Adelaide Hall
Adelaide Hall | |
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Background information | |
Birth name | Adelaide Louise Hall |
Born | Brooklyn,New York, U.S. | 20 October 1901
Died | 7 November 1993 London,England | (aged 92)
Occupation(s) |
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Years active | 1921–1992 |
Spouse(s) |
Bertram Hicks
(m.1924; died 1963) |
Musical career | |
Genres |
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Instruments |
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Adelaide Louise Hall(20 October 1901 – 7 November 1993) was an American-born UK-based jazz singer and entertainer. Her career spanned more than 70 years from 1921 until her death. Early in her career, she was a major figure in theHarlem Renaissance;she became based in the UK after 1938.[1][2][3]Hall entered theGuinness Book of World Recordsin 2003 as the world's most enduring recording artist, having released material over eight consecutive decades.[4]She performed with major artists such asArt Tatum,[5]Ethel Waters,Josephine Baker,Louis Armstrong,Lena Horne,Bill "Bojangles" Robinson,Cab Calloway,Fela Sowande,[6]Rudy Vallee,[7]andJools Holland,and recorded as a jazz singer withDuke Ellington(with whom she made her most famous recording, "Creole Love Call"in 1927)[8]and withFats Waller.[9][10][11][12]
Early life and marriage
[edit]Adelaide Hall was born inBrooklyn,New York, United States, to Elizabeth and William Hall in 1901. Adelaide and her sister Evelyn attended thePratt Institute,where William Hall taught piano. Her father died on March 23, 1917.[13]Three years later, Evelyn died of pneumonia on March 25, 1920,[14][15]leaving Adelaide to support herself and her mother.
In 1924, Hall married the British sailor Bertram Errol Hicks, who was born inTrinidad and Tobago.Soon after their marriage he opened a club inHarlem, New York,called "The Big Apple" and became her official business manager.[16]
American career 1921–1935
[edit]Hall began her stage career in 1921 on Broadway in the chorus line ofNoble Sissle's andEubie Blake's musicalShuffle Along.[9][17][18][19][20][21]Shuffle Alongbecame a huge hit and propelled Hall's career. She went on to appear in a number of similar black musical shows, includingRunnin' Wild[22]on Broadway in 1923, in which she sangJames P. Johnson's hit song "Old-Fashioned Love".[23][24]
Chocolate KiddiesEuropean tour, 1925
[edit]In 1925, Hall toured Europe with theChocolate Kiddiesrevue. The show included songs written byDuke Ellington.[25]Hall was hired to join the cast of theChocolate Kiddiesrevue in New York, where they rehearsed before setting sail for Europe. The initial tour started atHamburg,Germany, on 17 May 1925, and ended in Paris, France, in December 1925, visiting many major cities in-between.[26]The revue was designed to give Europeans a sampling of black entertainment from New York.[27]Included in the cast were The Three Eddies,Lottie Gee,Rufus Greenlee and Thaddeus Drayton, Bobbie and Babe Goins, Charles Davis andSam Woodingand his Orchestra. After the initial tour disbanded,Sam Woodingand his Orchestra continued touring theChocolate Kiddiesrevue for several years later. During Hall's visit to Germany she also sang atBerlin's renowned transvestite club, the Eldorado Café.[28]The venue is immortalised inChristopher Isherwood's 1939 novelGoodbye to Berlin,as well as in the 1972 filmCabaretand themusical of the same name.[29]
In 1926, Hall appeared in the short-lived Broadway musicalMy Magnolia,which had a score written byLuckey Robertsand Alex C. Rogers,[30][31]after which she appeared inTan Town Topicswith songs written byFats Waller.[32][33]Hall then starred inDesires of 1927(with a score written byAndy RazafandJ. C. Johnson),[34]which toured America from October 1926 through to September 1927.[35][36]
Tan Town Topics,Small's Paradise andDesires of 1927
[edit]In 1926, upon Hall's return to New York after touring Europe with theChocolate Kiddies,she was featured inTan Town Topics,a revue containing songs written byFats WallerandSpencer Williams.The cast includedFats Waller,Eddie RectorandRalph Cooper,Hall, Maude Mills, Arthur Gaines, Leondus Simmons and a dance troupe called the Tan Town Topics Vamps. The show opened at Harlem'sLafayette Theatreon 5 April followed by a short road tour on the easternTheater Owners Booking Association(TOBA) circuit taking inBaltimore,ChicagoandPhiladelphia.[37][38]
During July 1926, Hall appeared in residency with Lottie Gee and theSouthern Syncopated Orchestraat Small's Paradise, New York.[39]On Tuesday, 5 October, Hall appeared again at Small's Paradise at a special party, "Handy Night", hosted by the venue to honourW. C. Handyand to celebrate the release of his newly published bookBlues: An Anthology—Complete Words and Music of 53 Great Songs.For entertainment, Hall, Lottie Gee, Maude White and Chic Collins provided a selection of jazz and blues numbers.[40]From October 1926, Hall toured America playing the TOBA circuit until September 1927 in the highly praised showDesires of 1927,conceived byJ. Homer Tuttand produced by impresarioIrvin C. Miller.As thePittsburgh Couriernoted: "Adelaide Hall and assistants have some show. Speed, pretty girls, catchy music, a touch of art, which touches the border line of nudity – the names of such well-known stage celebrities as Adelaide Hall,J. Homer Tutt,Henry 'Gang' Jones, the Harmony Trio, Charles Hawkins, Arthur Porter, 'Billy' McKelvey and Clarence Nance. "[36]Billed as the star "soubrette" of the show, Hall's performance included several songs (most notably "Sweet Virginia Bliss" ), flat-foot dancing and accompanying herself on the ukulele while singing.
As early as July 1927, newspapers were reporting that Hall had invented a new style of singing, which she termed ‘squagel.'[41]One account of the effect Hall had on audiences when she 'squageled' was written up in theExhibitors Heraldin August 1927.[42]
Recordings with Duke Ellington
[edit]In New York in October 1927, Hall recorded her wordless vocals on "Creole Love Call"and" The Blues I Love To Sing "withDuke Ellingtonand his Orchestra,[43]and on November 3, 1927, Hall recorded"Chicago Stomp Down"withDuke Ellingtonand The Chicago Footwarmers forOkeh Records.[44]"Creole Love Call" became a worldwide hit and catapulted both Hall's and Ellington's careers into the mainstream.[45][46]For historical reasons, the story behind "Creole Love Call"'s conception is interesting to recount: In 1927, Hall and Duke Ellington were touring in the same show,Dance Mania.The show played several large cities before reachingNew York City.In mid-November, Hall travelled fromChicago(where she had been performing at the Sunset Café)[47]toNew York Cityin herPackardautomobile with her husband Bert. When they arrived in New York, Hall was approached in 7th Avenue by a reporter, who enquired about her career plans.[48]Hall, however, declined to enlighten the reporter. Nevertheless, Miss Hall's reappearance in New York City garnered much speculation, as she was featured on the front pages of several newspapers, encouraging rumours she would soon be starring in a bigBroadwayshow. In the meantime, Hall and Ellington appeared together inDance Maniaat theLafayette Theatre,Harlem, from 14 November for one week, before heading off with the show to play in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, at the Standard Theatre.[49]InDance Mania,Hall closed the first half of the bill and Duke and his orchestra performed in the second half. Duke had a new number "Creole Love Call",which he included in his set. When Hall first heard the number back in October, she recounted:
I was standing in the wings behind the piano when Duke first played it ( "Creole Love Call" ). I started humming along with the band. He stopped the number and came over to me and said, "That's just what I was looking for. Can you do it again?" I said, "I can't, because I don't know what I was doing." He begged me to try. Anyway, I did, and sang this counter melody, and he was delighted and said "Addie, you're going to record this with the band." A couple of days later I did.[1]
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/ba/Cotton_Club_1930.jpg/220px-Cotton_Club_1930.jpg)
When Duke was recounting the incident to a reporter he explained, "We had to do something to employ Adelaide Hall," and then added, "I always say we are primitive artists, we only employ the materials at hand... the band is an accumulation of personalities, tonal devices."[50]On 4 December 1927, Ellington and his Orchestra commenced their residency at Harlem'sCotton Clubin a revue calledRhythmania.The show featured Hall singing "Creole Love Call". In 1928, "Creole Love Call" entered theBillboardsong charts at No. 29 (USA).[51]On 7 January 1933, Hall and Duke Ellington and his Famous Orchestra recorded "I Must Have That Man" and "Baby".[52]
Blackbirds of 1928
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/31/Adelaide_Hall_1921.jpg/220px-Adelaide_Hall_1921.jpg)
In 1928, Hall[53]starred on Broadway withBill "Bojangles" Robinson,[54]Tim MooreandAida WardinBlackbirds of 1928.[55][56]The show became the most successful all-black show ever staged on Broadway at that time and made Hall and Bojangles into household names.[57]Blackbirds of 1928was the idea of impresarioLew Leslie,who planned to build the show aroundFlorence Millsin New York after her success in the hit London showBlackbirdsbut Mills died ofpneumoniain 1927 before rehearsals commenced. Hall was chosen to replace her. The revue opened at Les Ambassadeurs Club in New York in January 1928, under the nameBlackbird Revue,but it was renamedBlackbirds of 1928and in May 1928 transferred to Broadway'sLiberty Theatre,[58]where it ran for 518 performances. After a slow start, the show became the hit of the season. Hall's performance of "Diga Diga Do", created a sensation. Her mother was so incensed when she went to see the show by her daughter performing what she termed 'risqué dance moves', she tried to stop the show during Hall's performance and banned her from appearing in any future performances. The ban only remained for one performance, and Hall returned triumphantly to her role the following day.[59]It was reported in the press of the day that the show's producerLew Lesliewas so concerned about race violence connected with the controversy surrounding Hall's performance that he took out a hefty insurance policy to cover the cast; the most heavily insured were the principals, Hall and "Bojangles" Robinson.[60]
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/c/c6/Adelaide_Hall_c._1920.jpg/220px-Adelaide_Hall_c._1920.jpg)
It was this musical that not only secured Hall's success in the USA but also in Europe when the production was taken in 1929 toParis,France, where it ran for four months at theMoulin Rouge.[61][62][63]When Adelaide Hall arrived in Paris from America at theGare Saint-Lazareshe was greeted by a reception of fans and reporters that was reported to be as large as the receptionCharlie Chaplinhad received two years earlier when he visited Paris.[64]The French artistPaul Colinillustrated several posters to advertiseBlackbirdsrun at theMoulin Rougeincluding one entitled "Le Tumulte Noir – Dancer in Magenta" that captures Hall's performance beautifully, as she is dancing and waving her arms about.[65]An original vintage poster of Hall byPaul ColinadvertisingBlackbirdsat the Moulin Rouge sold on 2 October 2003 atSwann Auction Galleriesin New York for $167,500.[66]Another, similar vintage poster by Colin also advertisingBlackbirdsat theMoulin Rougewas sold byChristie'sLondon Auction House in 2018.[67]In Europe, Hall rivalledJosephine Bakerfor popularity on the European stage.[68]
WithBlackbirds'music score written byJimmy McHughand lyrics byDorothy Fields,Hall's performances of the songs "I Can't Give You Anything but Love, Baby","Diga Diga Do ",[59]"Bandanna Babies" and "I Must Have That Man" made them into household hits, and they continued to be audience favourites throughout her long career. At the end ofBlackbirds'tenure at the Moulin Rouge, to thank the cast for their successful run and to welcome in the forthcomingThanksgiving Day,Lew Leslie threw a big party held in the Paris suburb of Authie and, along with the cast, invited several cultural figures including the visual artistMan Ray,lyricistIra Gershwin,writerJames Joyce,German composerKurt Weill,American composerWilliam Grant Stilland producer Clarence Robinson. A rare group photograph taken at the event, in which Hall is seated in the centre surrounded by guests including actress and music hall starMistinguett,recently surfaced and was sold at Swann Auction Galleries, New York, for $2,640.[69]TheBlackbirdscast sailed from France back to the US in the fall of 1929 and upon their arrival almost immediately commenced a road tour of the States opening at the Adelphi Theatre, Chicago, on the evening of 26 November. It was in Chicago during December that Hall unexpectedly quit the production and hastened home to New York.
1930:Brown Buddies
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/03/Adelaide_Hall_and_Bill_%27Bojangles%27_Robinson_in_Brown_Buddies%2C_on_Broadway%2C_1930.jpg/220px-Adelaide_Hall_and_Bill_%27Bojangles%27_Robinson_in_Brown_Buddies%2C_on_Broadway%2C_1930.jpg)
Speculation that Hall andBill "Bojangles" Robinsonwould be paired up on stage again after Hall quitBlackbirdsat the end of 1929 had been rife among theatrical circles and in newspaper gossip columns.[70]True to the speculation, in 1930, Hall andBill "Bojangles" Robinsonstarred together twice at New York'sPalace Theatreon Broadway (in February and in August). Both appearances were for a week's engagement.[71][72]During Hall's February appearance, which was her first ever appearance at thePalace Theatre,she received a roaring welcome in front of a capacity house, and took six bows at the end of her performance. It was also noted in several newspapers thatLew Lesliehad tried everything in his capacity bar from erecting a "Rock of Gibraltar" to prevent Hall from appearing at any venue without his consent since she quitBlackbirds.Having failed, Leslie did however manage to put a temporary restraint on her using any of the songs fromBlackbirdsin her show.[73]
So successful was Hall's collaboration with Bojangles that in October 1930, the pair were teamed up together again, this time by Marty Forkins (Bojangles' manager) to star in the Broadway musicalBrown Buddies.[74]The musical opened on Broadway at theLiberty Theatre,[58]where it ran for four months before commencing a road tour of the States.[75][76]Dubbed by the press as "a musical comedy in sepia", the core of the music was composed by Millard Thomas but also featured songs byShelton Brooks,Ned Reed,Porter Grainger,J. C. Johnson,J. Rosamund Johnson, George A. Little, Arthur Sizemore and Edward G. Nelson. After an out-of-town try-out, the musical opened on 7 October at theLiberty Theatre,New York, where it ran a fairly solid run of 111 performances until 10 January 1931.[76]
1931–1932: World concert tour
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/4/41/Adelaide_Hall%27s_first_American_Tour%2C_1931-32%2C_concert_advertised_in_Stevenson%2C_Washington_State%2C_USA.jpg/175px-Adelaide_Hall%27s_first_American_Tour%2C_1931-32%2C_concert_advertised_in_Stevenson%2C_Washington_State%2C_USA.jpg)
In 1931, Hall embarked on a world concert tour that visited two continents (America and Europe). The tour was estimated to have performed to more than one million people. During the tour, she appeared four times at New York'sPalace Theatre.[77]She was accompanied on stage by two pianists who played white grand pianos. It was during this tour that Hall discovered and employed the blind pianistArt Tatum,whom she brought back to New York with her at the end of the tour.[78][79]In August 1932, Hall recorded "Strange as It Seems", "I'll Never Be the Same","This Time It's Love "and" You Gave Me Everything but Love "using Art Tatum as one of her pianists on the recordings.[80][81][82]In a review of her show at theRiverside Theatre,Milwaukee,on 25 January 1932The Milwaukee Sentinelstated:
Adelaide Hall, attractive young colored singer, dominates a vaudeville of staggering proportions. Miss Hall has the sort of "blues" voice that gets you and she has a fine dramatic sense. Her interpretation of "River Stay Away From My Door," is strikingly good. And her gowns are lovely.[83]
1932–1933: Larchmont, Westchester County, racist incident
[edit]‘If the objection to me is based on ancestry, I am perfectly willing to match my family tree with anybody here,' said Hall. ‘As for being an American, I can trace my ancestry back to theShinnecock IndiansofLong Island,and I am proud of it. I'm a full-blooded American colored girl. If the issue is going to be ancestry I am only waiting for a chance when I can put some of these new rich on the witness stand and ask them how their grandfathers spelled their names.' Adelaide Hall quote, 1932.[84]
In the fall of 1932, upon her return to New York, Hall and her husband purchased the lease on an exclusive freehold residential estate in theVillage of Larchmontin the New York suburb ofWestchester County.As news of her arrival in Larchmont leaked into the local media she began to encounter racial opposition from her white upper-middle-class neighbors, who threatened court action to have Hall evicted. After her home was broken into and an attempt was made to set it alight, news of the attack hit national newspaper headlines: "What's Your Grandfather's Name? Adelaide Hall Asks White Neighbors."[85]Receiving hundreds of letters of support from the American public imploring her to stick it out, Hall stood her ground and in a press statement she issued insisted that she was a true American citizen as her ancestry could be traced back to theShinnecock Indian tribeofLong Island[86]and as such she had every right to reside where she wished.[87][88]
1933: Harlem Opera House, New York
[edit]For one week commencing Saturday 14 January 1933, Hall returned to New York to appear in a music revue produced byLeonard Harperat theHarlem Opera House.A journalist from thePittsburgh Couriernewspaper who published under the initials T.Y. wrote in his review of Hall's performance that "she was excellent" and that he was so thrilled to be at the show he totally forgot to jot down on his notepad the title of the songs Hall performed. He did however apologise for this mishap. He also mentioned that Hall was accompanied on stage by a guitar "troubadour" and a blind pianist (referring toArt Tatum) who, he declared, "can really play".[89]
1933: American concert tour
[edit]ADELAIDE HALL TO TOUR THE COAST
— Pittsburgh Courierheadline, 22 July 1933
Hall's itinerary included all the principal cities and lasted 30 weeks[90]
World Fair City, Chicago, 1933
[edit]Miss Adelaide Hall Captures The World Fair City and They Like It
— Pittsburgh Courier,19 August 1933:
Miss Adelaide Hall, the darling girl with the guitar and the mellifluent voice, again stole into the callous hearts of an analytical public at the Regal theater last week. She charmed them with her voice, her poise and beauty. She has a style of singing 'Stormy Weather' all her own. Chicago belonged to Adelaide for one whole week. And her majesty reigned supreme.[91]
On 19 August 1933, the fifth annualBud Billiken Parade and Picnictook place during the prestigiousChicago World Fair.African Americans came out in droves to support the event held by theChicago Defenderlocal newspaper. TheChicago Defenderhad named the event after a weekly column in its children's section written byWillard Motley.Billiken became a symbol of pride, happiness and hope for African-American youth. After the famous parade (the largest to date) a huge free picnic event was held inWashington Parkthat included games, music, entertainment, dancing and ice cream. Performing in concert at the event in front of an estimated 50,000 people was the parade's guest of honour Adelaide Hall. Also appearing at the event wereCab Calloway,Earl Hinesand The Sioux Tribe of Native Americans.[92]
Stormy Weather Revue,1933
[edit]APittsburgh Courierreview of theStormy Weather Revue,starring Hall in New York, dated 29 November 1933, said that, "Although crippled from a fall into a manhole while appearing in Boston the week previous to her New York engagement, Adelaide Hall, scintillating star of theStormy Weather Revue,limps across the stage ahead of an array of stars, which go far to label this revue, about the finest to grace the boards of any stage. "[93]In October 1933, for the first time in history, the entire floor revue from Harlem'sCotton Clubwent on tour, playing theatres in principal cities across the U.S.Irving Millsorganised the tour and Hall headlined the cast. Other performers on the bill included theMills Blue Rhythm BandandGeorge Dewey Washington.The revue was originally calledThe Cotton Club Parade of 1933,but for the road tour its name was changed to theStormy Weather Revue.As this name implies, the show contained the hit song "Stormy Weather",written byHarold ArlenandTed Koehler,which had been introduced byEthel Watersearlier that year at the Cotton Club in theCotton Club Parade of 1933.[94]
1934: Apollo Theater, Harlem,Chocolate Soldiersrevue
[edit]Chocolate Soldiersopened at the newApollo Theater,Harlem, starring Hall in Harlem, New York, 14 February 1934. The show was produced by Clarence Robinson and garnered great attention and acclaim,[95]helping to establish the recently opened Apollo as Harlem's premier theatre.
The Cotton Club Parade,1934
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/18/Adelaide_Hall_-_Cotton_Club_Revue_of_1934%2C_Loew%27s_Metropolitan_Theater%2C_Brooklyn%2C_6_September_1934%2C_%28Advertisment%29.jpg/220px-Adelaide_Hall_-_Cotton_Club_Revue_of_1934%2C_Loew%27s_Metropolitan_Theater%2C_Brooklyn%2C_6_September_1934%2C_%28Advertisment%29.jpg)
On 23 March 1934, Hall opened at Harlem'sCotton ClubinThe Cotton Club Parade24th Edition.[96]It was the largest grossing show ever staged there.[97][98][99]The show ran for six months at the Cotton Club. In the show, Hall introduced the songs "Ill Wind"[100]and "Primitive Prima Donna", whichHarold ArlenandTed Koehlerwrote especially for her.[101][102][103]It was during Hall's rendition of "Ill Wind" that nitrogen smoke was used to cover the floor of the stage. It was the first time such an effect had ever been used on a stage and caused a sensation.[1]So successful was the show that the entire production went on a road tour, playing in theatres across America.
In the 1930s, several Hollywood movie companies also maintained studios in New York, and New York-based stage performers were approached to appear in movie short subjects. Hall starred in two:On the Air and Off(1933) forUniversal,andAn All-Colored Vaudeville Show(1935), a miniature revue forVitaphone,co-starringThe Nicholas Brothers.
1935: North and South American concert tour
[edit]During 1935, Hall performed another coast-to-coast American/Canadian concert tour that took in the South. Prior to the tour commencing she gave an interview (during her visit toDixie), conducted by the journalist George Tyler that was published on 16 March 1935 inThe Afro-Americannewspaper. In the interview Hall gives a rare insight into her life and her home in theVillage of Larchmont,disclosing how dramatically her circumstances had changed since her humble upbringing in Harlem.
"Much has been said and published too, about the magnificent residence of Miss Hall," says George, "but my interest was in what transpires behind the portals of this mansion when the singer is at home." "I have a sun parlour," said Adelaide, "in which I take a keen delight. Here, while enjoying the rays of the sun, I crochet and listen to the radio. A great deal of my time off the stage I spend painting or working in my garden. My favorite radio artists areMildred Bailey,Willard Robisonand his Deep River Orchestra, and theSouthernaires.My stage favorites includeBill Robinson,Ethel WatersandAda Brown.While at home I do very little cooking; in fact, there are servants to take care of these details. The cook's biggest job is to prepare broiled chicken, as that is one of my favorite dishes. "
Tyler adds that the singing star owns and drives her car, roller skates, swims, plays tennis and enjoys horseback riding.
"When I retire from public life I shall resume my career as amodiste,"confided Miss Hall." As a kid I longed for a stage career, and my first step towards this was to run away from school to try my luck behind the footlights. I was apprehended and sent back to school to continue my training as a modiste. Today, I am proud that I am more than an actress ".
Tyler continues by asking about her forthcoming American and Canadian concert tour, which will take her deep into the South: "What do you think of such a tour, under the conditions that exist in the South?" Hall replied:
My experience of a couple of years ago while on a coast-to-coast tour should serve me well. Being a member of the oppressed race, I think I will be able to accustom myself to conditions, as they exist. However, there are many details I would rather not go into.[104]
In the summer of 1935, Miss Hall had a regular slot on the New York radio stationWNCAperforming every Monday and Wednesday evening at 9 PM (New York time).[105]
European career, 1935–1938
[edit]Hall arrived in Paris, France in the fall of 1935[106]and remained living there until 1938. Her husband Bert opened a nightclub for her in Paris, situated at 73 rue Pigalle inMontmartre,calledLa Grosse Pomme(French for "The Big Apple", the name of his original New York club) where she frequently entertained.[107][108][109]"It (the club) held about two hundred people. I made this dramatic entrance coming down a spiral staircase from the attic. Nobody knew that all the boxes of wine and tinned food were stored up there with me. I came down the stairs in the most gorgeous costumes you'll ever see, floating in feathers and plumes," recalled Hall during an interview.[1]
TheQuintette du Hot Club de Francewere one of the house bands Hall's husband Bert hired at the club.[110]At the beginning of 1936, Hall starred in theBlack and White Revue.The show of 50 performers opened in Paris, France and in February the production travelled to Switzerland for a tour. The revue was produced byRalph Clayton,staged by Arthur Bradley and choreographed by ballet master Albert Gaubier who had danced under the direction ofSerge Diaghilevin the Russian companyBallets Russes.[111]The orchestra that travelled with the production was under the direction ofHenry Crowder.[112]During the August1936 Summer Olympicsheld inBerlin,Germany,Hall appeared at Berlin's Rex Theatre singing jazz.[113]Her performance is notable for her contraveningAdolf Hitler's ban on jazz music being played.
In 1937, Hall choreographed her own take on the famous French dance theCan-can;she called it the Canned Apple and would perform it at her Montmartre nightclubLa Grosse Pomme.[114]Hall is also credited with introducing the Truckin' dance craze to the Parisians.[115]During her residence in Europe, Hall sang with several orchestras, including those ofWillie Lewis[116]andRay Ventura;in 1937 (while on a trip toCopenhagen), she recorded four songs withKai Ewansand his Orchestra for the Tono record label.[117]On 13 May 1938,BBC RadiobroadcastOver to Paris,an hour-long programme direct from a Paris studio that highlighted a variety of famous Parisian artists of radio, cabaret and the music hall. The show included performances from Hall andMistinguett,who were accompanied by two orchestras.[118]
Move to London, 1938
[edit]British career, 1938–1993
[edit]After many years performing in the US and Europe, Hall went to the United Kingdom in 1938[119]to take a starring role in a stage-adapted musical version ofEdgar Wallace'sThe Sun Never Setsat theTheatre Royal, Drury Lane.[120][121]She was so successful and became so popular with British audiences that she stayed and made her home there, becoming one of the most popular singers and entertainers of the time. Hall lived in London from 1938 until her death.
On 28 August 1938, Hall recorded "I Can't Give You Anything But Love"and"That Old Feeling"[122]at London'sAbbey Road Studios,withFats Walleraccompanying her on the organ. The recordings were released onHMV Records.On 10 September 1938, she appeared inBroadcast To Americawith Waller at London'sSt George's Hallin a live transatlantic radio broadcast.[10][123]
On 25 February 1939,BBC TVbroadcastHarlem in Mayfairfrom Hall's London nightclub, the Old Florida Club. The cabaret show starred Hall; also on the bill were Esther and Louise, Eddie Lewis, andFela Sowandewith his Negro Choir and Orchestra.[7][124]On 20 May 1939, BBC TV broadcast the cabaret showDark Sophistication,starring Hall performing at the Old Florida Club.[125]On 26 August 1939, Hall took part in the BBC TV productionKentucky Minstrels,which was transmitted live from the 2500-seat RadiOlympia Theatre in London.[126][127]
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/de/Radiolympia_Thursday_31_August_1939_Kentucky_Minstrels_show_starring_Adelaide_Hall.jpg/220px-Radiolympia_Thursday_31_August_1939_Kentucky_Minstrels_show_starring_Adelaide_Hall.jpg)
On Friday, 1 September 1939, Hall was scheduled to appear at 9:00 pm in a live BBC TV broadcast titledVarietyrecorded direct from the RadiOlympia Theatre.[128][129]Other performers on the bill includedNosmo King,The Gordon RadiOlympia Girls, Hubert Murray and Mooney, and Bobby Howell and his Band. However, with war looming, the BBC were instructed by the government to shut down broadcasting, and at 12:35 the service went off the air for seven years. It appears that the showVarietynever took place at RadiOlympia;The Timesnewspaper for the following day (2 September) noted in their section 'News in Brief' that "RadiOlympia closed at 12:30 yesterday", presumably another result of the country being placed on a war footing.[130]
Unexpectedly, the showVarietybecame one of the first British theatrical casualties ofWorld War IIand part of the mystery surrounding "what really happened at the BBC on 1 September 1939?" That year, Hall became a featured vocalist withJoe Loss& His Band[131]and from 1939 to 1941, Hall headlined the popular BBC Radio variety showPiccadixie.[132]She also toured the UK extensively during these years, headlining thePiccadixie British Tour,supported by comedianOliver Wakefieldand pianistGeorge Elrick.[133]
![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/97/Adelaide_Hall_starring_in_Piccadixie_at_the_Finsbury_Park_Empire%2C_London%2C_28_July_1941.jpg/220px-Adelaide_Hall_starring_in_Piccadixie_at_the_Finsbury_Park_Empire%2C_London%2C_28_July_1941.jpg)
During the war, Hall entertained the troops in Europe for the USO (United Service OrganizationsInc.)[134]and the British equivalent ENSA (Entertainments National Service Association) in which she served as a captain. Her uniform was made by Madam Adele of Grosvenor Street in Mayfair, London.[135]
The First World Radio Broadcast,17 October 1939.
On 17 October 1939 Adelaide Hall starred in one of the most sensational live radio broadcasts ever attempted by theBBCto hit the airwaves. It took place at theRAF Hendonbase in North London, in front of a specially invited audience of RAF personnel, and was the first large-scale variety concert organised byENSA.[136][137]The whole show was relayed worldwide across the airwaves, the first time a live show had ever been broadcast by the BBC around the globe. On the bill was Hall, her accompanistFela Sowande,Mantovaniand His Orchestra,The Western Brothers,andHarry Royand his Band.[138]
Hall later recalled in vivid detail the challenges she faced during WWII while entertaining the troops across Europe and in the UK, some of whom were wounded:[139]"Sometimes I had to sing without music, but it was a challenge, and so rewarding to get all the people to sing with me." At one London performance Hall gave at Lewisham Hippodrome theatre during the week of 20 August 1940, the Luftwaffe attacked overhead, dropping bombs and, "even though we could hear bombs exploding outside the theatre, we carried on... I had sung 54 songs until the all-clear sounded at 3:45 a.m. in the morning!"[140]Hall's 54 encores are believed to be a world record for the amount of encores sung by one artist on stage.[141][142]Hall also claimed to be one of the first entertainers to enterGermanybefore the war had officially ended. She travelled with the troops as they advanced towardsBerlin,dismissing the dangers such bravery entailed.[140]
Hall's career was almost an uninterrupted success. She made more than 70 records forDecca,[143]had her own BBC Radio series,Wrapped in Velvet[144][145](making her the first black artist to have a long-term contract with the BBC), and appeared on the stage, in films, and in nightclubs (of which she owned her own in New York, London and Paris). In the 1940s, and especially during World War II, she was hugely popular with civilian andEntertainments National Service Association(ENSA) audiences[140][146]and became one of Britain's highest paid entertainers. Her London nightclub The Old Florida Club owned by Hall and her husband was destroyed by a landmine during an air raid in 1939.[citation needed]Her husband Bert was in the club's cellar when the landmine exploded but he survived the attack. Hall has a cameo appearance as a singer in the 1940Oscar-winning movieThe Thief of Bagdad(directed byMichael Powell(and others) and produced byAlexander Korda) in which she singsLullaby of the Princess,written byMiklós Rózsa.[121][147][148][149]In 1943, Hall featured in an ENSA radio show broadcast by the BBC entitledSpotlight on the Starsduring which she was accompanied by the BBC Variety Orchestra. During the show she mentions how she had just returned home from a tour.[150]On 20 May 1940, Hall's recording of 'Careless' debuted in the British charts at number 30, where it remained for two consecutive weeks.[151]In the August 1940 issue of BritishVoguemagazine, a photograph of Hall appears on the 'Spotlight' page compiled by the features editorLesley Blanchunder the caption: "Adelaide Hall and her husband run the Florida. His show, her songs, our fun."[152]On 6 June 1945, Hall's recording of "There Goes That Song Again" entered the BBC British charts at number 15.[153]
Hall appears in the earliest post-war BBCtelerecording:a live recording of her performance at RadiOlympia Theatre on 7 October 1947. The footage was filmed on the "Cafe Continental" stage set at the theatre for aBBC TVshow titledVariety in Sepia.[154][155]Hall sings "Chi-Baba, Chi-Baba (My Bambino Go to Sleep)"and"I Can't Give You Anything But Love"and accompanies herself on ukulele and dancing. When the show was broadcast on BBC TV it was 60 minutes in length and included performances fromWinifred Atwell,Evelyn Dove,Cyril Blakeand his Calypso Band,Edric ConnorandMable Leeand was produced by Eric Fawcett. The six-minute footage of Hall is all that survives of the show.[156]In 1948, Hall appeared in a British movie calledA World is Turning.The movie was intended to highlight the contribution of black men and women to British society at a time when they were struggling for visibility on the screens. Filming appears to have been halted due to the director's illness and only six reels of rushes remain, including scenes of Hall rehearsing songs such as "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot"[157]and "The Gospel Train"[158](a traditional African-American spiritual first published in 1872 as one of the songs of theFisk Jubilee Singers). In 1949, Hall appeared on the BBC TV showsRooftop RendezvousandCaribbean Carnival.That year, Hall recorded five spirituals accompanied by the pianist Kenneth Cantril.[159]The five songs chosen and released by London Records (the US outlet for British Decca) were "Swing Low Sweet Chariot","Bye and Bye ","Nobody Know De Trouble I've Seen","Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child",and"Deep River".
In 1951, Hall appeared as a guest in the music spot on the first ever British comedy seriesHow Do You View,starringTerry-Thomasand written by Sid Colin and Talbot Rothwell.[160]On 29 October 1951, Hall appeared on the bill of theRoyal Variety Performanceat theVictoria Palace Theatrein the presence ofPrincess ElizabethandPrincess Margaret.[161]Alongside Trinidad-born US dancerPearl Primusand the female members of her company, who also performed that year, Hall was the first black female artiste to ever take part in the Royal Variety Performance.[162][163]Hall also entertained at private parties for theDuchess of Kent,theChurchills,and theDuke and Duchess of Windsor.She was one of the many performers at an all-star midnight Anglo-American gala at theLondon Coliseumon the night of Monday, 11 December 1951, before the thenPrincess Elizabethand theDuke of Edinburgh.[164]Also on the bill wasFrank Sinatra,Orson Welles,andNoël Coward.[165]
In the early 1950s, Hall and her husband Bert opened the Calypso Club inRegent Street,London, and Royalty flocked there.[166]It was reported in the press thatPrincess Elizabethwas a frequent visitor and that Hall had taught the princess theCharleston.[167]
Hall appeared in the 1951 London run ofKiss Me, Kateplaying the role of Hattie, singingCole Porter's "Another Op'nin', Another Show",and in the 1952 London musicalLove From Judy[168]at theSaville Theatreplaying the role of Butterfly, singing "A Touch of Voodoo", "Kind to Animals" and "Ain't Gonna Marry".[169]The entire production ofLove From Judywas filmed with the original cast and aired onBBCon 16 March 1953.[170]In 1956, she returned to London's West End in the playSomeone to Talk To.[171]In 1957, at the request ofLena Horne,Hall returned to America to appear with Horne in the musicalJamaica.The world premiere ofJamaicatook place in Philadelphia in September 1957[172]and transferred to Broadway on 31 October. In 1958, Hall was cast as one of the lead characters inRodgers and Hammerstein's new musicalFlower Drum Song.[173]
On 1 April 1960, Hall appeared on the BBC TV music showThe Music Goes Roundhosted by John Watt. The show was an NBA TV version of the radio showSongs from the Shows.[174]On 3 March 1965, Hall appeared on BBC2 television inMuses with MilliganwithSpike MilliganandJohn Betjemanin a show devoted to poetry and jazz.[175]In 1968, Hall appeared inJanie Jones,a new American play written by Robert P. Hillier and directed byPeter Cotes.The cast included American actressMarlene Warfield.The play had its world premiere on 8 July at theManchester Opera House,where it ran for one week prior to its London West End opening on 15 July at the New Theatre (now theNoël Coward Theatre).[171]
Between 1969 and 1970, Hall made two jazz recordings withHumphrey Lyttelton.This was followed by theatre tours and concert appearances; she sang atDuke Ellington's memorial service atSt Martin-in-the-Fieldsin 1974.[176]On 4 January 1974, she appeared on the British TV showsLooks Familiar(as a panelist)[177]and onWhat Is Jazz,withHumphrey Lyttelton.[178]On 15 June 1976, she appeared on British TV inIt Don't Mean a Thing.[179]and in 1981 appeared on theMichael ParkinsonBBC TV showParkinsonas a guest.[180]In July 1982, Hall appeared at a Gala concert held atSt Paul's Cathedralin London to celebrate the sacred music of Duke Ellington. A live recording of the concert titledThe Sacred Music of Duke Ellingtonwas filmed for aChannel 4TV documentary. Artists also taking part includedTony Bennett,Phyllis Hyman,Jacques Loussier,Alan Downey,Wayne Sleep,Ronnie Scott,Stan Traceyand the New Swingle Singers.[181]The concert was hosted byRod Steigerand narrated byDouglas Fairbanks Jr.[182]
In April 1980, Hall returned to the U.S. and from 1 to 24 May, she appeared in the cast ofBlack Broadway(a retrospective musical revue) at theTown Hallin New York. Among other artists appearing in the show wereElisabeth Welch,Gregory Hines,Bobby Short,Honi Coles,Edith Wilson,Nell Carterand John W. Bubbles ofBuck and Bubblesfame. The show originally was staged at theNewport Jazz Festivalon 24 June 1979, before it was re-assembled in 1980 and staged at the Town Hall.[183]FollowingBlack Broadway,in June 1980, Hall took up temporary residence at Michael's Pub in New York and commenced a three-week engagement, performing three shows a night.[184]In June 1980, she performed at thePlayboy Jazz Festivalheld at theHollywood BowlinLos Angeles.Other artists on the bill includedDizzy Gillespie,Herbie Hancock,Stéphane Grappelli,Mel Tormé,Zoot Sims,Carmen McRaeandChick Corea.[185]On 2 July 1980, writerRosetta Reitzorganised a tribute to theWomen of JazzatAvery Fisher Hallas part of theNewport Jazz Festival.CalledThe Blues is a Woman,the program, narrated byCarmen McRae,featured music by Hall,Big Mama Thornton,Nell CarterandKoko Taylor.[186][187]Hall appeared at the Duke Ellington Tribute Concert atSt. Paul's Cathedral,London,in 1982, where she sang Ellington's'Come Sunday'.[188]Back in the States, in February 1983, Hall appeared on the bill of the 100th birthday celebration for composerEubie Blakeheld at theShubert Theater,New York. Unfortunately, Blake was recovering from pneumonia at the time so could not attend the event but with the aid of a special telephone hook-up to his home in Brooklyn he was able to listen to the entire two-hour show.[189]On 5 April 1983, Hall commenced a month-long engagement atThe Cookeryin New York.[190]Her accompanists were Ronnie Whyte and Frank Tate.[191]
In 1985, Hall appeared on British TV in the cast ofOmnibus: The Cotton Club comes to the Ritz,a 60-minute BBC documentary in which some of the performers from Harlem's Cotton Club were filmed performing at theRitz Hotelin London, along with contemporary musicians. Also on the bill wereCab Callowayand his Orchestra,Doc Cheatham,Max Roachand theNicholas Brothers.[192][193]In 1985, Hall appeared on British TV onThe South Bank Showin a documentary entitledThe Real Cotton Club.[194]In July 1986, Hall performed in concert at theBarbican Centre,London.[195]
In October 1988, Hall presented a one-woman show atCarnegie Hallin New York.[196]She presented the same show in London at theKing's Head Theatre(Islington) during December 1988.[197]She is one of the very few performers to have made two guest appearances (2 December 1972[198]and 13 January 1991)[199]on theBBC Radio 4programmeDesert Island Discs.In 1989, she appeared at London'sRoyal Festival Hallat theRoyal Ellington Tribute Concertthat included the world premiere of Ellington'sQueen's Suite,which was written for QueenElizabeth II.Other artists appearing included the Bob Wilber Band,Tony CoeandAlan Cohen.The concert was filmed by Independent Film Production Associates.[200]1989 also saw Hall appear in concert at the Studio Theatre, Haymarket in Leicester. The concert was organised by composer/musicianGavin Bryarsand sold out almost as soon as it was announced.[201]
In 1990, Hall starred inSophisticated Lady,a Channel 4 television documentary about her life broadcast on 24 July, which included a performance of her in concert recorded live at theRiverside Studiosin London.[202]Her final US concert appearances took place in 1992 at Carnegie Hall, in theCabaret Comes to Carnegieseries. The same year, she was presented with a Gold Badge Award from theBritish Academy of Songwriters, Composers and Authors.[203]After attending the award ceremony she said: "I was so proud to be acknowledged. They said, 'You look like a Queen. You don't look more than fifty or sixty. You look so well.' I wore a sequin suit – different colours – it glittered. I must have been the oldest one there! I ate everything that came along."
Death
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/7/75/Adelaide_Hall%27s_Grave_at_Cemetery_of_the_Evergreens_in_Brooklyn%2C_New_York%2C_Terrace_Hill_Section%2C_Grave_1252%2C_March_2018.jpg/170px-Adelaide_Hall%27s_Grave_at_Cemetery_of_the_Evergreens_in_Brooklyn%2C_New_York%2C_Terrace_Hill_Section%2C_Grave_1252%2C_March_2018.jpg)
Adelaide Hall died in the early hours of 7 November 1993, aged 92, at London'sCharing Cross Hospitalof natural causes (old age).[1][171][204][205]Honouring her wish, her funeral took place in New York at theCathedral of the Incarnation (Garden City, New York)and she was laid to rest beside her mother at theCemetery of the Evergreensin Brooklyn.
In London, a memorial service was held for her atSt Paul's, Covent Garden(known as the "actors' church" ), which was attended by many stars includingElaine Paige,Elisabeth Welch,Lon SattonandElaine Delmar.One of the participants, TV presenter and broadcasterMichael Parkinson,remarked during his eulogy: "Adelaide lived to be ninety-two and never grew old."[206]
Legacy
[edit]In 2018, Hall was named by theEvening Standardon a list of 14 "Inspirational black British women throughout history", alongsideMary Seacole,Claudia Jones,Margaret Busby,Olive Morris,Joan Armatrading,Tessa Sanderson,Doreen Lawrence,Maggie Aderin-Pocock,Sharon White,Malorie Blackman,Diane Abbott,Zadie SmithandConnie Mark.[207]
Chapter 20 (titled "La Grosse Pomme" ) in the 2017 spy novelI Spy the Wolfby Stephen Davis is set inside Adelaide Hall's La Grosse Pomme nightclub inPigalle,Paris,during March 1939.[208]
Hall was one of the major entertainers of theHarlem Renaissance.Along withLouis Armstrong,she pioneeredscat singingand is widely acknowledged as one of the world's firstjazzsingers, regarded as such byElla Fitzgerald.[3]Hall was the first female vocalist to sing and record withDuke Ellington.She holds the accolade of being the 20th century's most enduring female recording artist, her recording career having spanned eight decades. In 1941, Hall replacedGracie Fieldsas Britain's highest paid female entertainer.[3][209]
In the "100 Great Records of the 1920s" Hall is at number 26 with Duke Ellington's Orchestra, singing "The Blues I Love to Sing" (Duke Ellington/Bubber Miley), Victor 21490, 1927.[210]Influential writerLangston Hughes,in his bookFamous Negro Music Makers(published by Dodd, Mead, 1955) lists individual musicians that helped develop jazz, in which he states that "jazz singers too, had not been without influence on the development of this (Jazz) music", and then includes Hall alongsideLouis Armstrong,Cab Calloway,Ray NanceandJoe Carroll,Dizzy Gillespie,Ella Fitzgerald,Billie Holiday,Alberta Hunter,Baby Cox andFlorence Mills,as all being outstanding jazz vocalists of their time.[211]
Hall is mentioned in the novelStrange Brother(set in New York in the late 1920s, early 1930s) written byBlair Nilesand first published in 1931.[212][213]Published in 1998,Marsha Hunt's novelLike Venus Fadingwas inspired by the lives of Hall (known as thelightly-tanned Venus),Josephine BakerandDorothy Dandridge.[214]The mesmerising effect Hall had on her audience at theCotton Clubis captured in the fictionalised 2017 novelA Time in Ybor Cityby Ron Kase.[215]Kase's account captures Hall's 11:00 o'clock evening performance in the Cotton Club Parade revue, at whichGeorge Gershwinis in the audience. The account is a fictionalised account based on part fact.
"When Harry Met Addie" was composed byGavin Bryarsin 1999 (published by Schott Music Ltd., London).[216]Bryars wrote it as a tribute to Hall and saxophonistHarry Carney.The piece was first performed at the Duke Ellington Memorial Concert at theQueen Elizabeth Hall,London, on 1 May 1999,[217]and was commissioned by the baritone saxophonist/bass clarinettistJohn Surman.The soprano wasCristina Zavalloniand the London Sinfonietta Big Band was conducted byDiego Masson.[218]
Hall was loosely portrayed as the nightclub chanteuse inFrancis Ford Coppola's 1984 filmThe Cotton Club.[219][220][221]
It was Hall's husband, Bert Hicks, who suggested toEric Bartholomew's mother that he should change his stage name to Morecambe, after the place of her son's birth, thereby christening the British comic duoMorecambe and Wise.[222]
Underneath a Harlem Moon,2013–2014
[edit]During 2013, British singerLaura Mvularevealed in aBlues and Soulinterview with assistant editor Pete Lewis that her song "Sing to the Moon" (from her hit debut albumSing to the Moon,RCA/Sony Music) was inspired by the 2003 biography of Hall entitledUnderneath a Harlem Moon: The Harlem to Paris Years of Adelaide Hall,by Iain Cameron Williams:[223][224]
Well, the actual song "Sing to the Moon" came from a time when I was reading a book calledUnderneath a Harlem Moon,which is a biography of a jazz singer called Adelaide Hall, which is basically all about how she kind of was overlooked, or probably didn't get the recognition she perhaps deserved. Plus it also talks about how she'd had a hard time growing up, because her sister – who she was very close to – had died tragically of an illness.... So anyway, there's a point in the story where she describes her close relationship with her father, which I think kind of resonated with me – where she talks about the conversations she had with him and how he used to say to her randomly 'Sing to the moon and the stars will shine', which kind of became her thing really that she just took with her everywhere.... And I don't know why, but for some reason it just struck some kind of chord with me – you know, it was just something I seemed to connect with at that time. And so because of that, it then became a saying that I liked to use myself.... So yeah, because it's become something I personally like to express, I just thought 'Sing to the Moon' would also make a good title for the album as a whole.[225]
On 11 August 2014, Mvula released her second album, an orchestral version ofSing to the Moon,[226]and on 19 August 2014, Mvula appeared at theRoyal Albert Hallas part ofThe Promsseason, performing the entire albumSing to the Moon,accompanied by theMetropole Orkest.[227][228]
In 2014, "Sing to the Moon"was sampled by the American rapperXXXTentacionand incorporated in his song "Vice City", which launched his music career.[229]
After Midnight,Broadway musical 2013–2014
[edit]A new musical revueAfter Midnightfeaturing the classic music ofDuke Ellington,Dorothy FieldsandJimmy McHugh,andHarold Arlen,premiered to much praise at theBrooks Atkinson Theatrein New York on 3 November 2013 and was booked through to 31 August 2014.[230][231]The show is an idealised fantasy of Harlem in its 1920s–1930s heyday and salutes black musicians and performers such asEthel Waters,Hall,Cab Calloway,Duke Ellington and theNicholas Brothers,who became international stars during that era.[232]
At least three of the songs that Hall introduced are performed in the show, including headlinerFantasia Barrino's rendition of "I Can't Give You Anything but Love, Baby"and Carmen Ruby Floyd's performance of Ellington and Hall's" Creole Love Call ". The song" Diga Diga Do "also appears in the show.[233]
A Nite at the Cotton Club,2014
[edit]In February 2014, a new stage show calledA Nite at the Cotton Club,produced by Lydia Dillingham, opened at the Southern Broadway Dinner Theatre at The Historic Hildreth Brothers Building in Alabama, USA, in which the actress Brandy Davis portrays Hall. The entire run sold out.[234]
ASCAP 100 Years,2014
[edit]On 14 February 2014, theAmerican Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers(ASCAP) celebrated its centenary by publishing a timeline of songs chosen to represent the past hundred years. One song was chosen to represent each year.Dorothy FieldsandJimmy McHugh's song "I Can't Give You Anything but Love, Baby", written for the Broadway revueBlackbirds of 1928,was chosen for 1928, and Hall's recording of the song was chosen to represent the year.[235]
Downton Addy's,2020
[edit]As part of Black History Month in June 2020,Sherman's Showcase– an American musical TV comedy series created by actorsBashir SalahuddinandDiallo Riddle– portrayed Adelaide Hall in aHarlem RenaissancemeetsDownton Abbeymusical sketch titledDownton Addy's.[236]The show was aired on 19 June on stations AMC and IFC.[237]Bashir Salahuddinplayed the part ofPaul Robeson,Day'Nah Cooper took the role of Dowager Countess of Basie, Aleksei Archer portrayed Adelaide "Addy" Hall, and Nefetari Spencer broughtZora Neale Hurstonto life.[238]Costume designer Ariyela Wald-Cohain looked directly to theDownton Abbeymovie for visual references.[239]Critics praised it:Rolling Stonecalled it "the hidden gem of sketch comedy";The New York Timessaid it was "irreverent", andSalonsaid it was "bright, accessibly silly and uproarious".Collidercalled it "a hard show to explain but a very easy one to fall in love with".[240]
In June 2020,British Vogueacknowledged Adelaide Hall in their list of "7 Remarkable Black Women Who Shaped British History".[241]
Black Plaque awarded to Adelaide Hall, 2021
[edit]Adelaide Hall was honoured in 2021 by the Black Plaque Project, an initiative of theNubian Jak Community Trust,with a plaque commemorating her outstanding career and achievements in the world of entertainment.[242]The plaque is placed in the world-renownedAbbey Road Recording StudiosinSt John's Wood,London, where Hall recorded with fellow American jazz artiste and composerFats Waller.Hall is No. 15 in the Black Plaque Project that honours the achievements throughout history of members of the UK's black community.[243]
One Minute TheatreTop 10 People of Colour in Musicals, 2021
[edit]In March 2021,1 Minute Theatre Reviewsacknowledged Adelaide Hall in their 10 "people of colour who have made a major contribution to the stage musical".[244]
Women Inspirepodcast, 2021
[edit]Adelaide Hall - "Sing to the moon Addie and the stars will shine."
In January 2021, theWomen Inspirepodcast devoted an episode to the life and career of Hall, titled "Sing to the moon Addie and the stars will shine".[245]
Google Doodle, 2023
[edit]In honour ofUK Black History Month,what would have been Hall's 122nd birthday was celebrated with aGoogle Doodle,featuring illustrations by London-based artist Hannah Ekuwa Buckman.[246][247][248]
Blue plaque
[edit]![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9e/Crowds_of_spectators_outside_the_unveiling_of_the_Adelaide_Hall_Blue_Plaque_in_Collingham_Road%2C_Kensington_and_Chelsea%2C_London%2C_July_9%2C_2024._%28II%29.jpg/220px-Crowds_of_spectators_outside_the_unveiling_of_the_Adelaide_Hall_Blue_Plaque_in_Collingham_Road%2C_Kensington_and_Chelsea%2C_London%2C_July_9%2C_2024._%28II%29.jpg)
Hall was one of the recipients of anEnglish Heritageblue plaquein 2024, alongsideChristina Broom,Diana BeckandIrene Barclay.[249]A blue plaque was unveiled at her former home of 27 years at 1 Collingham Road, South Kensington, SW5 ONT, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea on 9 July 2024.[250]Singer/actressElaine Delmarpulled the cord to unveil the blue plaque and the singer/songwriter Tori Cross performed one of Hall’s classicCotton Clubsongs, “Stormy Weather”.[251]
Discography
[edit]1927–1938
[edit]Songs | Label & Number | Date | Artist |
---|---|---|---|
"Creole Love Call"/" The Blues I Love to Sing " | BVE-39370-1[252]/ BVE-39371-1[253]Victor Records | (26 October 1927) (recorded Victor Studio No. 1, Camden, NJ )[254] | Duke EllingtonOrchestra (vocals by Adelaide Hall) |
"I Must Have That Man" / "Baby" | BVE-Test-110[255][256] | (21 June 1928) (recorded in New York) | Adelaide Hall with piano acc. by George Rickman |
"Chicago Stomp Down" | W81777-A / W81777-B / W81777-C Columbia Records | (3 November 1927) (recorded OKeh session, Union Square, New York City)[254] | Duke EllingtonOrchestra (vocals by Adelaide Hall) |
"Blues I Love to Sing" | 21490-A Victor BVE-39371[257] | (26 October 1927) | Duke EllingtonOrchestra (vocals by Adelaide Hall) |
"I Must Have That Man" / "Baby" | E-28059 / E-28060 Brunswick 4031 | (14 August 1928) (recorded in New York) | Adelaide Hall acc. byLew Leslie's Blackbirds Orchestra |
"Rhapsody in Love" / "Minnie The Moocher" | R-218 / R-221 Brunswick | (October 1931) (recorded in London, UK) | Adelaide Hall with piano acc. by Francis J. Carter and Bennie Paine |
"Too Darn Fickle" / "I Got Rhythm" | R-225 / R-229 | (October 1931) (recorded in London) | Adelaide Hall with piano acc. by Francis J. Carter and Bennie Paine |
"Baby Mine" / "I'm Redhot From Harlem" | R-230 / R-232 | (October 1931) (recorded in London) | Adelaide Hall with piano acc. by Francis J. Carter and Bennie Paine |
"To Have and To Hold" / "Minnie The Moocher" | P-102 Oriole UK | (October 1931) (recorded in London, UK) | Adelaide Hall with piano acc. by Francis J. Carter and Bennie Paine |
"Strange As It Seems" / "I'll Never Be The Same" | Br 6376 / Br6362 Brunswick | (5 August 1932) (recorded in New York) | Adelaide Hall with orchestra acc. |
"You Gave Me Everything but Love" / "This Time It's Love" | B-12166-A / B-12167-A Brunswick | (10 August 1932) (recorded in New York) | Adelaide Hall with piano acc. by Francis J. Carter andArt Tatum |
"I Must Have That Man" / "Baby" | B-12773-B / B-12774-B CBS | (21 December 1932) (recorded ARC session, New York City) | Adelaide Hall withDuke Ellingtonand his Famous Orchestra[258] |
"I Must Have That Man" / "Baby" | B-12773-C / B-12774-C Brunswick | (7 January 1933) (recorded Arc session, New York City)[259] | Adelaide Hall withDuke Ellingtonand his Famous Orchestra[258] |
"Drop Me Off in Harlem" / "Reaching for the Cotton Moon" | BS-78827-1-2 / BS-78828-1-2-3 Victor | (4 December 1933) | Adelaide Hall withMills Blue Rhythm Band |
"I Must Have That Man" / "Baby" | B-12773-B / B-12774-B issue 5063Lucky RecordsCo. Tokyo (Japan) issued 1935 | (21 December 1932) (recorded ARC session, New York City) | Adelaide Hall withDuke Ellingtonand his Famous Orchestra |
"I'm in the Mood For Love" / "Truckin'" | P-77612 / p-77613 Ultraphone AP 1574 | (January 1936, Paris, France) | Adelaide Hall (vocals and tap dancing) accompanied byJoe Turneron piano |
"East of the Sun and West of the Moon" / "Solitude" | P-77616 / P-77618 Ultraphone AP1575 | (20 January 1936, Paris, France) | Adelaide Hall with John Ellsworth and his Orchestra withStephane Grappellion violin) Alex Renard (trumpet) Christian Wagner (clarinet, alto saxophone) Jacques Metehen (piano) Roger Chaput (guitar) Maurice Chailloux (drums) and others[260] |
"I'm Shooting High" / "Say You're Mine" | CPT-2649-1 / CPT-2652-1 Pathe PA 914 | (5 May 1936, Paris) | Adelaide Hall withWillie Lewisand his Orchestra |
"After You've Gone" / "Swing Guitars" | CPT-1 / CPT-1 Pathe PA | (15 May 1936, Paris) | Adelaide Hall withWillie Lewisand his Orchestra |
"I'm Shooting High" | CPT-1 / Pathe PA | (15 October 1936, Paris) | Adelaide Hall withWillie Lewisand his Orchestra (trumpeterBill Colemanis included on this recording) |
"There's a Lull in my Life" / "Medley" | K-6001 / K-6001 D-599 Tono (Copenhagen, Denmark) | (December 1937) | Adelaide Hall with theKai EwansOrchestra |
"Stormy Weather"/"Where or When" | K-6002 / K-6002 Tono (Copenhagen, Denmark) | (December 1937) | Adelaide Hall with theKai EwansOrchestra |
"That Old Feeling" / "I Can't Give You Anything but Love" | HMV (EMI Records) | (28 August 1938) (recorded atAbbey Road Studios,London, UK) | Adelaide Hall with organ acc. byFats Waller |
"You're Blasé"[261] | BBC Radio Transcription Service – The London Transcription Service 10PH 12545 78RPM | (1939) (recorded atBBCStudios,London,UK) | Adelaide Hall withStéphane Grappelliand Arthur Young and his Swingtette |
The Decca years, 1939–1945
[edit]Songs | Label & Number | Release Date |
---|---|---|
"I Have Eyes" / "I Promise You" | Decca F-7049 | (27 April 1939) |
"Deep Purple"/"Solitude" | Decca F-7083 | (15 May 1939) |
"A New Moon and an Old Serenade" / "Our Love" | Decca F-7095 | (6 June 1939) |
"Don't Worry 'Bout Me"/"'Tain't What You Do" | Decca F-7121 | (23 June 1939) |
"Transatlantic Lullaby" / "I Get Along Without You Very Well" | Decca F-7132 | (26 July 1939) |
"Moon Love" / "Yours for a Song" | Decca F-7272 | (17 October 1939) |
"Day In, Day Out" / "I Poured My Heart into a Song" | Decca F-7304 | (8 November 1939) |
"My Heart Belongs to Daddy"/"Have You Met Miss Jones?" | Decca F-7305 | (8 November 1939) |
"Serenade in Love" / "Fare Thee Well" | Decca F-7340 | (27 December 1939) |
"Where or When"/"The Lady Is a Tramp" | Decca F-7345 | (19 January 1940) |
"Careless" / "Don't Make Me Laugh" | Decca F-7340 | (11 March 1940) |
"Chloe" / "Begin the Beguine" | Decca F-7460 | (15 April 1940) |
"This Can't Be Love"/" No Souvenirs " | Decca F-7501 | (3 May 1940) |
"Who Told You I Cared"? / "Shake Down the Stars" | Decca F-7522 | (31 May 1940) |
"Mist on the River" / "Fools Rush In" | Decca F-7583 | (15 August 1940) |
"All The Things You Are"/" I Wanna Be Loved " | Decca F-7636 | (9 October 1940) |
"Goodnight Again" / "Trade Winds" | Decca F-7678 | (12 December 1940) |
"Our Love Affair" / "And So Do I" | Decca F-7681 | (12 December 1940) |
"Moon for Sale" / "Yesterday's Dreams" | Decca F-7708 | (7 February 1941) |
"Ain't It a Shame About Mame"? / "Room Five Hundred and Four" | Decca F-7709 | (7 February 1941) |
"It's Always You" / "How Did He Look"? | Decca F-7879 | (23 May 1941) |
"Yes, My Darling Daughter" / "The Things I Love" | Decca F-7891 | (23 May 1941) |
"I Hear a Rhapsody"/" Mississippi Mama " | Decca F-7918 | (3 July 1941) |
"I Yi, Yi, Yi, Yi (I Like You Very Much)" / "Moonlight in Mexico" | Decca F-7942 | (7 August 1941) |
"As if You Didn't Know" / "I Take to You" | Decca F-8030 | (5 November 1941) |
"Minnie from Trinidad" / "Sand in My Shoes" | Decca F-8031 | (5 November 1941) |
"Song of the Islands" / "Pagan Love Song" | Decca F-8058 | (7 November 1941) |
"I Don't Want to Set the World on Fire" / "My Sister and I" | Decca F-8043 | (18 November 1941) |
"A Sinner Kissed an Angel" / "Why Don't We Do This More Often"? | Decca F-8092 | (2 February 1942) |
"Tropical Magic" / "Intermezzo" | Decca F-8118 | (2 February 1942) |
"My Devotion" / "Sharing It All With You" | Decca F-8263 | (January 1943) |
"Let's Get Lost" / "As Time Goes By" | Decca F-8292 | (1943) |
"I Don't Want Anybody at All (If I Can't Have You)" / "I Heard You Cried Last Night" | Decca F-8362 | (6 September 1943) |
"Sophisticated Lady"/"I'm Getting Sentimental Over You" | Decca F-8467 | (4 August 1944) |
"There Goes That Song Again" / "I'm Gonna Love That Guy" | Decca F-8517 | (3 March 1945) |
Odeon (Argentina) 1943
[edit]Songs | Label & Number | Release Date |
---|---|---|
"Segun Pasan Los Anos (As Time Goes By)" / "Vamos a Perdernos (Let's Get Lost)" | Odeon DR-7240/7239 | (1943) |
London Records,Spirituals,1949
[edit]Adelaide Hall and Kenneth Cantril,Spirituals,78 rpm set
Songs | Label & Number | Release Date | Artist |
---|---|---|---|
"Nobody Know de Trouble I've Seen"/"Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child" | London | (1949) | Adelaide Hall and Kenneth Cantril |
"Deep River"/" Bye and Bye " | London | (1949) | Adelaide Hall and Kenneth Cantril |
"My Lord, What a Morning" / "Swing Low Sweet Chariot" | London | (1949) | Adelaide Hall and Kenneth Cantril |
Columbia (EMI) – 1951
[edit]Songs | Label & Number | Date | Artist |
---|---|---|---|
"Can't Help Loving That Man of Mine" / "Bill" | Columbia Gramophone Co. (EMI Records) | (11 July 1951) (recorded in London, UK) | Adelaide Hall |
"How Many Times" / "Vanity"[262] | Columbia Gramophone Co. (EMI Records) | (11 July 1951) (recorded in London) | Adelaide Hall |
Oriole – 1960
[edit]Songs | Label & Number | Date | Artist |
---|---|---|---|
"Bluebird on My Shoulder" / "Common Sense"[263] | Oriole (CB 1556) | (May 1960) (recorded in London)[264] | Adelaide Hall |
UK singles chart entries
[edit]Year | Single | Chart positions | Peak month | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
UK | |||||
1940[265] | "Careless" | 30 | May | ||
"Begin the Beguine" | 28 | June | |||
"All the Things You Are" | 26 | December | |||
1941[266] | "Where Are You?" | 28 | December | ||
1945 | "There Goes That Song Again" | 15 | June[267] |
US singles chart entries
[edit]Year | Single | Chart position | Peak month |
---|---|---|---|
US | |||
1928[268] | "Creole Love Call"ft. Adelaide Hall vcl. | 19 | June |
Albums
[edit]Year | Títle | Label | Number |
---|---|---|---|
1970[269] | Hall of Fame | Columbia | B00BTZHK44 |
1976[269] | Hall of Ellington | Columbia | B00BTZ9RPE |
1980 | There Goes That Song Again | Decca – RFL73 | |
1990 | Adelaide Hall – Live at the Riverside Studios (soundtrack) | TER / VIP SERIES | CDVIR 8312 |
1990 | I Touched a Star | B0057POL5S | |
1990 | Hall of Memories | Conifer Records | B003BFC94Q |
1992 | Crooning Blackbird | Jazz Archives | B000027ZPN |
Filmography
[edit]- A Son of Satan(1924) (USA) (Micheaux Film)[270]
- Dancers in the Dark(1932) (USA) (Hall's singing voice is used but she is uncredited)[271]
- On the Air and Off(1933) (USA short, filmed atBiograph Studios,Bronx, New York City) (Universal Pictures)[272][273][274]
- Broadway Varieties(1934) (USA short, filmed atBiograph Studios,Bronx, New York City) (Universal Pictures)[275][276][277]
- All-Coloured Vaudeville Show(1935) (USA)[278]
- The Kentucky Minstrels(1939 (British TV movie)[279]
- The Thief of Bagdad(1940) (UK)[280][281]
- Behind The Blackout(1940), British Pathé Newsreel[282]
- Stars In Your Eyes(TV series, UK) 1946–1950.[283]
- Variety in Sepia(1947) (UK) (BBC TV)[284]
- A World Is Turning (towards the coloured people)(1948) (UK)[285][286]
- Olivelli's(1951), British Pathé Newsreel[287]
- Love From Judy(1953) TV movie.[170]
- Night and the City(1959) (UK) (role – singer – the scenes were deleted from the final edit)[288]
- Looks Familiar(9 January 1974) (ITV)[289]
- What Is Jazz?(1974) (TV Documentary)[289]
- It Don't Mean A Thing(15 June 1976)[289]
- Parkinson (TV series):300th edition (1981) (BBC TV)[290]
- The Sacred Music of Duke Ellington(1982) (MGM) – recorded atSt. Paul's Cathedral,London (released 1983)[289]
- The Cotton Club Comes to the Ritz(1985) (A documentary with live performances atthe Ritz Hotel, London,featuring formerCotton Clubperformers)[289]
- Chasing a Rainbow: The Life of Josephine Baker(1986)[291]
- Brown Sugar(1986) (American TV mini-series)[292]
- Sophisticated Lady(1989) (UK) (documentary about Adelaide Hall)[293]
- Royal Ellington(1989) (live concert footage)[289]
- Adelaide Hall – Live at the Riverside(1989) (UK) (Adelaide Hall in concert)
Exhibitions
[edit]Exhibitions that feature or have featured content relating to Adelaide Hall:
- Women and War–Imperial War Museum,London (2003–04).[294]
- Little Black Dress– Brighton Museum and Art Gallery, Brighton (2007).[295][296]
- Devotional–Sonia Boyce,National Portrait Gallery, London(2007)[297][298]
- Little Black Dress– London Fashion Museum, London (2008).[299]
- Keep Smiling Through: Black Londoners on the Home Front 1939–1945–Cuming Museum,London (2008).[300][301]
- Jazzonia and the Harlem Diaspora– Chelsea Space, London (2009).[302][303][304]
- The Living Archive Exhibition– The London Palladium (opened 2009 – on permanent display). The collection throws a spotlight on 100 years of black performers at the Palladium, such as Adelaide Hall, the Harlem Renaissance star who made her London debut at the venue in 1931.[305]
- Oh! Adelaide– Art installation, Wimbledon Space, Wimbledon College of Art, London (2010).[306][307][308]
- There is no Archive in which Nothing Gets Lost–Oh! Adelaide– Art installation – The Museum of Fine Arts, Glassell School of Art, 5101 Montrose Boulevard, Houston, America – 7 September 2012 – 25 November 2012.[309][310]
- Creole Love Call– Exhibition – VIERTELNEUN Gallery, 1090 Vienna, Hahngasse 14, Austria – Exhibition (25 January to 28 February 2013) – Catalogue published with the presentation.[311]
- The Harlem Renaissance–Kurá Hulanda Museum,Curaçao, Willemstad, Caribbean (2013).[312]
- Scat: Sound and Collaboration–Iniva(Institute of International Visual Arts), London EC2A 3BA (5 June – 27 July 2013).[313][314]
- Untitled– etching bySonia Boyce.Permanent Collection,Studio Museum in Harlem,New York. In her 2006 etchingUntitled,Boyce pays tribute to 14 black female contributors to British music history. Performers featured in the composition include DameShirley Bassey,Adelaide Hall,Millie SmallandCleo Laine.[315]
- Black Women in Britain,Black Cultural Archives,1Windrush Square,Brixton, London SW2 1EF (24 July – 30 November 2014.[316]
- Rhythm & Reaction: The Age of Jazz in Britain:Explores the emergence of Jazz in Britain and its continuing influence over the last century.[317]Two pictures of Adelaide Hall, one by photographerAngus McBean,and another extremely rare photograph of Miss Hall taken at her Florida (Mayfair) nightclub were on display at the exhibition, which was curated byCatherine Tackley,from 27 January 2018 until 22 April 2018, located atWilliam Waldorf Astor's mansion atTwo Temple Place,London.[318]
- BBC 100th Anniversary, 2022 - The Women Behind Television.[319]Exhibition and celebrations to celebrate the 100 years anniversary of theBBC.
Adelaide Hall archives and photo collections
[edit]- The Indiana University Adelaide Hall Collection (1928–2003).[320]The collection is housed at theArchives of African American Music and CultureatIndiana University,collection number SC 134. The collection contains photographic materials, articles, programs and ephemera related to Hall's performance career: contact: Archives of African American Music and Culture, 2805 E 10th St., Suite 180–181, Bloomington, Ind. 47408–4662.[321]
- Writer Iain Cameron Williams and Adelaide Hall's former manager Kate Greer own a private Adelaide Hall Collection, from which items have been loaned for public exhibitions.[322]
- AlamyPhoto Archive: Adelaide Hall on set of the 1940Alexander Korda-directed movieThe Thief of Bagdad.
- The British Libraryin Euston Road, London, holds a considerable archive relating to Adelaide Hall; the collection contains mainly audio, interviews, live concert tapes, and recordings, some of which are quite rare.[323]
- The British Lion Film Production disccollection (held at theBritish Library) contains music from the film soundtrack ofNight and the City(1950), on which Adelaide Hall is featured.[324]
- Detroit Public LibraryDigital Collection houses a portrait of singer Adelaide Hall by photographerGermaine Krulldated 1929, photographed duringBlackbirdsresidency at theMoulin Rouge,Paris.[325]
- Duke University Libraries–Rosetta ReitzPapers (1929–2008) – Adelaide Hall photograph collection series (Box 17): Rosetta Reitz Papers – Adelaide Hall Reference Materials Series (1946–2005), Box 36.[326]
- Getty Images(archive) holds several photographs of Adelaide Hall, including one of her singing "There's Something in the Air" at herMayfairnightclub (the Florida Club) inLondon,circa. 1945,[327]and an extremely rare picture of her performing in concert circa. 1930,[328]and a portrait photograph of Miss Hall by John D. Kisch circa. 1934.[329]
- The Al Hirschfeld Foundation holds two caricatures of Adelaide Hall by the artistAl Hirschfeld,one dated 1928,[330]and the other dated 1929.[331]
- The Robert Langmuir African American Photograph Collection,Emory University,Atlanta,Georgia:Adelaide Hall
- The David Lund Collectionheld at the British Library contains live audio recordings of Adelaide Hall in concert with TheAlan ClareTrio and John McLeary performing at theUniversity College SchoolTheatre, Hampstead, London.[332]
- Millersville UniversitySpecial Collection: Adelaide Hall, File – Box: 4, Folder 21, 1929 photograph of Miss Hall by Walery (akaStanisław Julian Ignacy Ostroróg).[333]
- Museo Alinari Image (AIM), museum, Trieste, Italy, hold two portrait photographs of Adelaide Hall ca. 1925–29.[334][335]
- TheNational Jazz Archive(UK) holds a significant collection of magazines and newspapers containing articles and reports documenting Adelaide Hall's career dating from the 1930s to 1990s.[336]
- National Portrait Gallery, London(Archive) holds two Adelaide Hall portraits from the 1940s.[337]
- NYPR Archive Collections,New York Public Library,hold a live recording of Adelaide Hall captured in concert in New York in the early-1990s.[338]
- Smithsonian–Adelaide Hallportrait –Le Tumulte Noir/ Dancer in Magenta byPaul Colin,1929, Paris, at the Smithsonian, National Portrait Gallery Collection,Washington D.C.[339]
- TheVictoria and Albert Museum(V&A), South Kensington,London,holds a watercolour caricature of Adelaide Hall by Gilbert Sommerlad, dated 12 May 1954, drawn during Hall's starring role in the musicalLove from Judy,[168]plus various posters relating to Miss Hall's career, and a cotton souvenir headscarf containing a printed portrait of Adelaide Hall ca.1930s–50s.[340]
- Yale University Archives,Adelaide Hall –Josephine Bakercorrespondence, etc. (dated 1976–1979), part of the Henry Hurford Janes – Josephine Baker Collection at Yale University Archives, Box: 2, Folder: 77.
- Yale University Library–Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library:Rare Adelaide Hall photographs byCarl Van Vechtentaken of Miss Hall performing on stage during her 1931/1932 World Tour at thePalace Theatre,Times Square, New York.[341]
- Yale University Library – Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library: Adelaide Hall publicity photographs collected by writer and photographerCarl Van Vechten.[342]
Further reading
[edit]- Oral History of Jazz in Britain:In 1988, the journalist and radio hostMax Jonesconducted a live radio interview with Adelaide Hall. Transcripts from the taped recording, which is housed in theBritish Library,are available to listen to upon request at theBritish Library.Three excerpts from the interview can be heard in an article (published 17 December 2020) on theBritish Libraryblog, including, in "excerpt 1", where Adelaide explains how she came up with the counter-melody in the worldwide hit "Creole Love Call",which she recorded in 1927 withDuke Ellington.[343]
Sources
[edit]- Ian Carr,Digby FairweatherandBrian Priestley.Jazz: The Rough Guide.ISBN1-85828-528-3
- Iain Cameron Williams,Underneath A Harlem Moon,Continuum, 2002,ISBN0-8264-5893-9
References
[edit]- ^abcdeSteve Voce(8 November 1993)."Obituary: Adelaide Hall".The Independent.London.Archivedfrom the original on 6 May 2022.Retrieved15 June2012.
- ^Glenn Collins (10 November 1993)."Adelaide Hall, 92, International Star of Cabaret".The New York Times.Retrieved15 June2012.
- ^abcStephen Bourne(24 January 2003)."The real first lady of jazz (Review ofUnderneath a Harlem Moonby Iain Cameron Williams) ".The Guardian.London.Retrieved15 June2012.
- ^"Devotees – Honours and Tributes"(researched and compiled by Stephen Bourne), Devotional. Adelaide Hall entersGuinness Book of World Recordsas the World's most enduring recording artiste.
- ^"Art Tatum – Strange As It Seems (1933)"onYouTube.
- ^"International Opus".internationalopus.com.
- ^abLeonard Feather,"Don't Call Them Crooners: 4 – Adelaide Hall" (interview),Radio Times,17 February 1939, p. 15. Includes a photograph of Hall and mentions performers with whom she had recorded and performed, including Rudy Vallee.
- ^Adelaide Hall singing "Creole Love Call" with Duke Ellington and his Orchestrarecorded in 1927. YouTube.
- ^ab"ARTSEDGE: Drop Me Off in Harlem".Artsedge.kennedy-center.org.Archived fromthe originalon 30 December 2011.Retrieved9 March2012.
- ^abKen Dryden,"Fats Waller: Fats Waller on the Air 1938 Broadcasts (2009)",including duets with Adelaide Hall. AllAboutJazz, 7 April 2010. Retrieved 14 September 2014.
- ^"Adelaide Hall Biography".Artistdirect.com.Archived fromthe originalon 30 December 2013.Retrieved15 June2012.
- ^"Adelaide Hall Biography – Facts, Birthday, Life Story".Biography.com.7 November 1993.Retrieved15 June2012.
- ^"New York, New York City Municipal Deaths, 1795-1949", database, FamilySearch(https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2WBM-Z2D:3 June 2020), William F. Hall, 1917 "William Hall death notice
- ^"New York, New York City Municipal Deaths, 1795-1949", database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:2WBL-GNJ:3 June 2020), Evelyn Hall, 1920.
- ^Adair, Zakiya."Adelaide Hall (1901–1993)",BlackPast.org,18 January 2024.
- ^Bratkovich, Colin,Just Remember This,publ. Xlibris 2014,ISBN978-1483645186,p. 84 – Big Apple, 135th and Seventh Avenue, Uptown Harlem, NYC, associated with Adelaide Hall, 1924. The term "Big Apple" became associated with the whole of NYC.
- ^"Shuffle Along (1921) | The Black Past: Remembered and Reclaimed".The Black Past. 16 March 2008.
- ^"Stage Musicals 1920s – Part 3: New Composers".Musicals101.com.Retrieved15 June2012.
- ^"ARTSEDGE: Drop Me Off in Harlem".Artsedge.kennedy-center.org.Archived fromthe originalon 15 October 2011.Retrieved9 March2012.
- ^Reside, Doug (10 February 2012)."Musical of the Month: Shuffle Along".The New York Public Library.Retrieved15 June2012.
- ^Brothers, Thomas (2014).Louis Armstrong: Master of Modernism.New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company. p. 242.ISBN978-0-393-06582-4.
- ^The Broadway League."Runnin' Wild".IBDB: The official source for Broadway Information.Retrieved15 June2012.
- ^Adelaide Hall, Ina Duncan, and Arthur Porter took the crowd off its feet, with Old Fashioned Love.Running' Wild
- ^The Appeal,1 September 1923, front page - Aubrey Lyles' $18,000 Pierce Draws Eyes of All Washington (report, retrieved 10 August 2020)
- ^"Edward K. 'Duke' Ellington, African American Composer & Pianist".Chevalierdesaintgeorges.homestead.com.Retrieved15 June2012.
- ^Article about Sam Wooding and the Chocolate Kiddies,Keep (It) Swinging,11 May 2006.
- ^Chip Deffaa (1992).Voices of the Jazz Age: Profiles of Eight Vintage Jazzmen.University of Illinois Press. p. 14.ISBN978-0-252-06258-2.
- ^Colin Bratkovich,Just Remember This,Xlibris, 2014, p. 148,ISBN1483645185.Retrieved 17 August 2018.
- ^"The Eldorado",The 1920s Berlin Project.Retrieved 17 December 2018.
- ^Todd Decker,Show Boat: Performing Race in an American MusicalbyOxford University Press,2013, p. 107 (ISBN978-0-19-975937-8), mentions the musicalMy Magnolia.
- ^Frank Cullen (2004).Vaudeville, Old and New: An Encyclopedia of Variety Performers in America.Psychology Press.ISBN9780415938532.
- ^"Tan Town Topics".The Afro American.17 April 1926 – via Google News.
- ^Paul S.Machlin (ed.)."Thomas 'Fats' Waller: Performances in Transcription".Areditions.com.Archived fromthe originalon 28 May 2013.Retrieved15 June2012.
- ^Desires of 1927musical, p. 106,A Century of Musicals in Black and White: An Encyclopedia of Musical Stageby Bernard L. Peterson, Greenwood Publishing Group.ISBN0-313-26657-3
- ^Henry Louis Gates,Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham(eds),Harlem Renaissance Lives from the African American National Biography,Oxford University Press, 2009, p. 233.
- ^ab"'Desires of 1927' – A Riot at Elmore "(review),The Pittsburgh Courier,27 November 1926.
- ^12 – 17 April 1926, Royal Theatre, Baltimore City. 10 April 1926,The Afro-American,p. 10, half-page advertisement forTan Town Topics.
- ^Review ofTan Town Topicsat the Royal Theatre, Baltimore.
- ^Howard Rye,"Southern Syncopated Orchestra: The Roster",Black Music Research Journal,Volume 30, Number 1, Spring 2010. Reference to Smalls Paradise revue under "Gee, Lottie (Charlotte M.)".
- ^"'Handy Night' at Small's Paradise",The Pittsburgh Courier,Saturday, 16 October 1926, p. 10.
- ^Did Adelaide Hallinvent a new style of singing?article,Syncopated Times,21 October 2023.
- ^Exhibitors Herald,August 6, 1927, page 47 – Chicago, (Granada Theatre) week-ending 31 July 1927 (review of Hall's performance at the Granada Theatre, Chicago).
- ^"Duke Ellington Orch, V=Adelaide Hall – Creole Love Call: Adelaide Hall: Free Download & Streaming: Internet Archive".Archive.org.10 March 2001.Retrieved15 June2012.
- ^"OKeh matrix W81777. Chicago stomp down / The Chicago Footwarmers".Adp.library.ucsb.edu.Discography of American Historical Recordings.Retrieved9 September2021.
- ^"Adelaide Hall talks about the Cotton Club and Duke Ellington".Dailymotion.com.3 March 2009.Retrieved15 June2012.
- ^"Adelaide Hall, 92; Jazz Singer Performed With Duke Ellington".Los Angeles Times.22 May 2001.Retrieved15 June2012.
- ^Brothers, Thomas (2014).Louis Armstrong: Master of Modernism.New York, NY: W.W. Norton & Company. p. 276.ISBN978-0-393-06582-4.
- ^The Pittsburgh Courier,19 November 1927, front page:"'They Always Come Back For More,' says Adelaide"– report & photograph.
- ^Dance Maniadateslisted on Ellingtonweb.
- ^David Bradbury,Duke Ellington,Haus Publishing Ltd, 2005 (ISBN1-904341-66-7), p. 19.
- ^USA song chart entry for "Creole Love Call"(1928).
- ^"Ellington Sessions 1933".depanorama.net.Archived fromthe originalon 18 May 2015.Retrieved10 March2012.
- ^Museum of the City of New York:colour picture of Bill Robinson and Adelaide Hall together in Blackbirds of 1928
- ^"Faces of the Harlem Renaissance – Bill 'Bojangles' Robinson"Archived30 December 2011 at theWayback Machine,Drop Me Off in Harlem.
- ^"Blackbirds of 1928 / Shuffle Along (1921)".The Official Masterworks Broadway Site.
- ^Daniel Pinna (7 October 2023)."Adelaide Hall".ancientfaces.com.
- ^"Blackbirds of 1928celebrates one year run on Broadway ",The Afro-American,18 May 1929. Retrieved 14 September 2014.
- ^abDanni Bayles Yeager."Liberty NYC Performing Arts Archive".performingartsarchive.com.
- ^abTheophilus Lewis,"THE DANCE THAT DAZED MOTHER –" DIGA DIGA DO "--AS DANCED BY ADELAIDE HALL—CREATES SENSATION." STOP IT! "CRIES MAMA." ON WITH THE DANCE "BROADWAY DEMANDS",The Pittsburgh Courier,10 November 1928.
- ^"Adelaide Hall returns to cast ofBlackbirds",Chicago Defender,11 August 1928.
- ^Judith Miller,Art Deco,Dorling Kindersley, 2005,ISBN1405307544:lithograph by Paul Colin featuring Adelaide Hall and used as a poster to advertiseBlackbirdsat theMoulin Rouge,p. 215. Retrieved 14 September 1014.
- ^Woman's HourMusic Archive:A Celebration of Adelaide Hall, Wednesday, 15 January 2003.
- ^Jean Delaurier 1929lithographArchived22 February 2014 at theWayback Machineof Blackbirds at the Moulin Rouge performing "Porgy",
- ^"December 2014".Music6cafe.com.21 December 2014.Retrieved10 October2019.
- ^"Le Tumulte Noir/Dancer in Magenta",artist Paul Colin's lithograph of Adelaide Hall.
- ^The Chassaing Collection of French Art Deco Posters AuctionSwann Auction Galleries, New York, catalogue, 2 October 2003.
- ^Blackbirdsat the Moulin Rouge, featuring Adelaide Hall
- ^"Adelaide Hall Takes Place of 'Jo' Baker",The Afro-American,3 August 1929.
- ^Swann Auction Gallery, New York, Sale 2239 Lot 391.Group photograph of theBlackbirdsparty, 1929, taken at Authie, Paris. Retrieved 1 January 2015.
- ^"Bojangles to be starred with Adelaide Hall",Pittsburgh Courier,4 January 1930, p. 1. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
- ^"White Press Acclaims Adelaide Hall As Packed House Gives Her Great Ovation",The Pittsburgh Courier,22 February 1930.
- ^Bill Robinson and Adelaide Hall Palace Theatre performance reviewprinted inBillboardmagazine, 23 August 1930, and reproduced inBlacks in Blackface: A Sourcebook on Early Black Musical Showsby Henry T. Sampson, chapter 5, p. 524. Retrieved 17 December 2014.
- ^"Adelaide Hall Gets hand in Vaudeville Debut" — "Former Star of Blackbirds Scores Heavily in Opening at Palace, N.Y.",The Afro American,Baltimore, newspaper, p. 9, 15 February 1930. Retrieved 29 December 2014.
- ^Bernard L. Peterson,Brown Buddiesarticle inA Century of Musicals in Black and White: An Encyclopedia of Musical Stage Works by, about or Involving African Americans,Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing, 1993, pp. 59–60.
- ^"Dancing in 'Brown Buddies'",The Afro-American,27 September 1930.
- ^abBrown Buddiesplaybill,Playbill Vault.
- ^Williams,Underneath a Harlem MoonArchived26 February 2021 at theWayback Machine,pp. 389, 390 and 395. Hall appears four times during her 1931/1932 world tour: February (withNoble Sissle), April, July and November.
- ^John Murph."NPR's Jazz Profiles: Art Tatum".Npr.org.
- ^Bret Primack,"Art Tatum: No Greater Art Talkin' Tatum with Hank Jones, Billy Taylor, Dick Hyman, Adam Makowicz",JazzTimes,January/February 1998.
- ^"Adelaide Hall – You Gave Me Everything But Love (1932)onYouTube.
- ^"More Than a Handful – The Incomparable Art Tatum",17 July 2011.Archived5 May 2014 at theWayback Machine.
- ^Art Tatum biography,African American Registry.
- ^Riverside Theatre – "A Woman Commands" – cinema and vaudeville review,The Milwaukee Sentinel,25 January 1932, p. 6.Archived17 November 2015 at theWayback Machine.
- ^The Northwest Enterprise (courtesy of Enterprise News Bureau), September 1, 1932, front page and page 3 (retrieved April 24, 2021) -Adelaide Hall
- ^The Northwest Enterprise(courtesy ofEnterprise News Bureau), September 1, 1932, front page and page 3 (retrieved April 24, 2021) -Adelaide Hall
- ^"Adelaide Hall twits white neighbours on their ancestry",The Afro-American,27 August 1932.
- ^"Why can't the stars live where they please?"The Afro-American,3 August 1935.
- ^Douglas Hall,"Singer Adelaide Hall Tells Why I Moved to London"(interview),The Baltimore Afro-American,9 July 1946, p. 8.
- ^'New York's First Nighter' Adelaide Hall returns to Harlem,Pittsburgh Courier,Saturday, 21 January 1933, p. 6, second section. Retrieved 1 February 2015.
- ^Chappy Gardner,"ADELAIDE HALL TO TOUR THE COAST",The Pittsburgh Courier,22 July 1933.
- ^Jules Bledsoe,"State Street, Chicago – Miss Adelaide Hall Captures The World Fair City and They Like It"[dead link],The Pittsburgh Courier,19 August 1933.
- ^Cheryl Ganz,The 1933 Chicago World's Fair – Century of Progress,University of Illinois Press, 6 January 2012 (ISBN0252078527). Adelaide Hall at the Billiken Parade and Picnic reference on p. 115.
- ^Maurice Dancer,"'Stormy Weather' Revue stars Adelaide Hall ",The Pittsburgh Courier,2 December 1933, p. 16.
- ^"Adelaide Hall with Cotton Club revue",The Afro-American,23 September 1933, p. 18.
- ^Article about producer Clarence Robinsonand his involvement with Harlem's Apollo Theater and the showChocolate Soldiersstarring Adelaide Hall.
- ^Steven Suskin,"Cotton Club Parade, 1934",inShow Tunes: The Songs, Shows, and Careers of Broadway's Major Composers,Oxford University Press, 2010, p. 147. Retrieved 14 September 2014.
- ^"Adelaide Hall talks about 1920s Harlem and Creole Love Call"onYouTube.
- ^Steven Watson,"The Harlem Renaissance".Archived21 September 2013 at theWayback Machine
- ^Kennet B. Hilliard,"The Impact of the Music of the Harlem Renaissance on Society".Yale-New Haven Teachers Institute.
- ^"Ill Wind"at JazzStandards.com
- ^Tom Morgan."Jass.com: Cotton Club Revues 1934".jass.com.Archived fromthe originalon 18 August 2012.Retrieved9 March2012.
- ^"Harold Arlen – Biography – The Cotton Club Years".haroldarlen.com.Archived fromthe originalon 9 June 2017.Retrieved9 March2012.
- ^"Harlem Night Clubs Brilliant and Lively – Adelaide Hall, Gladys Bentley Featured Stars,The Pittsburgh Courier,18 August 1934.
- ^"Adelaide Hall: A Harlem Song-Bird Will Invade Dixie","Looking at the Stars with Ralph Matthews",The Afro-American,week of 16 March 1935, p. 8. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
- ^Swing Music(magazine), Vol. 1, No. 5, July 1935, page 138:"Benny Hoff's News From America".A copy is housed at the Archive.
- ^"Adelaide Hall And Meeres & Meeres Off For London"[dead link],The Pittsburgh Courier,30 November 1935.
- ^"Performer Adelaide Hall and her husband/manager, Bert Hicks, owned a nightclub in Montmartre called La Grosse Pomme..."Archived5 October 2013 at theWayback Machine,Midnight in Paris.
- ^"Django's Haunts"Archived21 October 2014 at theWayback Machine,Paul Vernon Chester.
- ^Adelaide Hall's 'The Big Apple,' 73 Rue Pigalle, Paris - original 1938 invitation card, with cabaret featuringMyrtle Watkins:The Big Apple
- ^"Django's Haunts".Gypsyjazzuk.wordpress.com.23 November 2014.Retrieved9 September2021.
- ^Albert Gaubier danced under the direction of Serge Diaghilev.Albert Gaubier biography, retrieved 17 December 2014.
- ^Henry Crowder biography:Allardyce Barnett.
- ^Just Remember Thisby Colin Bratkovich, published XlibrisISBN1483645185(2014) p. 150. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
- ^"Adelaide Hall shows Paris Canned Apple",The Afro-American,25 December 1937.
- ^Ida Peters,"What's Happening | Adelaide Hall introduced Truckin' to Paris",Baltimore Afro-American,6 November 1993.
- ^Adelaide Hall and Willie Lewis and his Entertainers recording of "Say You're Mine",AllMusic.
- ^Kai Ewans Orchestrawith Adelaide Hall singing "Where or When".
- ^"Over to Paris".13 May 1938. p. 66 – via BBC Genome.
- ^Douglass Hall,"Why I Moved to London, How America's Peculiar Brand of Democracy Forced a Brooklyn Girl to Live in Europe",Baltimore Afro-American,9 July 1946, p. 5 (with a large photograph of Adelaide Hall).
- ^The Sun Never Setscast list,IMDb.
- ^ab"Hall, Adelaide (1901–1993), Actor, Singer",BFI ScreenOnline.
- ^"That Old Feeling" sung by Adelaide Hall with Fats Waller playing the organonYouTube.
- ^Broadcast To Americareleased on CD in 2012.
- ^"Harlem in Mayfair",BBC TV listings,Radio Times,Saturday, 25 February 1939.
- ^BBC TV listings,Radio Times,Saturday, 20 May 1939, p. 15 ( "Adelaide Hall in 'Dark Sophistication' – A coloured cabaret from the Old Florida Club With Marco Hlubi and his Tom Toms, Esta and Louise, Charles Wood, and Felix Sowande with his Negro Choir and Orchestra" ).
- ^BBC TV listings,Radio Times,18 August 1939, p. 17 ( "Harry S. Pepper presents 'THE KENTUCKY MINSTRELS'..." ).
- ^"The Kentucky Minstrels",IMDb.
- ^BBC TV programme listingsArchived3 May 2014 at theWayback Machinefor 1 September 1939.
- ^Radio Times,issue, 25 August 1939, p. 21.
- ^Russ J. Graham,"The edit that rewrote history– What really did happen that day in 1939, when the BBC Television Service closed down 'for the duration of the conflict'? "Transdiffusion Broadcasting System, 31 October 2005.
- ^Joe Loss biography,in which Adelaide Hall is mentioned as being a featured vocalist in his band: "The new-featured vocalist in Joe Loss's broadcasts is one of America's veterans of jazz singing, her career dating back to the first big Negro revue,Shuffle Along,produced on Broadway in 1921. "
- ^PROGRAMME FOR THE FORCES HOME SERVICE."PIccadixie" (Variety) 12.00 midnight radio show. General Listening Barometer, Week 28, Sunday, 6 July 1943. Subject to the limitations of sampling, the figures below show the percentage of the whole adult population of Great Britain who listened to each item.
- ^A poster advertisingPiccadixiewith the performers: Adelaide Hall (singer), Oliver Wakefield (comedian),George Elrick(musician) appearing at the New Empress Theatre,Brixton,London, 8 December 1941, can be found atthe V&A in their collection.
- ^Article by Ida Peters(Baltimore Afro-American,13 November 1993, p. B7)mentions that Adelaide Hall entertained the troops in Europe for the USO.
- ^Angie Macdonald,"Keep Smiling Through",Dulwich Online, 11 April 2008. Review of the "Keep Smiling Through" exhibition that features recollections of Adelaide Hall entertaining the troops during WWII.
- ^"Entertaining Allied Troops in WWII",Wargaming.net. Retrieved 17 August 2018.
- ^A scene at an unspecified RAF Variety concert during WWII showing Adelaide Hall performing the song "Hang Out Your Washing On The Siegfried Line".Alamy Photo Archive.
- ^Band Wagon,Vol. 1, No. 1, 14 October 1939, p. 3:"Harry Roy's World Broadcast"(report).
- ^"Bringing Jazz To Warwickshire's Wounded: Adelaide Hall's Wartime Performances",with photo "Adelaide Hall singing to wounded soldiers at the Rotary Club at Myton Hamlet, Leamington Spa Courier, 28 July 1944".Our Warwickshire.
- ^abcStephen Bourne,"When Adelaide Hall Went to War",3 April 2005. WW2 People's War, BBC Archive.
- ^Mel Wright,"Lady stays to sing away the wartime blues" | "Lewisham Hippodrome 'Youth Takes A Bow' 20 August 1940 for a week",via Tonyellis.net.
- ^Adelaide Hall sang 54 encores until the all-clear sounded at 3:45 a.m. Stephen Bourne,"South London Memories: Jazz singer Adelaide Hall sang as bombs fell",South London Press and Mercury,3 July 2018.
- ^Prestige RecordsDiscography: 1933–1948.
- ^"During WWII, she hosted a radio show in London called Wrapped in Velvet"; extract from June Sochen,From Mae to Madonna: Women Entertainers in Twentieth-century America,p. 38.ISBN9780813191997.
- ^David Hinkley, "Scat-Singing Pioneer Adelaide Hall Never Really Went Out of Style",New York Daily News(reprinted by the Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service, 19 November 1993, 1119K3115.
- ^"Home Front – Songs From World War II".Itunes.apple.com.
- ^"Adelaide Hall".IMDb.
- ^"The Thief of Bagdad (1940)".IMDb.com.
- ^Miklós Rózsa interviewexplaining how he came to write the score forThe Thief of Bagdad.
- ^An original radio recording – ENSA Presents Spotlight on the Stars – Adelaide Hall with the BBC Variety Orchestra – broadcast in 1943:YouTube.
- ^Barry Kowal,"1940 UK Charts",Weekly Singles Chart: May 20, 1940, & May 27, 1940, Adelaide Hall at No. 30 with "Careless".Hits of All Decades1940, 4 February 2010.
- ^Voguemagazine (British issue)Archived13 September 2014 at theWayback Machine,August 1940. Retrieved 13 September 2014.
- ^"6 June 1944 BBC Record Chart",WW2 People's War, BBC.
- ^Getty Images:A view of the 'Cafe Continental' stage setin the television studio at RadiOlympia Theatre, London, September 1947.
- ^Adelaide Hall's historic live BBC telerecording (Variety in Sepia):Adelaide Hall
- ^"Variety in Sepia (1947)"at IMDb.
- ^"Adelaide Hall – 'Swing Low, Sweet Chariot' (1948)"onYouTube.
- ^"Adelaide Hall at the Nightingale Club, London (1948)" VideoonYouTube.
- ^"Adelaide Hall and Kenneth Cantril".Secondhandsongs.com.Retrieved10 October2019.
- ^"British Programmes",Whirligig: "How Do You View?(1951) was the first-ever comedy series on British television and starredTerry-Thomas:the show's musical spot was filled by guests such asDickie Valentine,Lita Roza,Adelaide Hall andJimmy Young."
- ^The Royal Variety PerformanceArchived24 December 2012 atarchive.today,29 October 1951, Victoria Palace Theatre, London.
- ^A mention of Adelaide Hall being the first black female artist to appear on the bill of the Royal Variety Performanceis included in this list of awards, honours and firsts for British black female artistes.
- ^"Events & Business Functions | EABF".Eabf.org.uk.Archived fromthe originalon 24 December 2012.
- ^Jamaica,1957 Broadway souvenir program – Adelaide Hall biography notes (retrieved April 10, 2021) in which she mentions her performances a private royal parties.
- ^The Variety Club of Great Britain held the Anglo-American Gala to help raise funds for the National Playing Fields Association for which theDuke Of Edinburghwas president:https://www.royal.uk/sport
- ^Louis Lautier,"Capital Spotlight",Baltimore Afro-American,14 October 1952, p. 17.
- ^Jet,15 May 1952, p. 66. Article about Adelaide Hall (includes a photograph) mentioning her Calypso Club in London and how she taught Princess Elizabeth to dance the Charleston.
- ^abCaricature of Adelaide Hall in her role as Butterfly inLove From Judydrawn by Gilbert Sommerlad held in the V&A Collection Archive.
- ^"Love From Judy".guidetomusicaltheatre.com.
- ^abHickman, Charles (16 March 1953)."Love from Judy"(Drama, Musical). Jeannie Carson, Adelaide Hall, Linda Gray. British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC).Retrieved1 February2021.
- ^abcGlenn Collins,"Adelaide Hall, 92, International Star of Cabaret"(obituary, listing some of her stage performances),The New York Times,10 November 1993.
- ^"Lena Horne andJamaicain Philly world premiere "(with large photograph of Lena, Adelaide and Ricardo Montalban),Washington Afro-American,3 September 1957, p. 33.
- ^"Adelaide Hall in new musical",Washington Afro-American,12 August 1958.
- ^"TV Pop Diaries 1960".tvpopdiaries.co.uk.
- ^"Muses With Milligan – BBCtv 1965 – Restoration Split Screen Demo"onYouTube.
- ^12 June 1974:Photograph of Adelaide Hall attending the Duke Ellington Memorial Concert at St Martin-in-the-field, London, accompanied byCleo Laine.Shutterstock.
- ^Looks FamiliarArchived6 September 2009 at theWayback Machineat BFI.
- ^What Is Jazz?Archived14 September 2009 at theWayback Machineat BFI.
- ^It Don't Mean a Thingcredits,BFI.
- ^Parkinson: 300creditsArchived19 September 2009 at theWayback Machine,BFI.
- ^"The Sacred Music of Duke Ellington (1983)".BFI. Archived fromthe originalon 6 September 2009.Retrieved8 March2013.
- ^The Sacred Music of Duke Ellingtonconcertat St Paul's Cathedral, London, 1982: Library of Congress details for the event.
- ^Bernard L. Peterson (1993).A Century of Musicals in Black and White: An Encyclopedia of Musical Stage Works By, About, Or Involving African Americans.Greenwood Publishing Group. pp.40–41.ISBN978-0-313-26657-7.
- ^Listing for Michael's Pub,New Yorkmagazine, 2 June 1980, p. 94.
- ^Thomas P. Hustad (2012).Born to Play: The Ruby Braff Discography and Directory of Performances.Scarecrow Press. p. 397.ISBN978-0-8108-8265-2.
- ^Newport Jazz Festival listings,New Yorkmagazine, 7 July 1980, p. 109.
- ^Dolores Barclay,"The Blues is a Woman – Newport Jazz Festival concert honors all women who have recorded blues",Ebony,September 1980, pp. 94–98. A photograph of Hall performing at the event is on p. 96.
- ^Adelaide Hall sings ‘Come Sunday' atSt. Paul's Cathedral,London,at the Duke Ellington Tribute Concert in 1982. 34:3734:37 Adelaide Hall
- ^Peter Keepnews (19 February 1983)."Pianist Eubie Blake feted as he hits century mark".Billboard.p. 55.
- ^John S. Wilson (15 April 1983),"From Britain, Adelaide Hall and Her Cabaret Act"(interview),The New York Times.
- ^Ruth Gilbert (11 April 1983)."In and Around Town Adelaide Hall at the Cookery".New York.New York Media, LLC. p. 28.
- ^The Cotton Club comes to the Ritzvideo.Retrieved 6 September 2014.
- ^Library of Congress dataforOmnibusseries, episode "The Cotton Club comes to the Ritz". Retrieved 6 September 2014.
- ^The South Bank Show,episode "The Real Cotton Club". Library of Congress.
- ^Photograph of Adelaide Hall onstageat the Barbican, July 1986.
- ^Wilson, John S. (14 October 1988)."Review/Music; Adelaide Hall Opens Weill Cabaret Bill".The New York Times.
- ^Marin Gayford,"Adelaide Hall (King's Head Theatre, Islington, till 11 December)"(review),The Spectator,10 December 1988, p. 45.
- ^"Adelaide Hall, jazz singer",Desert Island Discs,2 December 1972.
- ^"Adelaide Hall, jazz singer",Desert Island Discs,13 January 1991.
- ^"Royal Ellington (1989)"Archived14 September 2014 at theWayback Machine,concert at the Royal Festival Hall. BFI.
- ^Gavin Bryars reminiscesabout the Adelaide Hall concert at the Studio Theatre[permanent dead link],Haymarket, Leicester.
- ^"Jazz on a Summer's Night: Sophisticated Lady (1990)"Archived2 August 2011 at theWayback Machine,BFI.
- ^"Gold Badge Award list for 1992".Archived fromthe originalon 14 July 2014.
- ^"Featured Content on Myspace".Myspace.
- ^"Died, Adelaide Hall"Archived13 May 2015 at theWayback Machine,Time Inc., 22 November 1993.
- ^"On This Day in History"Archived4 May 2014 at theWayback Machine,Brooklyn Eagle.
- ^Georgia Chambers,"Inspirational black British women throughout history",Evening Standard,11 October 2018.
- ^‘I Spy the Wolf' by Stephen Davis, ASIN: B06XJCWHJ1 - published 2017, Peakes Place Publications: La Grosse PommeChapter 20
- ^William N. Jones,"Twelve Sing Way Back to America",The Afro American,2 December 1939, p. 6: "Bricktophas been back in America several weeks while Adelaide Hall has been singing for the soldiers. Miss Hall, whose popularity with the British 'Tommy's' ranks with that ofGracie Fields,may remain in England as Miss Fields has recently suffered a breakdown. "Retrieved 14 October 2015.
- ^"100 Great Records of the 1920s".aceterrier.com.
- ^P. 194,The Collected Works of Langston Hughes: Works for Children and Young Adults– Biographies v. 12 (The Collected Works of Langston Hughes) Works for Children and Young Adults: Biographies by Langston Hughes, reissued 2001,ISBN978-0826213723.
- ^Anthony Slide,Chapter 36, Strange Brother,Lost Gay Novels:A Reference Guide to Fifty Works from the First Half of the Century.
- ^Stryker, Susan(2001).Queer Pulp: Perverted Passions from the Golden Age of the Paperback.San Francisco, CA: Chronicle Books. pp.97,100.ISBN9780811830201.
- ^Marsha Hunt,Like Venus FadingArchived24 September 2015 at theWayback Machine,Harper Collins.
- ^A Time in Ybor Cityby Ron Kase, Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (13 April 2017)ISBN978-1544098456– chapter 27.
- ^Gavin Bryars explainswhere he got the inspiration for his compositionWhen Harry Met Addie.
- ^John Fordham,"Ellington Now",The Guardian,4 May 1999. Retrieved 6 May 2023.
- ^"When Harry Met Addieconcert details ".Archived fromthe originalon 24 September 2015.Retrieved6 May2019.
- ^Scott, Jay (12 November 1984). "Making ofCotton Club:A Legend of its Own ".The Globe and Mail.
- ^Gussow, Michael (22 March 1984). "Parting Film Shots: Coppola and Dutch".The New York Times.
- ^Harmetz, Aljean (10 June 1984). "Cotton ClubInvestor Sues Partners in Film ".The New York Times.
- ^"The Wonderful Girls In Our Lives",1973, Morecambe & Wise.
- ^Underneath a Harlem Moonreview in theGuardian.Retrieved February 26, 2022.
- ^Underneath a Harlem Moonby Iain Cameron Williams, Worldcat.
- ^Stephen Clark – Design."Laura Mvula: Reflections of..."bluesandsoul.com.
- ^"Laura Mvula releases orchestral recording of 'Sing to the Moon'"Archived13 August 2014 at theWayback Machine.Retrieved 13 August 2014.
- ^Miranda Bryant,"Laura Mvula's over the Moon as she stars at Proms with orchestra",Evening Standard,8 August 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
- ^Kate Bussmann,"Laura Mvula records Sing to the Moon at Abbey Road Studios with a live orchestra",Telegraph,7 August 2014. Retrieved 13 August 2014.
- ^'Vice City' by XXXTentacion:Vice City
- ^Hayley Levitt,After Midnightreview,TheaterMania, 3 November 2013.
- ^"After Midnight – An Homage to Harlem's Golden Age",New York City Theatre.
- ^Marilyn Stasio,"Broadway Review: 'After Midnight'",Variety,3 November 2013.
- ^Isherwood, Charles (3 November 2013)."'After Midnight,' on Broadway, Fetes the Heyday of an Era ".The New York Times.
- ^"A Nite at the Cotton Club",Past shows, Southern Broadway Dinner Theatre.
- ^"ASCAP 100":Adelaide Hall's recording of "I Can't Give You Anything but Love, Baby" is chosen to represent 1928 in the ASCAP 100 years timeline. Retrieved 4 September 2014.
- ^Sherman's Showcase on AMC:Sherman's Showcase
- ^'Sherman's Showcase Black History Month Spectacular... in June', Friday, June 19 at 10 p.m. on AMC and 11 p.m. on IFC.
- ^Sherman's Showcase (trailer):"Black History Month Spectacular Trailer | Sherman's Showcase",via YouTube.
- ^Fawnia Soo Hoo,"The Special Meaning Behind the 'Sherman's Showcase Black History Month Spectacular... in June' Costumes",Sherman's Showcase,19 June 2020. Retrieved 30 September 2020.
- ^"Watch the Sherman's Showcase Black History Month Spectacular for Free".Sherman's Showcase (report).
- ^"7 Remarkable Black Women Who Shaped British History: Adelaide Hall".Vogue,15 June 2020.
- ^"Adelaide Hall, Entertainer".Black Plaque Project.
- ^"Black Plaque Project — Making Black history known history".Blackplaqueproject.com.Retrieved9 September2021.
- ^Lewis, Paul (22 March 2021)."Top 10 People of colour in Stage Musicals".1 Minute Theatre Reviews.Archived fromthe originalon 27 December 2021.Retrieved27 December2021.
- ^Women Inspirepodcast: Season 1, Episode 3, Adelaide Hall:"Sing to the moon Addie and the stars will shine".12 January 2021.
- ^"Adelaide Hall's 122nd Birthday".Doodles Archive.20 October 2023.
- ^Alex Finnis (20 October 2023)."Who was Adelaide Hall? Why a Google Doodle is celebrating the record-breaking jazz singer today".i.
- ^"Who was Adelaide Hall? Google Doodle celebrates London-based American jazz singer".Evening Standard.20 October 2023.
- ^"Record number of women celebrated with English Heritage blue plaques in 2024".English Heritage.11 January 2024.Retrieved12 January2024.
- ^"Adelaide Hall | singer | blue plaques".English Heritage.Retrieved9 July2024.
- ^BBC London News report and footage of the Adelaide Hall blue plaque unveiling ceremony and celebration,July 9, 2024
- ^"Victor matrix BVE-39370. Creole love call / Duke Ellington Orchestra".ucsb.edu.
- ^"Victor matrix BVE-39371. Blues I love to sing / Duke Ellington Orchestra".ucsb.edu.
- ^ab"1927 The Dooji Collection: Ellington 78 rpm labels".ellingtonweb.ca.
- ^"Victor matrix BVE-Test-110. Must have that man / Adelaide Hall".ucsb.edu.
- ^"Victor matrix BVE-Test-111. Baby / Adelaide Hall".ucsb.edu.
- ^"Adelaide Hall (vocalist: soprano vocal)".DAHR.
- ^abAdelaide Hall with Duke Ellington and His Famous Orchestra,Mosaic Records.
- ^"1933–1934 Dooji Collection: Ellington 78 rpm labels".ellingtonweb.ca.
- ^"Prestige Records Discography: 1933–1948".Jazzdisco.org.
- ^"Adelaide Hall: A rare BBC Recording (1939) resurfaced: You're blasé (HD)"– "You're Blasé" by Adelaide Hall with Stephane Grappelli.
- ^"TalkTalk Webspace is closing soon!!"(PDF).Talktalk.co.uk.
- ^"Adelaide Hall – Discography"at 45Cat
- ^"45cat – Adelaide Hall – Common Sense / Blue Bird On My Shoulder – Oriole – UK – CB 1556".45cat.com.
- ^Carolyn Hope."1940 UK".Hits of All Decades – Pop rock n roll Music Chart Hits.
- ^Carolyn Hope."1941 UK".Hits of All Decades –Pop rock n roll Music Chart Hits.
- ^"There Goes That Song Again" by Adelaide Hall at #15,6 June 1944 BBC Record Chart.
- ^"Song artist 44 - Duke Ellington".Tsort.info.Retrieved2 July2023.
- ^ab"Adelaide Hall | Adelaide Hall Discography".Jazz Music Archives.Retrieved27 July2024.
- ^"A Son of Satan (1924)".IMDb.com.Retrieved9 September2021.
- ^"Dancers in the Dark (1932)".IMDb.com.Retrieved9 September2021.
- ^IMDbOn the Air and Off(Short).
- ^Poster forON THE AIR AND OFF– (top left) Nick Lucas, (top right) Adelaide Hall, (bottom) Leon Belasco with Orchestra, 1933.Alamy.
- ^Motion Picture Herald,Oct. 28, 1933, page 62,On The Air And Off(review)
- ^"Broadway Varieties (Short 1934)".IMDb.com.Retrieved9 September2021.
- ^Motion Picture Herald,Feb. 17, 1934, page 39,Broadway Varieties(review)
- '^The Film Daily,Feb. 8, 1934, page 9,Broadway Varieties(review) ‘Adelaide Hall... puts over ‘Stormy Weather.
- ^"An All-Colored Vaudeville Show (Short 1935)".IMDb.com.Retrieved9 September2021.
- ^"The Kentucky Minstrels (TV Special 1939)".IMDb.com.Retrieved9 September2021.
- ^"The Thief of Bagdad (1940)".IMDb.com.Retrieved9 September2021.
- ^Thief of BagdadAdelaide Hall appears at 29:25 minutes in the movie.
- ^Behind The Blackout(1940),British Pathé Newsreel.
- ^Stars In Your Eyes(TV series, UK) (1946-1950):Made for TV series (under 30 minutes). An episode from the series in which Miss Hall appears is housed in a UK archive. In segment (14.07.47) Adelaide Hall, vocal. In segment (27.03.48) Adelaide Hall, vocal. (Personnel On Camera). Motion Picture (Form). Library of Congress:Stars In Your Eyes
- ^"Variety in Sepia (1947)".IMDb.com.Retrieved9 September2021.
- ^Adelaide Hall,BFI film listings.
- ^A World Is Turning– Historian and News Curator, Luke McKernan, discusses his role in rediscovering 7-reels of the previously thought to be lost 1948 UK film documentaryA World Is Turning.
- ^Olivelli's(1951),British Pathé Newsreel.
- ^The British Lion Film Production disc collection (held at theBritish Library) contains music from the film soundtrack ofNight and the Cityon which Adelaide Hall is featured:"Music for film soundtrack – Night and the City – 1047X take 1 | 1046X take 7 | 1046X take 8–10".The British Library.
- ^abcdefAdelaide Hall Filmography (BFI).Retrieved 26 September 2020.
- ^Parkinso300th Edition,featuring Adelaide Hall. IMDb. Retrieved 26 September 2020.
- ^"Chasing a Rainbow: The Life of Josephine Baker (1986)".IMDb.com.Retrieved2 July2023.
- ^"Brown Sugar (TV Mini Series 1986– )".IMDb.com.Retrieved9 September2021.
- ^"Sophisticated Lady (1989)".IMDb.com.Retrieved9 September2021.
- ^"Women in Wartime".Imperial War Museums.Archived fromthe originalon 3 September 2014.Retrieved22 March2013.
- ^"Latest 7 » Dress is more".thelatest.co.uk.Archived fromthe originalon 25 May 2013.
- ^Little Black Dress exhibitionArchived25 August 2014 atarchive.today,Brighton & Hove Museum.Adelaide Hall exhibit information. Retrieved 24 August 2014.
- ^"Devotional | Sonia Boyce".Npg.org.uk.National Portrait Gallery.Retrieved16 July2023.
- ^"Devotional | Adelaide Hall (1901-1993)".npg.org.uk.National Portrait Gallery.Retrieved16 July2012.
- ^"Little Black Dress at the Fashion & Textile Museum",Sunday, 22 June 2008. London SE1 Community website.
- ^Angie Macdonald,"Keep Smiling Through",11 April 2008.
- ^"Keep Smiling Through: Black Londoners on the Home Front 1939–1945",All in London.
- ^"Jazzonia and the Harlem Diaspora"(PDF).Judithwaring.com.Retrieved10 October2019.
- ^"Jazzonia & the Harlem Diaspora, Curated by Diana Rodriguez & Judith Waring",Chelsea Space.
- ^Mike Flynn,"Art College Hosts Jazzonia And The Harlem Diaspora Exhibition",Jazzwise,8 July 2009.
- ^Lalayn Baluch,"London Palladium hosts exhibition celebrating black performance history",The Stage,19 June 2009.
- ^"nomorepotlucks » Fluid Locations: Discussing Archives and Representation with Sonia Boyce – Sally Frater".Nomorepotlucks.org.
- ^"Oh Adelaide!"Vimeo.
- ^"There is no archive in which nothing gets lost".Art & Education, 2012.
- ^"There is no archive in which nothing gets lost".Archived28 February 2013 at theWayback MachineMuseum of Fine Arts Houston.
- ^Carrie Marie Schneider,"Inter(re)view with Sally Frater, curator of 'There is no archive in which nothing gets lost'",Glasstire, 4 November 2012.
- ^Marianne Vlaschits,"Creole Love Call"Archived5 May 2014 at theWayback Machine,ViertelNeun Gallery.
- ^"Temporary: The Harlem Renaissance".kurahulanda.com.Archived fromthe originalon 23 December 2012.Retrieved10 April2013.
- ^Sonia Boyce,"Scat: Sound and Collaboration",Iniva, 20 July 2013.
- ^"Scat: Sound and Collaboration",5 June – 27 July 2013, Iniva.
- ^Dana Liss,"Permanent Collection Highlight Sonia Boyce: Untitled, 2006"(from the "Rivington Place Portfolio" ).Studio Blog,Studio Museum Harlem, 19 December 2013.
- ^"Black Women in Britain" exhibitionArchived12 February 2015 at theWayback Machinedetails website, retrieved 25 August 2014.
- ^Ailis Brennan,"Celebrate 100 years of jazz in the UK with a new exhibition at Two Temple Place",Evening Standard,30 January 2018. Retrieved 19 February 2018.
- ^Rhythm & Reaction: The Age of Jazz in Britain(exhibition),Two Temple Place, 2018.
- ^The Women Behind Television
- ^"Adelaide Hall Collection, 1928–2003, undated",Archives of African American Music and Culture, Indiana University.
- ^"Adelaide Hall Collection, 1928–2003. A Guide to the collection at the Indiana University Archives of African American Music and Culture",Archives Online at Indiana University.
- ^Jazzonia and the Harlem Diasporawas one such exhibition.
- ^Adelaide Hall collections.The British Library.
- ^"Music for film soundtrack – Night and the City – 1047X take 1 | 1046X take 7 | 1046X take 8–10".The British Library.
- ^"Portrait of singer Adelaide Hall by Germaine Krull, Paris, 1929".Detroit Public Library Digital Collections.
- ^Guide to the Rosetta Reitz Papers, 1929–2008.Duke University Libraries.
- ^"Adelaide Hall Sings: circa 1945: Adelaide Hall (1901–1993) singing 'There's Something In The Air' at a bottle party in the Florida nightclub. The pianist is Fela Sowande".Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images.
- ^"Adelaide Hall: Jazz singer Adelaide Hall (1901–1993) in concert, circa 1930".Photo by Fox Photos/Hulton Archive/Getty Images.
- ^Adelaide Hall portrait[permanent dead link],photograph by John D. Kisch, 1934.
- ^"Blackbirds Of 1928".Adelaide Hall caricature by Al Hirschfeld, published 7 May 1928.
- ^"Blackbirds".Adelaide Hall caricature by Al Hirschfeld, published 5 May 1929.
- ^"David Lund Collection | Adelaide Hall with The Alan Clare Trio and John McLeary",The British Library.
- ^"Adelaide Hall, 1928",Millersville UniversitySpecial Collection.
- ^Full-length portrait of Adelaide Hall, 1929 by photographer Manuel G. L. Freres,Alinari Images (Archive).
- ^Head portrait of Adelaide Hall, 1925 unknown photographer,Alinari Images (Archive).
- ^TheNational Jazz Archive– Adelaide Hall:Adelaide Hall.
- ^"Adelaide Hall (1901–1993), Singer and actress".NPG, London (archive).
- ^NYPR Archive Collections, WNYC, New York Public Library:NYPR Archives NYPR Archive Collections
- ^Lithograph with pochoir coloring on paper © 1997 Estate of Paul Colin / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York / ADAGP, Paris: Object Number: NPG.91.199.1C, Smithsonian, National Portrait Gallery Collection, Washington D.C.
- ^Souvenir cotton headscarf containing a printed picture of Adelaide Hall on it ca. 1930s–1950s.V&A Theatre and Performance Collection.
- ^"Adelaide Hall on the stage of the Palace Theatre",Beinecke Digital Collections.
- ^"Adelaide Hall",Beinecke Digital Collections.
- ^Sarah Coggrave (17 December 2020)."Oral History of Jazz in Britain: Max Jones interviews Adelaide Hall".British Library.
External links
[edit]- Adelaide HallatIMDb
- Lucy Shacklock,"Adelaide Hall",African Stories in Hull & East Yorkshire.
- A Cabaret Momentstarring Adelaide Hall,features a live recording of Hall in concert in New York in the early 1990s. The program was aired on 13 May 1990 onWNCARadio, and was presented by Don Smith on his radio showCabaret Night.WNYC, New York City (retrieved 26 September 2020):Adelaide Hall (on WNYC Radio)A Cabaret Moment starring Adelaide Hall, hosted by Donald F. Smith. WNYC archives id: 225027.
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- 1901 births
- 1993 deaths
- 20th-century African-American women singers
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- 20th-century American singers
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- African-American actresses
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- African-American female dancers
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- American musical theatre actresses
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- Decca Records artists
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