Lovie Austin

Happy Birthday, Lovie Austin...September 19, 1887-July 10, 1972...Another Lost Lady of Jazz, Lovie Austin was a groundbreaking bandleader, session musician, composer and arranger during the classic blues era in the 1920's. Austin studied music in college in Nashville, Tennessee and then in 1923, headed for Chicago, the town she would make her permanent home. Austin was a fun loving woman, often seen riding around town in her Stutz Bearcat with leopard upholstery, dressed to the teeth. Her joie de vivre made her a popular vaudeville performer and accompanying blues singers was her specialty.

Austin backed many of the famous blues artists of her time including Ma Rainey, Ida Cox, Ethel Waters and Alberta Hunter and her artistry can be heard on their recordings. She also lead her own band, the Blues Serenaders, which included Tommy Ladnier, Shirley Clay, Kid Ory and Johnny Dodds among others. She also worked with other prominent jazz musicians of the 20's, including Louis Armstrong and worked as a session musician for Paramount Records. She co-wrote "Down Hearted Blues" with Alberta Hunter which became a huge hit for Bessie Smith in 1923.

After 1926, Austin's recording career ended and she became the musical director of the Monogram Theater in Chicago which featured T.O.B.A. acts. She worked there for 20 years. After WW2 she played piano and taught music at a school of dance and occasionally performed in clubs.
In 1961, Austin returned to recording, making an album with Alberta Hunter as part of Riverside records "Living Legends" series.

Pianist Mary Lou Williams called Lovie Austin  her biggest inspiration. In 1977 she described seeing her for the first time," When I was between 8 or 10 years of age (1918-1920), my step-father and my brother-in-law, Hugh Floyd, often took me to dances and theaters to listen to musicians. Well, there was this T.O.B.A. theater in Pittsburgh where all of the black entertainers came. I remember seeing this great woman sitting in the pit and conducting five or six men , her legs crossed, a cigarette in her mouth, playing the show with her left hand and writing music with her right. Wow! I never forgot this episode...My entire concept was based on the few times I was around Lovie Austin. She was a fabulous woman and a fabulous musician too. I don't believe there is a woman around now who could compete with her. She was a greater talent than many of the men of this era."