Helen Gross

Helen Gross
Origin United States
Genres Classic female blues
Occupation(s) Singer
Instruments Vocals
Years active 1920s
Labels Ajax

Helen Gross was an American classic female blues singer.[1] She was active as a recording artist in the mid-1920s, and her best known tracks were "I Wanna Jazz Some More", "Bloody Razor Blues", and "Strange Man".

All of her recorded work took place in New York, between May 1924 and March 1925.[1][2] Gross recorded 27 songs in total which were originally released on the Ajax Records label. Allmusic noted that her songs included "a preponderance of often baffling noise effects, which at times gives her songs the feel of a carnival sideshow."[1]

Little is known of her life outside of music.

Career

Artists such as Gross, Rosa Henderson, Edna Hicks, Viola McCoy, Monette Moore, and Fletcher Henderson were amongst those who recorded for Ajax Records.[3]

Gross' work was notable for the quality of the jazz musicians that accompanied her. These included trumpet and cornet players James "Bubber" Miley and Louis Metcalf; the stride piano player Cliff Jackson; other pianists Lou Hooper and Porter Grainger; plus the noted saxophonist and clarinetist, Bob Fuller.[2][4][5][6]

Gross was not a conventional blues singer and approached her work from a vaudeville performer's angle. In addition her arrangements heightened this style, giving a rare and unusual take on standard blues material. The results were sketchy, although AllMusic critic Steve Leggett noted that on "Haunted House Blues," "Gross sounds as if she's wandered into a carnival funhouse.... The same technique of using goofy Halloween sound effects makes the similar-sounding "Ghost Walking Blues" work wonderfully, however, with just the right balance between odd and eerie".[4] A more sinister element is evident on "Bloody Razor Blues", which contained the Spencer Williams lyrics; "I want to bleed him until his heart runs dry."[4][7]

Gross' 1924 rendition of "I Wanna Jazz Some More", became more notable because of songwriter Tom Delaney's rhyming line of "Miss Susan Green from New Orleans."[8] Joe Davis worked, in an A&R capacity, in placing artists and songs towards Ajax, which included both Gross and some of Delaney's work.[9][10]

Discography

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Steve Leggett. "Helen Gross : Artist Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved 2014-09-05.
  2. 1 2 Taft, Michael (2005). Talkin' to Myself: Blues Lyrics, 1921-1942 (1st ed.). New York: Taylor & Francis Group. p. 219. ISBN 0-415-97377-5.
  3. ↑ Abrams, Steve; Settlemier, Tyrone (8 March 2009). "Ajax (1920s Canadian Race label) numerical listing of issues". The Online Discographical Project. Retrieved 13 September 2012.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Steve Leggett. "Helen Gross : In Chronological Order 1924-25". Allmusic. Retrieved 2014-09-05.
  5. ↑ Eugene Chadbourne. "Bob Fuller : Artist Biography". Allmusic. Retrieved 2014-09-04.
  6. ↑ Gibbs, Craig Martin (2013). Black Recording Artists, 1877-1926: An Annotated Discography (1st ed.). Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland & Company. p. 205. ISBN 978-0-7864-7238-3.
  7. ↑ "Ajax 78 Record Listing". Yktc.us. Retrieved 2014-09-05.
  8. ↑ Scott Yanow. "Various Artists / Female Blues Singers, Vol. 7: G/H (1922-1929)". Allmusic. Retrieved 2014-09-04.
  9. ↑ Bastin, Bruce (2012). The Melody Man: Joe Davis and the New York Music Scene, 1916-1978 (1st ed.). University Press of Mississippi. p. 24. ISBN 978-1-61703-276-9.
  10. ↑ Edward Komara, ed. (2006). Encyclopedia of the Blues (Second ed.). Taylor & Francis Group. p. 14. ISBN 0-415-92700-5.

External links

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