CHRISTINE CHATMAN

 

Vocalist, musician [piano, accordion], songwriter and bandleader. She played in Snookum Russell's band in the early 1940s. Later she formed her own group which included Big Maybelle as vocalist.  ( * ) 

Nos encontramos ante uno de estos casos flagrante de falta de información acerca del artista que nos trae a colación , afortunadamente sí que se dispone de grabaciones suyas , que os ofrecemos y en las cuales se puede disfrutar y oir a una pianista , sin duda con una fuerte personalidad , además de compositora y bandleader de su propia orquesta . 

(*) Born in Jackson, Tennessee, on May 1, 1924, Big Maybelle sang gospel as a child; by her teens, she had switched to rhythm and blues. She began her professional career with Dave Clark's Memphis Band in 1936, and also toured with the all-female International Sweethearts of Rhythm.[3] She then joined Christine Chatman's Orchestra, and made her first recordings with Chatman in 1944, before recording with the Tiny Bradshaw's Orchestra from 1947 to 1950.

Her debut solo recordings, recorded as Mabel Smith, were for King Records in 1947, where she was backed by Oran "Hot Lips" Page; however, she had little initial success.