Dandridge Sisters

The Dandridge Sisters were an African-American all-girl singing trio, started in 1934 in Los Angeles, California, and ended in 1940, comprising the sisters Vivian and Dorothy Dandridge together with their friend Etta Jones (not the more well-known Jazz vocalist, Etta Jones (1928-2011). They had a short period of fame traveling around the United States performing for night clubs, theatres, radio shows, and eventually left the US to tour in Europe. Dorothy Dandridge, however, decided to become a solo artist, so the band split up and each woman then pursued small projects individually.

Both Vivian and Dorothy Dandridge originally made up the band "The Wonder Children", organized by their mother, Ruby Dandridge (also a performer) in Cleveland, Ohio. When they added Etta Jones to the group, they changed their name to “The Dandridge Sisters,” and moved to Los Angeles, California. They originally began performing as aspiring dancers, after studying at the Loretta Butler School of Dance and the Nash Dancing Company in Los Angeles, as well as the Mary Bruce School of Ballet in Chicago, Illinois. However, the trio decided to enter into a radio show contest at KNX Radio in Los Angeles just for the fun, and ended up winning over more than 30 white contestants. This brought them recognition in the music world as singers. They began performing shows around Los Angeles in various night clubs and theatres, and then were invited by Joe Glazer (the promoter for the Cotton Club) to perform at the Cotton Club in New York City alongside other famous musicians. They decided to move to New York with their mother, Ruby Dandridge, although they were each only 14 years old at the time. They were so well-liked at the Cotton Club that they were given a regular spot on the show.

The trio became highly recognized as a musical trio at the Cotton Club and were often compared to another famous group, the Andrews Sisters. Although the Dandridge Sisters studied as dancers, their music career led them to study music more technically so as to be more stable artists. After working in New York, they began to be chaperoned by their aunt, Geneva Williams, rather than their mother. They moved to the islands of Hawaii for five months performing a show, and then moved back to Hollywood to work on musical shorts. In Hollywood, they worked for the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios and appeared in a short film including Louis Armstrong called Going Places. They then went back to New York to perform at the Cotton Club and other nightclubs and theatres. They eventually went to Europe in 1939 to perform and travel around in cities in England and Ireland. They performed at the London Palladium in a show with the Jack Harris Orchestra and a comedian named Jack Durant. However, Europe was recovering from war at the time and the sisters admitted to many dangers on their trip. When they came back, they hit the height of their stardom in 1940. They toured around with Jimmie Lunceford and his big band orchestra, and recorded four songs with them.

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