![203 Sweet Emma 1980](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c6/203_Sweet_Emma_1980.jpg)
"Sweet Emma" Barrett (March 25, 1897,
, Louisiana – January 28, 1983) was an American, self-taught
jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...
pianist and singer who worked with the Original Tuxedo Orchestra between 1923 and 1936, first under
Papa Celestin
Oscar Phillip Celestin (January 1, 1884 – December 15, 1954) better known by stage name Papa Celestin was an American jazz trumpeter and bandleader.
Life and career
Celestin was born in Napoleonville, Louisiana, to a Creole family, son of a s ...
, then William Ridgely. She also worked with
Armand Piron
Armand John "A.J." Piron (August 16, 1888 – February 17, 1943) was an American jazz violinist who led a dance band during the 1920s.
Biography
In 1915, Piron and Clarence Williams started the Piron and Williams Publishing Company. In their ...
,
John Robichaux
John Robichaux (1866–1939) was an American jazz bandleader, drummer, and violinist. He was the uncle of Joseph Robichaux.
Career
He was born in Thibodaux, Louisiana, United States, on January 16, 1866. John Robichaux moved to New Orleans, L ...
,
Sidney Desvigne, and the
Preservation Hall Jazz Band
The Preservation Hall Jazz Band is a New Orleans jazz band founded in New Orleans by tuba player Allan Jaffe in the early 1960s. The band derives its name from Preservation Hall in the French Quarter. In 2005, the Hall's doors were closed for a p ...
.
Biography
Born March 25, 1897 in
, Louisiana. Her father was Capt. William B. Barrett, who she said fought for the North in the
Civil War
A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country).
The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...
.
At the age of 7 she began to play the piano.
In the early 1920s, Barrett joined
Oscar Celestin's Original Tuxedo Jazz Orchestra.
In 1928, when the Celestin's band split, she intermittently played music with Bebe Ridgeley's Tuxedo Jazz Orchestra for the next 10 years.
In 1947, she accepted a steady job at Happy Landing, a local
club
Club may refer to:
Arts, entertainment, and media
* ''Club'' (magazine)
* Club, a '' Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character
* Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards
* Club music
* "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea''
Brands and enterprises ...
in Pecaniere, Louisiana, but it was her
recording
A record, recording or records may refer to:
An item or collection of data Computing
* Record (computer science), a data structure
** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity
** Boot sector or boot record, r ...
debut in 1961, with her own
album
An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early 20th century as individual 78 rpm records co ...
in the
Riverside Records
Riverside Records was an American jazz record company and label. Founded by Orrin Keepnews and Bill Grauer, Jr, under his firm Bill Grauer Productions in 1953, the label played an important role in the jazz record industry for a decade. Riverside ...
''New Orleans: The Living Legends'' series, that brought her recognition. Although most of the songs on the album were instrumentals, others featured vocals by Barrett that the
liner notes
Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes.
Origin
Liner notes are desc ...
described as her first recordings as a vocalist.
She was nicknamed "Bell Gal" because she wore a red skull cap and garters with Christmas bells that jingled in time with her music. She was featured on the cover of ''
Glamour'' magazine and written about in publications in the U.S. and Europe. She toured with the Preservation Hall Jazz Band domestically and internationally, including a stint at
Disneyland
Disneyland is a theme park in Anaheim, California. Opened in 1955, it was the first theme park opened by The Walt Disney Company and the only one designed and constructed under the direct supervision of Walt Disney. Disney initially envision ...
in 1963.
Despite the popular exposure she received at concerts and overseas appearances, Barrett continued to feel most comfortable in her native New Orleans, especially the
French Quarter
The French Quarter, also known as the , is the oldest neighborhood in the city of New Orleans. After New Orleans (french: La Nouvelle-Orléans) was founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the city developed around the ("Old Sq ...
. In 1963, on her album ''The Bell Gal and Her Dixieland Boys Music'', Barrett sings on four of the eight songs and heads two overlapping groups. She is joined throughout by banjoist
Emanuel Sayles, bassist
Placide Adams
Placide Adams (August 30, 1929 – March 29, 2003) was an American jazz double bassist, who worked prolifically with a wide circle of New Orleans jazz stars over his 50-year career.
He was the son of the New Orleans pianist Dolly Adams, and the ...
, and drummer
Paul Barbarin
Adolphe Paul Barbarin (May 5, 1899 – February 17, 1969) was an American jazz drummer from New Orleans.
Career
Barbarin grew up in New Orleans in a family of musicians, including his father, three of his brothers, and his nephew (Danny Barker) ...
, and four songs feature trumpeter
Alvin Alcorn
Alvin Elmore Alcorn (September 7, 1912 – July 10, 2003) was an American jazz trumpeter.
Career
Alcorn learned music theory from his brother. In the early 1930s, he was a member of the Sunny South Syncopators led by Armand J. Piron. He worked ...
, trombonist
Jim Robinson and clarinetist
Louis Cottrell, Jr.
Louis Albert Cottrell Jr. (March 7, 1911 - March 21, 1978) was a Louisiana Creole jazz clarinetist and tenor saxophonist. He was the son of the influential drummer Louis Cottrell, Sr., and grandfather of New Orleans jazz drummer Louis Cottrell ...
; the remaining four numbers have trumpeter
Don Albert, trombonist
Frog Joseph
Waldren "Frog" Joseph (September 12, 1918 – September 19, 2004) was an American jazz trombone player from New Orleans, Louisiana.
Career
Joseph played in a variety of styles over his career but was best known as a performer of traditional New ...
and clarinetist
Raymond Burke.
Overall, this set gives listeners a good sampling of the sound of New Orleans jazz circa 1963 and is one of the few recordings of Barrett mostly without the regular members of what would become the Preservation Hall Jazz Band (Robinson and Sayles excepted). The ensemble-oriented renditions of such numbers as "
Big Butter and Egg Man
"Big Butter and Egg Man" is a 1926 jazz song written by Percy Venable. Venable was a record producer at the Sunset Cafe and wrote the song for Louis Armstrong and singer May Alix.''Louis Armstrong: An American Genius''. James Lincoln Collier. Ox ...
", "Bogalusa Strut", and "
Take Me Out to the Ball Game
"Take Me Out to the Ball Game" is a 1908 Tin Pan Alley song by Jack Norworth and Albert Von Tilzer which has become the unofficial anthem of North American baseball, although neither of its authors had attended a game prior to writing the song ...
"' are rendered with fun and joy.
The Preservation Hall Jazz Band made a brief appearance in the 1965 film ''
The Cincinnati Kid
''The Cincinnati Kid'' is a 1965 American drama film directed by Norman Jewison. It tells the story of Eric "The Kid" Stoner, a young Depression-era poker player, as he seeks to establish his reputation as the best. This quest leads him to cha ...
'', which featured Barrett as vocalist and pianist for the band and included a close-up of her.
In 1967, she suffered a
stroke that paralyzed her left side, but she continued to work, and occasionally to record.
She played music until her death in 1983 at the age of 85, she died at
Metairie's Bonnabel Hospital.
Discography
References
External links
*
Preservation Hall*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Barrett, Sweet Emma
1897 births
1983 deaths
Jazz musicians from New Orleans
American blues pianists
American jazz pianists
American women jazz singers
American jazz singers
Riverside Records artists
20th-century American women pianists
20th-century American pianists
Singers from Louisiana
20th-century American women singers
Preservation Hall Jazz Band members
20th-century American singers