Gonzell White (May 19, 1897 – date of death unknown), also written Gonzelle White, was an American jazz, blues, and vaudeville performer in the United States.
Gonzell White | |
|---|---|
 White, from a 1927 pomade advertisement | |
| Born | May 19, 1897 Chicago, Illinois, United States |
| Other names | Gonzelle White |
| Occupation | Vaudeville performer |
Biography
editWhite was born in Chicago, Illinois, United States, in 1897.[1][2] She performed as a blues, jazz, vaudeville, and burlesque act, and was first mentioned in reports in 1912,[3] and specifically as a blues singer in 1914.[4] She sang in various groups including as a duo with Edward Lankford, who was also her manager. They married in Kansas in 1920.[4]
She toured on various circuits and with various acts,[5][6][7] including with Lester Moore as White and Moore. The entertainer Pigmeat Markham was a member of her troupe in the mid-1920s,[4] and Gus Aiken also toured with her.[8] She performed at Proctor's Theatre in Schenectady, New York.[9] A review of her group, Gonzell White Jazzers, in the October 20 Kalamazoo Gazette, and other Michigan papers, gave favorable reviews of her headlining show that toured Michigan.[3]
The Chicago Defender ran notices and reviews[10] about White and her group including photographs.[11] She was part of the Booker T. Washington Stock Company.[3] Billboard also reviewed Gonzelle and her group several times.[10] White toured on various circuits including in Michigan and in Cuba. In Cuba she headlined as a singer and saxophone player. Her group included Billy Young, Alfreda Thomas, Mary Jackson as a soubrette, Earl Frazier on piano, Amanzie Richardson as a comedian and dancer, Freddy Crump on drums, Jake Frazier on trombone, Gus Aiken as a soloist on coronet, Harry Smith on coronet and as a dancer, and Ed Lankford on saxophone and as manager.[3] Her group included several influential acts.[12] She featured in advertisements for Exelento Quinine Pomade (a pomade).[13]
Count Basie toured with her group in the mid-1920s.[14][15] Basie described her as "more of an entertainer than a musician... She was a real pro with a lot of class... She was very light-skinned... the kind of small, nice-looking woman that you think of as being very cute. And, of course, she always wore fine, stylish clothes and costumes, and she also sported a diamond in one of her front teeth."[4]
Lankford died while the group was on tour in 1926.[16] White's later life is publicly unreported.
References
edit- ^ Michael Rader and K.-B. Rau, "A Case of a Rediscovered Legend: The recordings of Harry Smith", Harlem-Fuss.com. Retrieved 27 November 2019.
- ^ Passenger Lists of Vessels Arriving at San Juan, Puerto Rico, 10/07/1901 – 06/30/1948; NAI Number: 2945834; Record Group Title: Records of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, 1787-2004; Record Group Number: 85, via Ancestry.com. Retrieved 27 November 2019
- ^ a b c d Sampson, Henry T. (October 30, 2013). Blacks in Blackface: A Sourcebook on Early Black Musical Shows. Scarecrow Press. p. 1499. ISBN 9780810883512.
- ^ a b c d Abbott, Lynn; Seroff, Doug (February 27, 2017). The Original Blues: The Emergence of the Blues in African American Vaudeville. Univ. Press of Mississippi. ISBN 9781496810038 – via Google Books.
- ^ Vail, Ken (January 2, 2019). Count Basie: Swingin' the Blues, 1936-1950. Scarecrow Press. p. 5. ISBN 9780810848825.
- ^ "The Pittsburgh Courier from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on November 6, 1926". Newspapers.com. p. 14.
- ^ Abbott; Seroff (2017). The Original Blues. Univ. Press of Mississippi. p. 191. ISBN 9781496810052 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Record Research". Books.google.com. January 2, 1966.
- ^ "Proctors on the vaudeville circuit". M.timesunion.com. December 8, 2016.
- ^ a b "Record Research". June 21, 1966. Retrieved June 21, 2019 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Black Press" (PDF). Rainerjazz.com. 1920. Retrieved June 21, 2019.
- ^ Driggs, Frank; Haddix, Chuck (January 2, 2019). Kansas City Jazz: From Ragtime to Bebop : a History. Oxford University Press. p. 80. ISBN 9780195307122.
- ^ "Gonzell White Praises Exelento". The Birmingham Reporter. August 13, 1927. p. 3. Retrieved February 11, 2023 – via Newspapers.com.
- ^ Levin, Eric (March 22, 1982). "When Discussing Musical Royalty and That Foot-Tapping Thing Called Swing, Always Count Basie". People.com.
- ^ Driggs; Haddix (2006). Kansas City Jazz: From Ragtime to Bebop. p. 82.
- ^ Abbott; Seroff (2017). The Original Blues. Univ. Press of Mississippi. p. 369. ISBN 9781496810052 – via Google Books.
