Pianist/composer/bandleader Lovie Austin was one of the leading lights in Chicago jazz in the 1920’s.  She was a composer of two classics of the period – Heebie Jeebies, made famous by Louis Armstrong, and Downhearted Blues, Bessie Smith’s first big hit.

Austin was a great inspiration to Mary Lou Williams, who said that “(Austin was) a fabulous woman and a fabulous musician too. I don’t believe there’s a woman around now who could compete with her. She was a greater talent than many of the men of this period.” Please join vocalist Brianna Thomas and Vincent Pelote, Senior Archivist Digital Preservation Strategist at the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers University for an in-depth look into her legacy and the great recordings Austin made with Ethel Waters, Ma Rainey, and Alberta Hunter.

This series is made possible, in part, with funding from the Louis Armstrong Education Foundation.