Estelle Yancey
Encyclopedia
Estelle "Mama" Yancey was an American
blues
singer. She was nominated four times for the Blues Music Awards as "Traditional Blues Female Artist."
, grew up in Chicago
, where she sang in church choirs and learned how to play the guitar. In 1917, when she was 21, she married Jimmy Yancey
, who had traveled the U.S. and Europe as a vaudeville dancer. She often sang with him at informal get-togethers and house parties in the 1930s and 1940s and performed with him at Carnegie Hall
, New York
in 1948. Because Jimmy Yancey was a great boogie-woogie
/blues piano player, Estelle recorded frequently with her husband. In 1943, the Yanceys recorded for Session Records, and went back into the studio to record the album Pure Blues for Atlantic Records. The session was just a few months before Jimmy Yancey's death that same year.
Estelle continued to perform and record. One of the best examples of her soulful, expressive vocals can be found on an album for Atlantic Records, Jimmy and Mama Yancey: Chicago Piano, Vol. 1. (1952). Songs include "Lady Bump," "Devil Eyes," "Wizard Bump," "A-B-C of Love," "1-2-3-4...Fire!," "Big Bad Boy," "Baby Doll," "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes
," "I'm Knocking (At Your Door)."
Mama Yancey's recordings with other pianists include "South Side Blues" for the Riverside label (1961), some records with Art Hodes
for Verve Records in 1965, and Maybe I'll Cry with Erwin Helfer
for the Red Beans label in 1983, recorded at age 87.
Estelle Yancey died April 19, 1986 in Chicago, Illinois.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
singer. She was nominated four times for the Blues Music Awards as "Traditional Blues Female Artist."
Life and career
Yancey, born Estella Harris in Cairo, IllinoisCairo, Illinois
Cairo is the southernmost city in the U.S. state of Illinois. It is the county seat of Alexander County. Cairo is located at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers. The rivers converge at Fort Defiance State Park, an American Civil War fort that was commanded by General Ulysses S. Grant...
, grew up in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, where she sang in church choirs and learned how to play the guitar. In 1917, when she was 21, she married Jimmy Yancey
Jimmy Yancey
James Edwards "Jimmy" Yancey was an African American boogie-woogie pianist, composer, and lyricist. One reviewer noted him as "one of the pioneers of this raucous, rapid-fire, eight-to-the-bar piano style"....
, who had traveled the U.S. and Europe as a vaudeville dancer. She often sang with him at informal get-togethers and house parties in the 1930s and 1940s and performed with him at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City, United States, located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
, New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
in 1948. Because Jimmy Yancey was a great boogie-woogie
Boogie-woogie (music)
Boogie-woogie is a style of piano-based blues that became popular in the late 1930s and early 1940s, but originated much earlier, and was extended from piano, to three pianos at once, guitar, big band, and country and western music, and even gospel. Whilst the blues traditionally depicts a variety...
/blues piano player, Estelle recorded frequently with her husband. In 1943, the Yanceys recorded for Session Records, and went back into the studio to record the album Pure Blues for Atlantic Records. The session was just a few months before Jimmy Yancey's death that same year.
Estelle continued to perform and record. One of the best examples of her soulful, expressive vocals can be found on an album for Atlantic Records, Jimmy and Mama Yancey: Chicago Piano, Vol. 1. (1952). Songs include "Lady Bump," "Devil Eyes," "Wizard Bump," "A-B-C of Love," "1-2-3-4...Fire!," "Big Bad Boy," "Baby Doll," "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes
Smoke Gets in Your Eyes
"Smoke Gets in Your Eyes" is a show tune written by American composer Jerome Kern and lyricist Otto Harbach for their 1933 operetta Roberta. It was originally recorded by Gertrude Niesen, on 13 October 1933 on the Victor label 24454. It was performed by Irene Dunne for the 1935 film adaptation,...
," "I'm Knocking (At Your Door)."
Mama Yancey's recordings with other pianists include "South Side Blues" for the Riverside label (1961), some records with Art Hodes
Art Hodes
Arthur W. Hodes , known professionally as Art Hodes, was an American jazz pianist.-Biography:...
for Verve Records in 1965, and Maybe I'll Cry with Erwin Helfer
Erwin Helfer
Erwin Helfer is an American boogie-woogie, blues and jazz pianist.-Biography:Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, United States, as a child Helfer was more interested in classical music than blues. Helfer was introduced to piano blues as a young teenager growing up in Chicago in the early 1950s...
for the Red Beans label in 1983, recorded at age 87.
Estelle Yancey died April 19, 1986 in Chicago, Illinois.
Selective discography
| Year | Title | Genre | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1943 | Pure Blues | Blues | Atlantic |
| 1952 | Jimmy and Mama Yancey: Chicago Piano, Vol. 1. | Blues | Atlantic |
| 1983 | Maybe I'll Cry | Blues | Evidence |