Ina Ray Hutton (born Odessa Cowan; March 13, 1916 – February 19, 1984) was an American singer, bandleader, and the elder sister of June Hutton. She led one of the first all-female

big band A big band or jazz orchestra is a type of musical ensemble of jazz music that usually consists of ten or more musicians with four sections: saxophones, trumpets, trombones, and a rhythm section. Big bands originated during the early 1910s and ...

Biography

A native of Chicago, Hutton began dancing and singing on stage at the age of eight. Her mother was a pianist in Chicago. At age 15, she starred in the Gus Edwards revue ''Future Stars Troupe'' at the Palace Theater and Lew Leslie's ''Clowns in Clover''. On Broadway she performed in George White's revues ''Melody'', ''Never Had an Education'' and ''Scandals'', then with the

Ziegfeld Follies The ''Ziegfeld Follies'' were a series of elaborate theatrical revue productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 to 1931, with renewals in 1934, 1936, 1943, and 1957. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as '' The Ziegfeld Foll ...

of 1934. In 1934, she was approached by

Irving Mills Irving Harold Mills (born Isadore Minsky; January 18, 1894 Odessa, Ukraine – April 21, 1985) was a music publisher, musician, lyricist, and jazz promoter. He often used the pseudonyms Goody Goodwin and Joe Primrose. Personal life Mills ...

and vaudeville agent Alex Hyde to lead an all-girl orchestra, the Melodears, As part of the group's formation, Mills asked her to change her name. The group included trumpeter Frances Klein, Canadian pianist Ruth Lowe Sandler, saxophonist Jane Cullum, guitarist Marian Gange, trumpeter Mardell "Owen" Winstead, and trombonist Alyse Wells. The Melodears appeared in short films and in the movie ''Big Broadcast of 1936''. They recorded six songs, sung by Hutton, before disbanding in 1939. Soon after, she started the Ina Ray Hutton Orchestra (with men only) that included George Paxton and Hal Schaefer. The band appeared in the film '' Ever Since Venus'' (1944), recorded for Elite and

Okeh OKeh Records () is an American record label founded by the Otto Heinemann Phonograph Corporation, a phonograph supplier established in 1916, which branched out into phonograph records in 1918. The name originally was spelled "OkeH" from the init ...

, and performed on the radio. After this band broke up, she started another male band a couple years later. She married jazz trumpeter Randy Brooks. During the 1950s, Hutton formed a female big band that played on television and starred in '' The Ina Ray Hutton Show''. She retired from music in 1968 and died at the age of 67 on February 19, 1984, from complications due to diabetes.

Race

Although Hutton and some members of her family are thought to have been white, historians have theorized that she and her family were of mixed white and African-American ancestry. In 1920, Hutton herself was listed in the US Census as "mulatto" and in 1930 as "negro". Hutton was also mentioned under her birth name Odessa Cowan in the African American Chicago newspaper ''

The Chicago Defender ''The Chicago Defender'' is a Chicago-based online African-American newspaper. It was founded in 1905 by Robert S. Abbott and was once considered the "most important" newspaper of its kind. Abbott's newspaper reported and campaigned against Jim ...

'' in several articles describing the early years of her career. A photograph of her as a 7-year-old dancer in an all-Black dance troupe appeared in a 1924 issue of the paper.

Personal life

She was married and divorced five times and had no children: * Charles Doerwald, a traveling salesman. They eloped and were married July 29, 1939. However, Doerwald's divorce from his current wife was not final and his marriage to Hutton was annulled. * Louis P. Parisotto, saxophonist with Hutton's all-male band. Married October 27, 1943. Divorced December 3, 1946. * Randy Brooks, trumpeter. Married April 10, 1949. Divorced June 1957. * Michael Anter, owner of a beauty salon in Las Vegas. Married May 31, 1958. Divorced 1960. * John "Jack" Franklin Curtis, owner of a tool company. Married April 13, 1963. Divorced December 29, 1979.

Discography

* ''Ina Ray Hutton and Her Melodears'' (Vintage Music, 2001) * ''The Definitive Collection'' (Fantastic Voyage, 2011)

References

Sources

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hutton, Ina Ray 1916 births 1984 deaths Singers from Chicago American big band bandleaders American jazz bandleaders American jazz singers 20th-century American singers 20th-century American women singers Melodears members Hyde Park Academy High School alumni