USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Her first recording was “Down-hearted Blues, ” written by blues singer Alberta Hunter and pianist Lovie Austin. The 1923 song was a major hit and it launched Smith into the national spotlight. Beyond blues, Smith played and recorded with jazz musicians, including Louis Armstrong and Sidney Bechet.

Detailed explanation-2: -[19] So-called Empress of the Blues, Bessie Smith’s vocal style is typically characterized as powerful, authoritative, passionate, featuring a subtle control of intonation that admits sliding melodic movement into and out of pitches as well as various shades of “blue” notes.

Detailed explanation-3: -Bessie Smith’s subject matter was the classic material of the blues: poverty and oppression, love-betrayed or unrequited-and stoic acceptance of defeat at the hands of a cruel and indifferent world.

Detailed explanation-4: -Bessie Smith was called the Empress of the Blues, but she was also the highest paid African American entertainer of her generation.