may 1, 1890 - Ada Scott Brown

Description:

Ada Brown was born and raised in Kansas City, Kansas. Her cousin James Scott was a ragtime composer and pianist. Her early career was spent primarily on stage in musical theater and vaudeville. She recorded with Bennie Moten in 1926; the side "Evil Mama Blues" is possibly the earliest recording of Kansas City jazz. Aside from her time with Moten, she did several tours alongside bandleaders such as George E. Lee.

Brown was a founding member of the Negro Actors Guild of America in 1936. She worked at the London Palladium and on Broadway in the late 1930s. She sang "That Ain't Right" with Fats Waller in the musical film Stormy Weather (1943).[2]