Annette Hanshaw

Annette Hanshaw emerged as one of the earliest standout female voices in jazz, placing among the leading figures of the late 1920s together with Ethel Waters, the Boswell Sisters, and the ascending Mildred Bailey. Her skills distinguished her from fellow performer Ruth Etting, since she handled improvisation and swing with ease while interpreting lyrics with equal strength. She launched her recording career before turning sixteen, and the sessions running from 1926 to 1934 brought her together with such prominent jazz musicians as Red Nichols, Miff Mole, Jimmy Lytell, Adrian Rollini, Joe Venuti, Eddie Lang, Vic Berton, Benny Goodman, Manny Klein, Phil Napoleon, Jimmy Dorsey, Tommy Dorsey, and Jack Teagarden. Promoted under the name "the Personality Girl" and recognized for ending each release with the phrase "That's all," Annette Hanshaw soon lost interest in the entertainment world and stepped away in 1934 at age twenty-four. She remained removed from music throughout the balance of her life, yet most of her catalog received welcome reissues on British LPs throughout the 1970s and 1980s.