Adelaide Hall
(1901-1993), Singer and actressSitter in 3 portraits
Jazz singer and entertainer, born in Brooklyn, New York. A self-taught tap dancer, Hall began her long and eventful stage career in Noble Sissle's and Eubie Blake's Broadway musical Shuffle Along (1921). Hall toured Europe with Britain's Evelyn Dove in the revue, The Chocolate Kiddies (1925). Duke Ellington contributed to the score and Hall's association with Ellington continued when he encouraged her to become one of the first scat vocalists in jazz. Her wordless vocal on 'Creole Love Call', which they subsequently recorded in 1927, was innovatory as a use of the voice as pure jazz instrument. Their association continued throughout her career and in 1974 she sang at his memorial service at St Martin-in-the-Fields Church, London.
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