Retired Jazz and Blues vocalist and composer Dr. Joan Cartwright discusses how Black singers in the United States of America emerged from Spirituals and Blues to develop Jazz. Their free-spirited songs delivered messages of liberation, signaling to Africans in America that they could be free. This lecture features songs of the era performed by vocalists Dottie Kelly and Sabrena Rich.
The Blues Women were: Mamie Smith, Gertrude “Ma” Rainey, Ida Cox, Alberta Hunter, Bessie Smith, Ethel Waters, Josephine Baker, Billie Holiday, Eartha Kitt, Nina Simone, and Miriam Makeba.
Presented as part of Art After Dark and the Norton’s Celebrating Black Florida series presented throughout the month of June 2021.
Dr. Joan Cartwright is the Executive Director of Women in Jazz South Florida, Inc. and a renowned veteran of the Jazz and Blues stage for 40+ years. Women in Jazz South Florida, Inc., is a 501(c)(3) non-profit, educational organization that promotes women musicians, globally.
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