Gaye Adegbalola first gained notice among blues listeners as the exuberant, witty lead singer of Saffire, The Uppity Blues Women. On her initial solo outing for Alligator Records, however, she delivers assured vocals backed by skilled musicians while venturing into fresh lyrical territory. That combination of qualities makes her a distinctive presence in today’s blues world; now that Saffire has reduced its touring schedule, she may soon bring her show to nearby cities. The 1999 album Bitter Sweet Blues stands out for its inventive approach, as the onetime science instructor from Fredericksburg, Virginia, steers the blues idiom toward unexpected subjects in numbers such as “Big Ovaries, Baby” and “The Dog Was Here First.” Eight of the tracks are her own compositions, joined by material associated with Keb’ Mo’, Smokey Robinson, Bessie Smith, Nina Simone, and Gertrude “Ma” Rainey.
Adegbalola entered the world in 1944 in Fredericksburg, Virginia, raised by parents deeply engaged in civic life and devoted to music. Her father, Clarence Todd, served as the first African-American member of the local school board and performed jazz in his spare time; her mother regularly brought home records from her position at the Youth Canteen. In high school Adegbalola studied flute, then attended college in New England, where repeated listening to Etta James, Nina Simone, Ike & Tina Turner, and fellow Virginian Ruth Brown deepened her interest in blues, gospel, and jazz. Simone’s recordings in turn directed her to Bessie Smith, whose work clarified for Adegbalola the blues foundations of jazz. While still a student she began picking out her first guitar parts; after graduation she relocated to New York City, immersed herself in the Black Power movement, and adopted the surname Adegbalola. Following the birth of her son in 1969 she returned to Fredericksburg in 1970, spending evenings with a theater collective and days as a bacteriologist before becoming a junior-high science teacher, a post she held until 1987. In 1982 she received the Virginia State Teacher of the Year award.
Several years afterward she joined her guitar instructor Ann Rabson and bassist Earlene Lewis to form the trio Saffire, The Uppity Blues Women. Their debut recording appeared on cassette in 1987 on their own label, and by the next year the group was touring full-time, moving from local clubs and coffeehouses to theaters and festivals across the United States, Canada, and Europe. Adegbalola’s composition “Middle Aged Blues Boogie” earned a W.C. Handy Blues Award for Song of the Year in 1990. Although slowed by health issues in the late 1990s, she has persisted in creating incisive, reflective music and maintains an active performance schedule. The classroom experience gained in Fredericksburg has proved transferable, allowing her to carry the same clarity and engagement from teaching into nightclub and festival settings. Her authority, intensity, and wit as both historian and performer register most vividly in concert, yet Bitter Sweet Blues remains one of the decade’s most distinctive blues releases.
