Ivie Anderson
| Ivie Anderson | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Ivie Anderson |
| Also known as | Ivy Anderson |
| Born |
July 10, 1905 Gilroy, California, United States |
| Died | December 28, 1949 (aged 44) Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Genres | Jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Associated acts | Duke Ellington |
Ivie Anderson (sometimes Ivy) (July 10, 1905 – December 28, 1949) was an American jazz singer born in Gilroy, California. Though her mother's name is unknown, her father was Jobe Smith. Anderson lived at 724 E. 52nd Place, Los Angeles, from 1930 to 1945, now part of the 52nd Place Historic District.
From age nine to thirteen, Anderson attended St. Mary’s Convent and studied voice. At Gilroy grammar and high school, she joined glee club and choral society. She also studied voice under Sara Ritt while in Nannie H. Burroughs Institution in Washington D.C.
Although specific dates of events in Anderson's life were unknown, she opened Ivie's Chicken Shack in Los Angeles alongside Marque Neal after they had married but sold the business when they divorced. She had a second marriage with Walter Collins but no children.
After suffering for years from asthma, Ivie Anderson died in Los Angeles, California. Though her earliest obituary was dated as December 27, 1949; all other sources state her date of death as December 28, 1949. She is interred in Angelus-Rosedale Cemetery.
Anderson’s singing career officially started around 1921 when she performed in Los Angeles, California. From 1922 to 1923, she was brought to New York City by joining a pioneering African-American musical revenue Shuffle Along. By 1924 and 1925, she had already performed in various locations such as Cuba, the Cotton Club in New York City, and Los Angeles with the bands of Paul Howard, Curtis Mosby, and Sonny Clay. In 1928, she sang in Australia with Clay’s band and starred in Frank Sebastian's Cotton Club in Los Angeles in April. Soon after, she finally began touring in the United States as a solo singer.
From 1930 to early 1931, Anderson spent twenty weeks at the Grand Terrace in Chicago, Illinois, with pianist Earl Hines’s band. In February 1931, she officially joined Duke Ellington’s orchestra band. Anderson’s singing career for the next dozen years was mainly based on touring in various areas within the United States alongside Ellington’s band. She sang in Ellington’s first European performance in 1933. (Prior to Ellington signing Anderson, he had never had a regular vocalist. The records he recorded prior to 1931 with vocals were made up of Ellington's musicians, freelance vocalists or vocalists supplied by the record company at the time of the session. Manager Irving Mills sang on a handful of sides, as well.)
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