In Netflix's new film Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Viola Davis stars as the heavy makeup-wearing, velvety-voiced, super confident Ma Rainey. Based on August Wilson's play of the same name, most of the ...

In Netflix's new film Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, Viola Davis stars as the heavy makeup-wearing, velvety-voiced, super confident Ma Rainey. Based on August Wilson's play of the same name, most of the ...

One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today. SHAPIRO: Or does rock 'n' roll owe a ...

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. If Bessie Smith were alive today, she'd likely be singing the blues about North Carolina. A state advisory panel has recommended ...

All About Jazz is celebrating Bessie Smith's birthday today! “Empress of the Blues” She embodied the meaning of the blues, living the life she sang about. Bessie Smith set the standard for blues ...

(ThyBlackMan.com) As the undisputed “Empress of the Blues,” Bessie Smith’s voice is a cornerstone of American music history. Her raw emotion, unwavering strength, and uncompromising style helped shape ...

On this day, 100 years ago, Columbia Records held a recording session with a singer named Bessie Smith. The country at large didn't know her then, but soon found out because she was launching a career ...

Bessie Smith, Empress of the Blues, was the first African American superstar, an artist that mingled regal dignity with sensuality. We’ll sample her recorded legacy, talk with critics and hear ...

When Bryan Greenberg stepped on set to film Bessie, he was immediately dazzled by the magnitude of the film's priduction as well as Queen Latifah's performance. By Jocelyn Vena When Bryan Greenberg ...

"The Devil's Music" is not much of a play, but it is a socko cabaret act. Subtitled "The Life and Blues of Bessie Smith," the 90-minute entertainment is set in a Memphis "buffet flat," an after-hours ...

August 5, 2019 • There's a world of music you enter when you open the Bessie Smith door. Our playlist showcases some of of Smith's best songs, as well as music from her influences and inheritors.

The Makar of Scotland, their poet laureate, from 2016 to 2021, Jackie Kay discusses growing up Black and adopted in an all-white section of Glasgow. Her imaginary family included Bessie Smith. She ...