TRANSCRIPT:
Hi, I’m Mark Rapp, and this is Rapp on Jazz.
Another overlooked figure in jazz and blues is singer Bea Foote. Born Beatrice Harrisson in South Carolina on September 3, 1896, she was the half-sister of drummer George Jenkins.
Celebrated for her strong vibrato and straightforward delivery, Foote steered clear of her contemporaries’ melancholic style.
By 1925, she was active on the New York City music scene. She traveled to Paris with the troupe La Revue Nègre alongside Josephine Baker. After returning to the U.S. in 1926, she performed in productions like Irvin C. Miller’s Blue Baby and Addison Carey’s Headin’ for Harlem, gaining a reputation in Harlem’s vibrant music scene.
In 1938, she recorded her most notable tracks, including “Weed,” which addressed the effects of marijuana. She worked with musicians like Buster Bailey and Sammy Price and exemplified her time's jazz and blues spirit.
This has been Rapp on Jazz, a co-production of ColaJazz and South Carolina Public Radio, made possible by the ETV Endowment of South Carolina.