Lovie Austin

Appearances

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Mutt Carey & Lee Collins
#21511564
Mutt Carey & Lee Collins
Number of Discs: 1

Two unrelated sessions cut for the Circle label in 1946 are reissued in full on this intriguing CD. Trumpeter Mutt Carey, a veteran of Kid Ory's band, is heard on a [more]

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1 Recordings Sort by Title or Popularity
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Biography

  • Born Sep 19th 1887 in Chattanooga, TN
  • Died Jul 10th 1972 in Chicago, IL
  • Styles
    • Early Jazz
  • Instrument(s)

One of the first important female bandleaders in jazz, Lovie Austin deserves to be much better known. After studying music in college, she toured on the vaudeville circuit, settling in Chicago in 1923. During 1924-1926, she recorded frequently with her Blues Serenaders, a group that at various times had Tommy Ladnier, Bob Shoffner, Natty Dominique, or Shirley Clay on cornet; Kid Ory or Albert Wynn on trombone; and Jimmy O'Bryant or Johnny Dodds on clarinet, along with banjo and occasional drums. Fortunately, a Classics CD has collected all of those recordings. Austin (as house pianist for Paramount) also backed many blues singers (including Ida Cox, Ma Rainey, and Alberta Hunter). But after 1926, her recording activity largely came to a halt. Austin worked for 20 years as the musical director for the Monogram Theatre and later on as a pianist at a dancing school, only returning to record in 1961 as part of Riverside's Living Legends series. Although mostly an ensemble pianist, Lovie Austin was a skilled arranger. ~ Scott Yanow, All Music Guide