Jazz and blues singer Ernestine Anderson worked her way from singing in the
gospel choir as a child to being featured on the world’s most famous stages.
Born in Houston, Texas, on November 11, 1928, Anderson’s family moved to Seattle
when she was 16. She was hired by a local band for her first taste of the
professional musician’s life, and after tours with Johnny Otis and Lionel
Hampton, she moved to New York City to pursue music in earnest.
She began her recording career in the late 1950s on Mercury Records, although
her 1961 album My Kinda Swing would be her last for more th...