Daisy Martin ( c. 1914 – c. 1925) was an American

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

singer in the

classic female blues Classic female blues was an early form of blues music, popular in the 1920s. An amalgam of traditional folk blues and urban theater music, the style is also known as vaudeville blues. Classic blues were performed by female singers accompanied by ...

style. She toured the eastern and midwestern United States in

black vaudeville Black Vaudeville is a term that specifically describes Vaudeville-era African American entertainers and the milieus of dance, music, and theatrical performances they created. Spanning the years between the 1880s and early 1930s, these acts not onl ...

in the 1910s and early 1920s. In 1914 she appeared in the

revue A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatre, theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketch comedy, sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural pre ...

''My Friend from Kentucky'' at the National Theater in

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. In 1917 she performed in the musical comedy ''My People'', which also featured Sam Gray and Julia Moody. In 1920 she appeared at the Strand Theatre in Chicago in the revue ''Hello 1919''. Martin was one of the first black women to sing blues on recordings when she recorded for the

Gennett Gennett Records () was an American record company and label in Richmond, Indiana, United States, which flourished in the 1920s and produced the Gennett, Starr, Champion, Superior, and Van Speaking labels. The company also produced some Supertone, ...

and

Okeh OKeh Records () is an American record label founded by the Otto Heinemann Phonograph Corporation, a phonograph supplier established in 1916, which branched out into phonograph records in 1918. The name originally was spelled "OkeH" from the init ...

labels in April 1921. On her first sides, "

Royal Garden Blues "Royal Garden Blues" is a blues song composed by Clarence Williams and Spencer Williams in 1919. Popularized in jazz by the Original Dixieland Jazz Band,

" and "Spread Yo' Stuff", she was accompanied by the Five Jazz Bell Hops, whose identities are unknown. Her final session was in July 1923. In total she recorded 16 sides. On January 20, 1922, she competed in a blues-singing contest with

Lucille Hegamin Lucille Nelson Hegamin (November 29, 1894 – March 1, 1970) was an American singer and entertainer and an early African-American blues recording artist. Life and career Lucille Nelson was born in Macon, Georgia, the daughter of John and Minnie ...

, Alice Leslie Carter and

Trixie Smith Trixie Smith (c.1885/1895 – September 21, 1943), was an American blues singer and film actress. She made four dozen recordings and appeared in five films. Biography Born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, Smith came from a middle-class backgroun ...

(the eventual winner) at the Manhattan Casino in New York City.Tracy, Steve. CD booklet. ''Daisy Martin & Ozie McPherson: Complete Recorded Works 1921–1926 in Chronological Order''. Document Records: DODC-5522. For this contest, which was a highlight of the Fifteenth Infantry's First Band Concert and Dance,

Noble Sissle Noble Lee Sissle (July 10, 1889 – December 17, 1975) was an American jazz composer, lyricist, bandleader, singer, and playwright, best known for the Broadway musical ''Shuffle Along'' (1921), and its hit song "I'm Just Wild About Harry". Ea ...

was master of ceremonies, and

Fiorello la Guardia Fiorello Henry La Guardia (born Fiorello Raffaele Enrico La Guardia; December 11, 1882September 20, 1947) was an American attorney and politician who represented New York in the U.S. House of Representatives and served as the 99th mayor of New Yo ...

served as one of the judges.Stewart-Baxter 1970, p. 23. Blues writer Steve Tracy wrote in 1997 that "Martin is really not one of the better vaudeville blues singers, possessed as she is of a soprano voice with a very stilted vibrato effect". Few of the players who accompanied her on record have been identified, but the band at one of her sessions included Gus Aiken, Jake Frazier, and

Garvin Bushell Garvin Bushell ''(né'' Garvin Lamont Payne; September 25, 1902 – October 31, 1991) was an American clarinetist, saxophonist, and bassoonist. He performed with many prominent 20th-century jazz musicians, including Jelly Roll Morton and John Co ...

. Martin's complete recordings were reissued in CD format by

Document Records Document Records is an independent record label, founded in Austria and now based in Scotland, that specializes in reissuing vintage blues and jazz. The company has been recognised by The Blues Foundation, being honoured with a Keeping the Bl ...

in 1997 on ''Daisy Martin & Ozie McPherson: Complete Recorded Works 1921–1926 In Chronological Order'' (DODC-5522).

Notes

References

Allmusic.com entry
*Stewart-Baxter, Derrick. 1970. ''Ma Rainey and the classic blues singers''. London: Studio Vista. Classic female blues singers American blues singers Gennett Records artists Okeh Records artists American vaudeville performers Place of birth missing Place of death missing Year of death missing Year of birth uncertain 20th-century African-American women singers 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American singers {{US-singer-stub