Midge Williams

Jazz musicians of any notoriety will eventually tour and record in Japan, but Midge Williams must be the only American artist whose recording career actually began there. She recorded in both Japanese and English in the '30s, working with local groups in China as well as Japan--all signs of the accomplished versatility that would later make her in demand with great jazz bandleaders such as Fats Waller, Louis Armstrong and Teddy Wilson. This singer was not always content to be a vocalist in someone else's band, no matter how big their names were, so also fronted her own group known as Midge Williams and Her Jazz Jesters. Back-up on her American debut recording was provided by none other than the Raymond Scott combo. Her first band came out of her own family, a vocal quartet that performed in California in the mid '20s. Williams went professional in 1927, and began her extensive experiences in the Orient a few years later. This included working in jazz clubs in China and Japan, and recording with the Tommy Missman Orchestra for Japanese Columbia in 1934, the same year she returned to Los Angeles and began performing live on various radio stations. She began gigging with players such as Miff Mole, Waller, Wilson and Frank Froeba. In 1936 she was featured on Rudy Vallee's popular radio show. The next year she relocated to Chicago and began recording for Vocalion under her own name as well as singing with the band of John Kirby. This period represents the cream of her discography. The recordings done through 1938 with the Jazz Jesters feature a crack band with pianist Scott, Frankie Newton, Buster Bailey and Charlie Shavers, including titles such as "In the Shade of the Old Apple Tree", "Let's Begin Again" and "Walkin' the Dog". The following year she was hired for...