Ivie Anderson

Ivie Anderson
Background information
Also known asIvy Anderson
Born(1905-07-10)July 10, 1905
Gilroy, California, U.S.
DiedDecember 28, 1949(1949-12-28) (aged 44)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.
GenreJazz
OccupationSinger
InstrumentVocals
Formerly ofDuke Ellington Orchestra

Ivie Anderson (July 10, 1905 – December 28, 1949) was an American jazz singer. Born in Gilroy, California, Anderson was a member of the Duke Ellington Orchestra for more than a decade.

Early life

Anderson lived at 724 E. 52nd Place from 1930 to 1945 (part of the 52nd Place Historic District).

Ivie Anderson was born on July 10, 1905, in Gilroy, California, to father Jobe Smith and an unknown mother. From 1914 to 1918, Anderson attended St. Mary's Convent and studied voice. At Gilroy Grammar School and Gilroy High School, she joined glee club and choral society. She studied voice under Sara Ritt while at the Nannie H. Burroughs Institution in Washington, D.C. From 1930 to 1945, Anderson lived at 724 East 52nd Place in Los Angeles, part of the 52nd Place Historic District.

Career

Anderson's singing career began around 1921 with performances in Los Angeles. In 1924, she toured with the musical Shuffle Along. By 1925, she had performed in Cuba, the Cotton Club in New York City, and Los Angeles with the bands of Paul Howard, Curtis Mosby, and Sonny Clay. In 1928, she sang in Australia with Clay's band and starred in Frank Sebastian's Cotton Club in Los Angeles in April. Soon after, she began touring in the United States as a solo singer.

Anderson with The Colored Idea Band of Sonny Clay in Sydney in 1928

From 1930 to early 1931, with pianist Earl Hines's band, Anderson performed in a 20-week residency at the Grand Terrace in Chicago, Illinois. In 1931, she became the first full-time vocalist in the Duke Ellington orchestra. Her career for over a decade consisted of touring with Ellington. Her first appearance on record, "It Don't Mean a Thing (If It Ain't Got That Swing)", recorded in 1932, was a hit. She participated in Ellington's first European tour in 1933. In 1940, she recorded "Solitude", "Mood Indigo", and "Stormy Weather". One of the rare occasions Anderson sang independently of Ellington in this period was her performance of "All God's Children Got Rhythm" in the Marx Brothers film A Day at the Races (1937) for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.

Owing to her chronic asthma, Anderson left Ellington's band in 1942. She started the Chicken Shack restaurant in Los Angeles with Marque Neal after they married but sold the business when they divorced. She had a second marriage with Walter Collins. Anderson died in Los Angeles in December 1949 of an asthma-related illness. Although her earliest obituary was dated December 27, 1949, later sources state her date of death as December 28, 1949.

Comments about Ivie Anderson

Anderson often received prominent billing on advertisements for Ellington's appearances in theatres, auditoriums, arenas, and ballrooms, wherever the Ellington band toured in the 1930s. She sang pop tunes and ballads and was the band's scat singer, imitating instrumental sounds and vocalizations. She was said to be one of Ellington's finest and most versatile singers before Swedish vocalist Alice Babs performed with the band. Ellington wrote Music Is My Mistress (1973) with Anderson in mind.

When Anderson played in Ellington's musical Jump for Joy, the California Eagle wrote of her:

"Ivie can sing a song so that the audience get every word, and at the same time make cracks at Sonny Greer, tease Duke and wink at the boys in the front row. Wednesday night she went into a dance routine that would have slayed you."

Discography

1932
1933
1934
1935
1936
1937
(The Gotham Stompers session included members of Ellington's band plus members of Chick Webb's.)
1938
1939
1940
1941
1942
1944
1946

Compilations

  • Duke Ellington Presents Ivie Anderson [1931–1940] (Columbia KG 32064) 1973 (2-LP)
  • An Introduction to Ivie Anderson (Her Best Recordings 1932–1942) (Best Of Jazz 4020) 1995
  • I Got It Good and That Ain't Bad! With the Duke & Beyond (Jasmine 2560) 1999
  • It Don't Mean a Thing (Living Era/ASV 5420) 2002
  • The Ivie Anderson Collection 1932–1946 (Acrobat 3267) 2018 (2-CD)

Appearances on Ellington recordings

Charting singles

Year Single Peak positions
US Country
1944 "Mexico Joe (The Jumpin' Jivin' Caballero)" 4

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Kernfeld, Barry. "Ivie Anderson". Anb.org.
  2. ↑ Cook, Richard (2005). Richard Cook's Jazz Encyclopedia. London: Penguin Books. p. 14. ISBN 0-141-00646-3.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Yanow, Scott (2008). The Jazz Singers: The Ultimate Guide. Backbeat. p. 109. ISBN 978-0-87930-825-4.
  4. ↑ Cockrell, Wilma (August 14, 1941). "Jam Session". The California Eagle. p. Two-B.
  5. ↑ Whitburn, Joel (2008). Hot Country Songs 1944 to 2008. Record Research, Inc. ISBN 978-0-89820-177-2.