Ada Scott Brown (May 1, 1890 – March 30, 1950) was an American

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...

singer. She is best known for her recordings of "Ill Natural Blues", "Break o' Day Blues", and "Evil Mama Blues.

Biography

Brown was born and raised in

Kansas City, Kansas Kansas City, abbreviated as "KCK", is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas, and the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is an inner suburb of the older and more populous Kansas City, Missouri, after which it is named. As of the ...

. Her cousin

James Scott James Scott may refer to: Entertainment * James Scott (composer) (1885–1938), African-American ragtime composer * James Scott (director) (born 1941), British filmmaker * James Scott (actor) (born 1979), British television actor * James Scott (Sh ...

was a ragtime composer and pianist. Her early career was spent primarily on stage in musical theater and vaudeville. She recorded with Bennie Moten in 1926; the side "Evil Mama Blues" is possibly the earliest recording of Kansas City jazz. Aside from her time with Moten, she did several tours alongside bandleaders such as

George E. Lee George Ewing Lee (April 28, 1896 – October 2, 1958) was an American jazz bandleader. Born in Boonville, Missouri, Lee was the older brother of pianist/singer Julia Lee. He played in a band while serving in the Army in 1917; following this he sa ...

. Brown was a founding member of the Negro Actors Guild of America in 1936. She worked at the London Palladium and on Broadway in the late 1930s. She sang " That Ain't Right" with

Fats Waller Thomas Wright "Fats" Waller (May 21, 1904 – December 15, 1943) was an American jazz pianist, organist, composer, violinist, singer, and comedic entertainer. His innovations in the Harlem stride style laid much of the basis for modern jazz pi ...

in the musical film '' Stormy Weather'' (1943). She also appeared in ''Harlem to Hollywood'', accompanied by Harry Swannagan. Brown was featured on two tracks of the

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one or several Performing arts#Performers, performers. If by one artist, then generally the tr ...

''Ladies Sing the Blues'' ("Break o' Day Blues" and "Evil Mama Blues"). Brown died in Kansas City of

kidney disease Kidney disease, or renal disease, technically referred to as nephropathy, is damage to or disease of a kidney. Nephritis is an inflammatory kidney disease and has several types according to the location of the inflammation. Inflammation can ...

in March 1950.

References

External links

* Eugene Chadbourne
Ada Brown
at AllMusic * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Brown, Ada 1890 births 1950 deaths American blues singers Singers from Kansas Okeh Records artists Deaths from kidney disease 20th-century American singers 20th-century American women singers