cd - Bessie Smith
Bessie Smith was an American singer known as the "Empress of the Blues." Born in Chattanooga, Tennessee, she began her career as a teenager performing in the southern United States. In 1923, she signed with Columbia Records, and her first recording, "Downhearted Blues," sold nearly 800,000 copies. Throughout her career, she recorded over 160 songs and collaborated with notable jazz musicians such as Louis Armstrong and Fletcher Henderson. Smith was renowned for her powerful voice and emotional delivery, influencing many future blues and jazz singers. She died in 1937 following a car accident in Clarksdale, Mississippi.
