music.wikisort.org - Singer

Ina Ray Hutton (born Odessa Cowan; March 13, 1916 – February 19, 1984)[1] was an American singer, bandleader, and the elder sister of June Hutton.[2] She led one of the first all-female big bands.

Ina Ray Hutton
Hutton in 1942
Background information
Birth name	Odessa Cowen
Born	(1916-03-13)March 13, 1916 Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Died	February 19, 1984(1984-02-19) (aged 67) Ventura, California, U.S.
Genres	Jazz
Occupation(s)	Singer, bandleader
Years active	1926–1968

Biography

A native of Chicago, Hutton began dancing and singing on stage at the age of eight.[3][4] Her mother was a pianist in Chicago.[4] At age 15, she starred in the Gus Edwards revue Future Stars Troupe at the Palace Theater[4] and Lew Leslie's Clowns in Clover. On Broadway she performed in George White's revues Melody, Never Had an Education and Scandals, then with the Ziegfeld Follies of 1934.[5]

In 1934, she was approached by Irving Mills and vaudeville agent Alex Hyde to lead an all-girl orchestra, the Melodears,[6] As part of the group's formation, Mills asked her to change her name.[4] The group included trumpeter Frances Klein, Canadian pianist Ruth Lowe Sandler, saxophonist Jane Cullum, guitarist Marian Gange, trumpeter Mardell "Owen" Winstead, and trombonist Alyse Wells.^{[citation needed]}

The Melodears appeared in short films and in the movie Big Broadcast of 1936. They recorded six songs, sung by Hutton, before disbanding in 1939.[3] Soon after, she started the Ina Ray Hutton Orchestra (with men only) that included George Paxton and Hal Schaefer.[3]

The band appeared in the film Ever Since Venus (1944), recorded for Elite and Okeh,[7] and performed on the radio. After this band broke up, she started another male band a couple years later.[3] She married jazz trumpeter Randy Brooks.[3]

During the 1950s, Hutton formed a female big band that played on television and starred in The Ina Ray Hutton Show.[3] She retired from music in 1968 and died at the age of 67 on February 19, 1984, from complications due to diabetes.[8]

Race

Although Hutton and some members of her family are known to have been white,^{[citation needed]} historians have theorized that she and her family were of mixed white and African-American ancestry. In 1920, Hutton herself was listed in the US Census as "mulatto" and in 1930 as "negro".[9] Hutton was also mentioned under her birth name Odessa Cowan in the African American Chicago newspaper The Chicago Defender in several articles describing the early years of her career. A photograph of her as a 7-year-old dancer in an all-Black dance troupe appeared in a 1924 issue of the paper.[9]

Personal life

She was married and divorced five times and had no children:

• Charles Doerwald, a traveling salesman. They eloped and were married July 29, 1939.[10] However, Doerwald's divorce from his current wife was not final and his marriage to Hutton was annulled.[11]
• Louis P. Parisotto, saxophonist with Hutton's all-male band. Married October 27, 1943.[12] Divorced December 3, 1946.[13]
• Randy Brooks, trumpeter. Married April 10, 1949.[14] Divorced June 1957.[15]
• Michael Anter, owner of a beauty salon in Las Vegas. Married May 31, 1958.[16] Divorced 1960.[17]
• John "Jack" Franklin Curtis, owner of a tool company. Married April 13, 1963.[18] Divorced December 29, 1979. ^{[citation needed]}

Discography

• Ina Ray Hutton and Her Melodears (Vintage Music, 2001)
• The Definitive Collection (Fantastic Voyage, 2011)[19]

References

Sources

• "Sisters, Secrets - Ina Ray & June Hutton's Real History". J'aime Rubio, Author. Retrieved August 9, 2018.

• "Secrets of a Blond Bombshell". Studio 360. Retrieved October 3, 2011.

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