Bertha Hill

Bertha " Chippie " Hill ( born March 15, 1905 in Charleston, South Carolina; † May 7, 1950 in New York City, New York) was an American blues, jazz, and vaudeville singer and dancer.

Life and work

Bertha " Chippie " Hill was born as one of sixteen children and grew up in New York. She began her career as a dancer in Harlem in 1919 and worked with Ethel Waters. At the age of 14, she was nicknamed " Chippie " at their concert in Leroy's, a then popular New York City nightclub, because of their young age. She also appeared with Ma Rainey as a member of the Rabbit Foot Minstrels, after she established herself with her ​​own show in the Theater Owners Booking Association tours in the early 1920s.

Around the year 1925, she settled in Chicago and worked in various revues, among other things, with King Oliver's Jazz Band. Her first recordings were made in 1925 for the label Okeh Records, where they " Kid Man Blues " was accompanied by Louis Armstrong and pianist Richard M. Jones on the songs " Pratt City Blues ", "Low Country Blues" and. 1926, entitled " Georgia Man" were recorded and "Trouble in Mind" in the same occupation. 1927 originated with Lonnie Johnson duet "Hard Times Blues ", " Weary Blues Money ," " Tell Me Why " and " Speedway Blues". In 1928 she sang with Tampa Red the vocal duets "Hard Times Blues ", " Christmas Man Blues ," and 1929 with " Scrapper " Blackwell & The Two Roys, Leroy Carr on piano, the song "Non - Skid Tread ". In the period 1925-1929 took Bertha " Chippie " Hill a total of 23 titles on.

In the 1930s, she retired from the music business in order to raise their children. In 1946, Bertha Hill had a comeback with Lovie Austin's Blues Serenaders; Rudi Bleshs Circle Records label they recorded some tracks, such as the " Blues Around the Clock ". She also sang in Bleshs radio program "This is Jazz" and gave concerts in clubs in New York, such as the Village Vanguard in 1947 and 1948 at Carnegie Hall with Kid Ory; also they still came at the Paris Jazz Festival and worked with Art Hodes in Chicago. Your successful career in 1950 forever interrupted when she was run over by a car in New York and suffered fatal injuries. She died in a Harlem Hospital and was buried in the Lincoln Cemetery in Blue Iceland, the Cook County (Illinois ).

Disco Graphical Notes

• 2005 - Complete Works, Vol 1 - ( 1925-1929 )