Josephine Baker – Bonsoir My Love - recordings from 1930-1937

 

Josephine Baker (born Freda Josephine McDonald, naturalised French Joséphine Baker; 3 June 1906 – 12 April 1975) was an American-born French entertainer, French Resistance agent and civil rights activist. Her career was centered primarily in Europe, mostly in her adopted France. She was the first black woman to star in a major motion picture, the 1927 silent film Siren of the Tropics, directed by Mario Nalpas and Henri Étiévant.

During her early career, Baker was among the most celebrated performers to headline the revues of the Folies Bergère in Paris. Her performance in the revue Un vent de folie in 1927 caused a sensation in the city. Her costume, consisting of only a short skirt of artificial bananas and a beaded necklace, became an iconic image and a symbol both of the Jazz Age and the Roaring Twenties.

Baker was celebrated by artists and intellectuals of the era, who variously dubbed her the "Black Venus", the "Black Pearl", the "Bronze Venus", and the "Creole Goddess". Born in St. Louis, Missouri, she renounced her U.S. citizenship and became a French national after her marriage to French industrialist Jean Lion in 1937. She raised her children in France.

She aided the French Resistance during World War II. After the war, she was awarded the Resistance Medal by the French Committee of National Liberation, the Croix de Guerre by the French military, and was named a Chevalier of the Légion d'honneur by General Charles de Gaulle. Baker sang: "I have two loves, my country and Paris."

Baker refused to perform for segregated audiences in the United States and is noted for her contributions to the civil rights movement. In 1968, she was offered unofficial leadership in the movement in the United States by Coretta Scott King, following Martin Luther King Jr.'s assassination. After thinking it over, Baker declined the offer out of concern for the welfare of her children.

On 30 November 2021, she entered the Panthéon in Paris, the first black woman to receive one of the highest honors in France.

This compilation is from recordings she made from 1930-1937 where she is accompanied by various artists including the Orchestra Melodic Jazz of the Casino De Paris, Adrien Lamy, Pills and Tabet, The Comedian Harmonists, Lecuona Cuban Boys and the Wal-Berg Orchestra.

Tracklist
1        J'Ai Deux Amours 3:09
2        La Petite Tonkinoise    2:37
3        Voulez-Vous De La Canne A Sucre    2:55
4        Dis-Moi Josephine    3:06
5        Ram-Pam-Pam 2:38
6        Si J'Etais Blanche    2:39
7        Madiana    2:58
8        Les Mots D'Amour    2:51
9        C'est Lui    2:59
10        Haiti    3:14
11        Sous Le Ciel D'Afrique    3:17
12        Espabilate    2:47
13        Partir Sur Un Bateau Blanc    3:03
14        Nuit D'Alger    2:50
15        Doudou    3:09
16        Nuits De Miami    2:51
17        Mayari    3:15
18        La Conga Blicoti    2:24
19        Vous Faites Partie De Moi    3:04
20        C'est Si Facile De Vous Aimer    2:58
21        C'est Un Nid Charmant    3:07
22        Comme Une Banque    3:08
23        J'ai Un Message Pour Toi    3:05
24        Bonsoir My Love    2:51

Josephine Baker

https://youtu.be/_h6GWWX6MQQ

The Ink Spots - Swing High Swing Low

 

The Ink Spots were an American vocal jazz group who gained international fame in the 1930s and 1940s. Their unique musical style presaged the rhythm and blues and rock and roll musical genres, and the sub-genre doo-wop. The Ink Spots were widely accepted in both the white and black communities, largely due to the ballad style introduced to the group by lead singer Bill Kenny.

In 1989, the Ink Spots (Bill Kenny, Charlie Fuqua, Deek Watson, Jerry Daniels and Orville Jones) were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and in 1999 they were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame.

Swing High Swing Low

https://youtu.be/NpwVpz56riE 

 

Berlin Comedian Harmonists - Ein Lied geht um die Welt (A song goes around the world )

 

Internationally successful German vocal group, founded in December 1927, split up in March 1935.

Originally created in imitation of the American The Revelers and called "The Melody Makers," the "Comedian Harmonists," a vocal quintet accompanied by a pianist, developed their own close harmony style. The five singers blended their voices so closely together that there was usually no more than an interval of a twelfth between top and bottom voices; individual singers would emerge from this close vocal texture for solos, and tenor buffo Frommermann, in particular, would contribute comical voice imitations of instruments. The ensemble's repertoire ranged from German Schlager ("Veronika, Der Lenz Ist Da," 1930) and German versions of jazz-tinged American pop songs ("Wochenend Und Sonnenschein" = "Happy Days Are Here Again," 1930) and a vocalized version of Duke Ellington's "Creole Love Call" (1933) to German folk songs ("In Einem Kühlen Grunde," 1932). The Comedian Harmonists recorded first for Odeon (1928-1929), from October 1929 to March 1935 for Electrola. 

 Ein Lied geht um die Welt