Ethel Ennis

Baltimore jazz institution Ethel Ennis entered the world on November 28, 1932. Her singing path opened after she served as pianist for a high school jazz ensemble, after which she performed alongside Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, and Count Basie. The 1955 Jubilee release Lullabies for Losers marked her first album, followed in 1957 by Change of Scenery on Capitol. She also joined Benny Goodman for a European tour during this period, yet the demands of constant travel prompted her return to Baltimore, where she largely confined her appearances to the Charm City region for many subsequent years, limiting the momentum of her early success. Following 1958’s Have You Forgotten?, six years passed before she recorded again, issuing This Is Ethel Ennis on RCA in 1964; three additional albums—Once Again, Eyes for You, and My Kind of Waltztime—appeared in quick succession. Another extended break ended with the 1973 BASF collection 10 Sides of Ethel Ennis. That year she performed the National Anthem at President Richard Nixon’s re-inauguration. Her next recording, Live at Maryland Inn, surfaced in 1980, while If Women Ruled the World arrived fourteen years later in 1998. Ennis died at age 86 on February 17, 2019, after suffering a stroke.