Blues Singer and Recording Artist
Claire Austin is one of the great blues singer of our time, in the classic tradition of Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith. She is a natural, her singing is effortless, her pitch is true, her tone is full and thrilling. But these things alone do not make a great blues singer. For the blues you must also have deeply felt convictions and the emotional maturity which comes with experience of life and love. These are the things which Claire reveals in her singing, and which she evokes from the simplest melody and lyric.
In trying to understand why the blues appeal to her so, Claire has done considerable thinking and self-analysis. Her childhood was not a happy one, and it is possible that the feelings of "frustration and rejection which the soul cannot accept" of those years were to make her deeply responsive to the essential emotional character of the blues when she heard them many years later.
Claire was born Augusta Johnson in Yakima, Washington, November 1918, and moved to Tacoma in 1926, then Seattle in 1931. Her interest in music began early. She studied piano and dancing, and in high school became interesred in drama. During her senior years, she sang alto in the school choir and first soprano in her church choir. She wanted to go to the University of Washington, but her father said no. So, with the end of school in June 1936, she thought on singing as a career, and haunted an agent's office until he booked her into The Oasis, a large nightclub on the edge of town. Her parents, who neither dranked nor smoked, and had never seen the inside of a night club, were horrified. But Claire persuaded them she could always quit if she didn't like the place.
The Oasis job lasted six weeks. The house band, led by pianist Gene Smith, was composed of young musicians who were interested in jazz, and with them Claire developed her natural feeling for improvisation. She sang at other clubs in the area for a while, returned to The Oasis for a 21-week stay, then continued singing in various clubs in Washington, Oregon and Northern California. During the early years of World War 2, she met Chuck Austin, who was playing drums in a club in Redding, California. They were married in Reno, and Chuck went into the army soon after.
For the next few years, Claire worked at clubs in Oakland, Cincinnati, Chicago and Louisville, close by various army camps at which Chuck was stationed. There were difficult times for Claire, trying to be near her husband, caring for her two children, and working to support the family. Finaly, she returned to Seattle, where her folks lived, for the birth of her third child, and to wait for Chuck's release from the army.
The post-war years of readjustement were not easy either. They moved to Sacramento, and Claire studied accounting, eventually getting a job with the State of California. With work, making a home, and caring for her three children, there was no time for a singing career. It was during this period, in 1947, she first heard a Bessie Smith record and first became interested in the blues as a form for her own singing. In 1947, for Mother's day, Chuck gave her an album of Bessie's records, which she took to playing as she did her housework.
So matters rested until one day in 1951 when she received a phone call from a friend who told her Turk Murphy's Jazz Band was at The Clayton Club in Sacramento and Turk was looking for a singer. Claire remembers, "I had never heard any music like that before. I sang some blues and later "Cakewalkin' babies". The bartender asked Chuck to sit in, which he did, and we had an extremly enjoyable evening". For the tremendous impact Claire's singing made on Turk's band, and the story of her appearance with him in San Francisco, see "The Turk Story Part 4, LP GTJ L-18" (maybe not that easy to find). This album contains the three sides she recorded with Turk in April 1952.
Since leaving Turk in 1952, to devote herself to her family, Claire has not appeared professionaly except for the recording session of the album "Claire Austin sings the blues with Kid Ory" in 1954. Good Time Jazz 10" LP.
above quoted from 1954 record album jacket
"The history of jazz and blues is full of talented artists who were obscure but didn't deserve to be. One example is Claire Austin, an expressive jazz/blues vocalist who was as proficient with intimate, introspective torch singing as she was with more extroverted classic blues. Claire Austin Sings When Your Lover Has Gone was recorded for Contemporary in 1955 and 1956, and finds Austin favoring vulnerable, relaxed, subtle torch singing (her phrasing could be described as an appealing combination of Mildred Bailey, Peggy Lee, and Billie Holiday). As a torch singer, she embraces the songbooks of great pop composers like Harold Arlen, Cole Porter, and the Gershwin Brothers."
above was quoted from from allmusic
Claire Austin is one of the great blues singer of our time, in the classic tradition of Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith. She is a natural, her singing is effortless, her pitch is true, her tone is full and thrilling. But these things alone do not make a great blues singer. For the blues you must also have deeply felt convictions and the emotional maturity which comes with experience of life and love. These are the things which Claire reveals in her singing, and which she evokes from the simplest melody and lyric.
In trying to understand why the blues appeal to her so, Claire has done considerable thinking and self-analysis. Her childhood was not a happy one, and it is possible that the feelings of "frustration and rejection which the soul cannot accept" of those years were to make her deeply responsive to the essential emotional character of the blues when she heard them many years later.
Claire was born Augusta Johnson in Yakima, Washington, November 1918, and moved to Tacoma in 1926, then Seattle in 1931. Her interest in music began early. She studied piano and dancing, and in high school became interesred in drama. During her senior years, she sang alto in the school choir and first soprano in her church choir. She wanted to go to the University of Washington, but her father said no. So, with the end of school in June 1936, she thought on singing as a career, and haunted an agent's office until he booked her into The Oasis, a large nightclub on the edge of town. Her parents, who neither dranked nor smoked, and had never seen the inside of a night club, were horrified. But Claire persuaded them she could always quit if she didn't like the place.
The Oasis job lasted six weeks. The house band, led by pianist Gene Smith, was composed of young musicians who were interested in jazz, and with them Claire developed her natural feeling for improvisation. She sang at other clubs in the area for a while, returned to The Oasis for a 21-week stay, then continued singing in various clubs in Washington, Oregon and Northern California. During the early years of World War 2, she met Chuck Austin, who was playing drums in a club in Redding, California. They were married in Reno, and Chuck went into the army soon after.
For the next few years, Claire worked at clubs in Oakland, Cincinnati, Chicago and Louisville, close by various army camps at which Chuck was stationed. There were difficult times for Claire, trying to be near her husband, caring for her two children, and working to support the family. Finaly, she returned to Seattle, where her folks lived, for the birth of her third child, and to wait for Chuck's release from the army.
The post-war years of readjustement were not easy either. They moved to Sacramento, and Claire studied accounting, eventually getting a job with the State of California. With work, making a home, and caring for her three children, there was no time for a singing career. It was during this period, in 1947, she first heard a Bessie Smith record and first became interested in the blues as a form for her own singing. In 1947, for Mother's day, Chuck gave her an album of Bessie's records, which she took to playing as she did her housework.
So matters rested until one day in 1951 when she received a phone call from a friend who told her Turk Murphy's Jazz Band was at The Clayton Club in Sacramento and Turk was looking for a singer. Claire remembers, "I had never heard any music like that before. I sang some blues and later "Cakewalkin' babies". The bartender asked Chuck to sit in, which he did, and we had an extremly enjoyable evening". For the tremendous impact Claire's singing made on Turk's band, and the story of her appearance with him in San Francisco, see "The Turk Story Part 4, LP GTJ L-18" (maybe not that easy to find). This album contains the three sides she recorded with Turk in April 1952.
Since leaving Turk in 1952, to devote herself to her family, Claire has not appeared professionaly except for the recording session of the album "Claire Austin sings the blues with Kid Ory" in 1954. Good Time Jazz 10" LP.
above quoted from 1954 record album jacket
"The history of jazz and blues is full of talented artists who were obscure but didn't deserve to be. One example is Claire Austin, an expressive jazz/blues vocalist who was as proficient with intimate, introspective torch singing as she was with more extroverted classic blues. Claire Austin Sings When Your Lover Has Gone was recorded for Contemporary in 1955 and 1956, and finds Austin favoring vulnerable, relaxed, subtle torch singing (her phrasing could be described as an appealing combination of Mildred Bailey, Peggy Lee, and Billie Holiday). As a torch singer, she embraces the songbooks of great pop composers like Harold Arlen, Cole Porter, and the Gershwin Brothers."
above was quoted from from allmusic
Blues Singer and Recording Artist
Claire Austin is one of the great blues singer of our time, in the classic tradition of Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith. She is a natural, her singing is effortless, her pitch is true, her tone is full and thrilling. But these things alone do not make a great blues singer. For the blues you must also have deeply felt convictions and the emotional maturity which comes with experience of life and love. These are the things which Claire reveals in her singing, and which she evokes from the simplest melody and lyric.
In trying to understand why the blues appeal to her so, Claire has done considerable thinking and self-analysis. Her childhood was not a happy one, and it is possible that the feelings of "frustration and rejection which the soul cannot accept" of those years were to make her deeply responsive to the essential emotional character of the blues when she heard them many years later.
Claire was born Augusta Johnson in Yakima, Washington, November 1918, and moved to Tacoma in 1926, then Seattle in 1931. Her interest in music began early. She studied piano and dancing, and in high school became interesred in drama. During her senior years, she sang alto in the school choir and first soprano in her church choir. She wanted to go to the University of Washington, but her father said no. So, with the end of school in June 1936, she thought on singing as a career, and haunted an agent's office until he booked her into The Oasis, a large nightclub on the edge of town. Her parents, who neither dranked nor smoked, and had never seen the inside of a night club, were horrified. But Claire persuaded them she could always quit if she didn't like the place.
The Oasis job lasted six weeks. The house band, led by pianist Gene Smith, was composed of young musicians who were interested in jazz, and with them Claire developed her natural feeling for improvisation. She sang at other clubs in the area for a while, returned to The Oasis for a 21-week stay, then continued singing in various clubs in Washington, Oregon and Northern California. During the early years of World War 2, she met Chuck Austin, who was playing drums in a club in Redding, California. They were married in Reno, and Chuck went into the army soon after.
For the next few years, Claire worked at clubs in Oakland, Cincinnati, Chicago and Louisville, close by various army camps at which Chuck was stationed. There were difficult times for Claire, trying to be near her husband, caring for her two children, and working to support the family. Finaly, she returned to Seattle, where her folks lived, for the birth of her third child, and to wait for Chuck's release from the army.
The post-war years of readjustement were not easy either. They moved to Sacramento, and Claire studied accounting, eventually getting a job with the State of California. With work, making a home, and caring for her three children, there was no time for a singing career. It was during this period, in 1947, she first heard a Bessie Smith record and first became interested in the blues as a form for her own singing. In 1947, for Mother's day, Chuck gave her an album of Bessie's records, which she took to playing as she did her housework.
So matters rested until one day in 1951 when she received a phone call from a friend who told her Turk Murphy's Jazz Band was at The Clayton Club in Sacramento and Turk was looking for a singer. Claire remembers, "I had never heard any music like that before. I sang some blues and later "Cakewalkin' babies". The bartender asked Chuck to sit in, which he did, and we had an extremly enjoyable evening". For the tremendous impact Claire's singing made on Turk's band, and the story of her appearance with him in San Francisco, see "The Turk Story Part 4, LP GTJ L-18" (maybe not that easy to find). This album contains the three sides she recorded with Turk in April 1952.
Since leaving Turk in 1952, to devote herself to her family, Claire has not appeared professionaly except for the recording session of the album "Claire Austin sings the blues with Kid Ory" in 1954. Good Time Jazz 10" LP.
above quoted from 1954 record album jacket
"The history of jazz and blues is full of talented artists who were obscure but didn't deserve to be. One example is Claire Austin, an expressive jazz/blues vocalist who was as proficient with intimate, introspective torch singing as she was with more extroverted classic blues. Claire Austin Sings When Your Lover Has Gone was recorded for Contemporary in 1955 and 1956, and finds Austin favoring vulnerable, relaxed, subtle torch singing (her phrasing could be described as an appealing combination of Mildred Bailey, Peggy Lee, and Billie Holiday). As a torch singer, she embraces the songbooks of great pop composers like Harold Arlen, Cole Porter, and the Gershwin Brothers."
above was quoted from from allmusic
Claire Austin is one of the great blues singer of our time, in the classic tradition of Ma Rainey and Bessie Smith. She is a natural, her singing is effortless, her pitch is true, her tone is full and thrilling. But these things alone do not make a great blues singer. For the blues you must also have deeply felt convictions and the emotional maturity which comes with experience of life and love. These are the things which Claire reveals in her singing, and which she evokes from the simplest melody and lyric.
In trying to understand why the blues appeal to her so, Claire has done considerable thinking and self-analysis. Her childhood was not a happy one, and it is possible that the feelings of "frustration and rejection which the soul cannot accept" of those years were to make her deeply responsive to the essential emotional character of the blues when she heard them many years later.
Claire was born Augusta Johnson in Yakima, Washington, November 1918, and moved to Tacoma in 1926, then Seattle in 1931. Her interest in music began early. She studied piano and dancing, and in high school became interesred in drama. During her senior years, she sang alto in the school choir and first soprano in her church choir. She wanted to go to the University of Washington, but her father said no. So, with the end of school in June 1936, she thought on singing as a career, and haunted an agent's office until he booked her into The Oasis, a large nightclub on the edge of town. Her parents, who neither dranked nor smoked, and had never seen the inside of a night club, were horrified. But Claire persuaded them she could always quit if she didn't like the place.
The Oasis job lasted six weeks. The house band, led by pianist Gene Smith, was composed of young musicians who were interested in jazz, and with them Claire developed her natural feeling for improvisation. She sang at other clubs in the area for a while, returned to The Oasis for a 21-week stay, then continued singing in various clubs in Washington, Oregon and Northern California. During the early years of World War 2, she met Chuck Austin, who was playing drums in a club in Redding, California. They were married in Reno, and Chuck went into the army soon after.
For the next few years, Claire worked at clubs in Oakland, Cincinnati, Chicago and Louisville, close by various army camps at which Chuck was stationed. There were difficult times for Claire, trying to be near her husband, caring for her two children, and working to support the family. Finaly, she returned to Seattle, where her folks lived, for the birth of her third child, and to wait for Chuck's release from the army.
The post-war years of readjustement were not easy either. They moved to Sacramento, and Claire studied accounting, eventually getting a job with the State of California. With work, making a home, and caring for her three children, there was no time for a singing career. It was during this period, in 1947, she first heard a Bessie Smith record and first became interested in the blues as a form for her own singing. In 1947, for Mother's day, Chuck gave her an album of Bessie's records, which she took to playing as she did her housework.
So matters rested until one day in 1951 when she received a phone call from a friend who told her Turk Murphy's Jazz Band was at The Clayton Club in Sacramento and Turk was looking for a singer. Claire remembers, "I had never heard any music like that before. I sang some blues and later "Cakewalkin' babies". The bartender asked Chuck to sit in, which he did, and we had an extremly enjoyable evening". For the tremendous impact Claire's singing made on Turk's band, and the story of her appearance with him in San Francisco, see "The Turk Story Part 4, LP GTJ L-18" (maybe not that easy to find). This album contains the three sides she recorded with Turk in April 1952.
Since leaving Turk in 1952, to devote herself to her family, Claire has not appeared professionaly except for the recording session of the album "Claire Austin sings the blues with Kid Ory" in 1954. Good Time Jazz 10" LP.
above quoted from 1954 record album jacket
"The history of jazz and blues is full of talented artists who were obscure but didn't deserve to be. One example is Claire Austin, an expressive jazz/blues vocalist who was as proficient with intimate, introspective torch singing as she was with more extroverted classic blues. Claire Austin Sings When Your Lover Has Gone was recorded for Contemporary in 1955 and 1956, and finds Austin favoring vulnerable, relaxed, subtle torch singing (her phrasing could be described as an appealing combination of Mildred Bailey, Peggy Lee, and Billie Holiday). As a torch singer, she embraces the songbooks of great pop composers like Harold Arlen, Cole Porter, and the Gershwin Brothers."
above was quoted from from allmusic
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