Dinah Washington

Genres:	Blues • Jazz • Pop / Rock • R&B / Soul • Vocals
Descriptive "tags":	jazz • female vocalists • blues • jazz vocal • vocal jazz
Decades Active:	1950s • 1960s • 1970s • 1980s • 1990s • 2000s
Links online:	BBC Music • Wikipedia

Biography

Ruth Lee Jones, 29 August 1924, Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA, d. 14 December 1963, Detroit, Michigan, USA. Raised in Chicago, Dinah Washington first sang in church choirs for which she also played piano. She then worked in local clubs, where she was heard by Lionel Hampton, who promptly hired her. She was with Hampton from 1943-46, recording hits with ‘Evil Gal Blues’, written by Leonard Feather, and ‘Salty Papa Blues’. After leaving Hampton she sang R&B, again achieving record success, this time with ‘Blow Top Blues’ and ‘I Told You Yes I Do’. In the following years Washington continued with R&B, but also sang jazz, blues, popular songs of the day, standards, and was a major voice of the burgeoning, but as yet untitled, soul movement. However, her erratic lifestyle caught up with her and she died suddenly at the age of 39.

Almost from the start of her career, Washington successfully blended the...

Read the Full Biography of Dinah Washington