Early Band Works

Ma Rainey & Her Wild Cats Jazz Band,
c. 1925. Dorsey at piano far right.
Courtsey George T. Nierenberg.

Georgia Tom Dorsey worked with many of the significant early blues performers of Chicago. "Ma" and her husband "Pa" Rainey played across the country in the early days of the blues. Dorsey saw her sing at the 81 Theater as early as 1912, when he was just 13. A decade later, Dorsey, living and working in Chicago, was asked to put a new band together for her. Ma Rainey and her Wild Cats Jazz Band opened at Chicago's Grand Theater to a full house.

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