Birth name Rosa Deschamps Name Rosa Henderson Years active 1920s–1930s | Instruments Vocals Occupation(s) Singer Role Singer | |
 | ||
Born November 24, 1896
Henderson, Kentucky, United States ( 1896-11-24 ) Died April 6, 1968, Roosevelt Island, New York City, New York, United States Albums Fletcher Henderson and the Birth of Big Band Swing Genres Classic female blues, Jazz Record labels Vocalion Records, Columbia Records Similar People Fletcher Henderson, Fats Waller, Bessie Smith, Thomas Edison | ||
May 28, 1924 Do that thing, Rosa Henderson
Rosa Henderson (November 24, 1896 – April 6, 1968) was an American jazz and classic female blues singer and vaudeville entertainer. She is considered one of the best classic blues singers and recorded more than 100 tracks.
Contents
Life and career
Born Rosa Deschamps in Henderson, Kentucky, she is remembered as one of the great female blues singers of the 1920s and 1930s classic blues era. Her career as an entertainer began in 1913 when she joined her uncle's circus troupe. She married Douglas "Slim" Henderson in 1918 and began traveling with his Mason-Henderson show. She toured the south with this show. Her career as a musical comedian started during the early 1920s, after she moved to New York, where she performed on Broadway. She eventually also performed in London. She appeared at venues such as the Alhambra and Lincoln Theater and performed with the major theater companies of the Harlem Renaissance.
Her nine-year recording career began in 1923. During that time she recorded over one hundred songs using pseudonyms such as Sally Ritz, Flora Dale, Sarah Johnson, Josephine Thomas, Gladys White, and Mamie Harris. She was accompanied by the Virginians, Fletcher Henderson's Jazz Five, Fletcher Henderson's Orchestra, Fletcher Henderson's Club Alabam Orchestra, the Choo Choo Jazzers, the Kansas City Five, the Three Jolly Miners, the Kansas City Four, the Three Hot Eskimos, and the Four Black Diamonds. She recorded on many labels including Victor, Vocalion, Paramount, Ajax, and Columbia Records.
Her recordings include "Afternoon Blues" (1923), "Doggone Blues" (1931), "Do Right Blies" (1924), "He May Be Your Dog But He's Wearing My Collar" (1924), and "Papa If You Can't Do Better (I'll Let a Better Papa Move In)" (1926). She sang the chorus on Fletcher Henderson's May 28, 1924, Vocalion recording of "Do That Thing".
Although there was a marked decline in the number of her recordings after 1926, which was largely due to the death of her husband, Slim, in 1928, she continued performing until 1932, when she took a job in a New York department store. She continued to perform benefit concerts until the 1960s.
Henderson had two children and died of a heart attack in Bird S. Coler Hospital, Roosevelt Island, New York.
She is no relation to Fletcher, Horace, Katherine, or Edmonia Henderson.