial tensions and power ...

Collaborations have been a staple of recorded music since (and probably before) Louis Armstrong and Bessie Smith committed St. Louis Blues to wax a century ago. Artists like David Bowie have used ...

Per claims made by former friends and collaborators, Smith acknowledged that her daughter's stalker — a man posing as a female fan online — was a "pervert" Zoey Lyttle is a Society & Culture ...

Jason Whitlock’s personal war with Stephen A. Smith is bringing a visual aid, thanks to an old photo of the ESPN sports analyst Whitlock uncovered that confirms Smith’s collegiate sports past.

Nichole said Smith once told her that Megan was Piper's "stalker" and liked to see photos of her. Smith allegedly told Nichole, "You can get stuff too if you send him pictures. It's nothing bad ...