Carl Van Vechten in New York City - early 20th Century

from Hear Me Talkin' To Ya: The Classic Story of Jazz as Told by the Men Who Made It, page 245:

Porter Grainger brought her to my apartment on West Fifty-fifth Street. Fania Marinoff and I were throwing a party. George Gershwin was there and Marguerite d'Alverez and Constance Collier, possibly Adele Astaire. The drawing room was well filled with sophisticated listeners. Before she could sing, Bessie wanted a drink. She asked for a glass of straight gin, and with one gulp she downed a glass holding nearly a pint. Then, with a burning cigarette depending from one corner of her mouth, she got down to the blues, really down to 'em, with Porter at the piano. I am quite certain that anybody …   more >>
cite as

Nat Hentoff and Nat Shapiro, Hear Me Talkin' To Ya: The Classic Story of Jazz as Told by the Men Who Made It (London, 1992), p. 245. https://led.kmi.open.ac.uk/entity/lexp/1435411080246 accessed: 29 March, 2024

location of experience: New York City

Listeners

Carl Van Vechten
photographer, Writer
1880-1964

Listening to

hide composers
blues singing, female voice performed by Porter Grainger, Bessie Smith

Experience Information

Date/Time early 20th Century
Medium live
Listening Environment in the company of others, in private, indoors

Originally submitted by 5011Henning on Sat, 27 Jun 2015 14:18:00 +0100
Approved on Tue, 30 Aug 2016 17:21:29 +0100