Lizzie Miles

New Orleans-born blues singer Lizzie Miles began her career singing in her home town with a variety of jazz bands, including those of Bryan James Oliver (aka King Oliver) and Kid Ory. She also sang in what were known as "tent shows" in the American South, had an act in vaudeville and even joined a circus as a singer. She sang everything from pop to jazz to blues, and eventually left New Orleans for Chicago, which had a thriving blues scene, and sang at a variety of clubs and cabarets there. She left Chicago for New York City and even moved to Paris, France, for a while, but returned to New York. She had begun recording in 1921, first with Okeh Records and later with Victor, Columbia and Emerson. In the 1930s she returned to New Orleans and retired. She did come out of retirement for a while in the 1950s and recorded a few albums with the Bob Scobey band, and in 1958 she appeared at the Monterey Jazz Festival. She died of a heart attack in New Orleans in 1963.